Ahoy! Historical Ilen docked in Limerick is ready for summer voyage

THE LAST surviving wooden ship to voyage the Shannon has been brought back to life after 40,000 hours of craftsmanship, and is ready to set sail along the Irish coast this summer.

Ilen, built by Limerick boating pioneer Conor O’Brien in 1926, had her sails hoisted for the first time in decades after 12 years of rigorous reconstruction.

Gary McMahon is the man behind this major achievement, having “constantly” worked on the Ilen Project at the LEDP workshop in Roxboro.

He said it was a challenging experience as it was “an amalgam of many technologies and it has to be worked on sequentially”.

Stationed at the Ted Russell Docks, he said this week’s pleasant weather presented an opportune time to hoist the sails, aided by a light wind. 

Ready for summertime sailing, voyagers can experience “both worlds” of traditional sailing with a modern touch, he said. While there is a bit of manual labour on the ship, it is equipped with modern technology.

Gary said he was proud to see the fruits of his labour come to life and is looking forward to educating new mariners.

He said upgrading a traditional coastal ketch rig of four sails to an ocean rig of seven - not to mention all the additional supporting gear, blocks, spars, running and standing rigging - is not a small task.

“Happily it has all come together nicely and ‘Ilen’ looks splendid, and nearly ready to embrace the coming sailing season.”