 Asgard at sea, nearDublin | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Asgard |
| Builder | Colin Archer |
| Laid down | April 1905[1] |
| Launched | August 1905[1] |
| Status | Preserved inCollins Barracks, Dublin |
| General characteristics | |
| Length | 15.5 m (51 ft) |
| Beam | 4 m (13 ft) |
| Sail plan | Gaff rigged |
Asgard is a 51-foot (16 m) gaff-riggedyacht. She was owned by theEnglish-born writer andIrish nationalistErskine Childers and his wifeMolly Childers.[2][3] She is most noted for her use in theHowth gun-running of 1914.
Asgard is sometimes mistaken forDulcibella, the boat in Robert Erskine Childers's classic novelThe Riddle of the Sands.[4] This was based on a smaller vessel,Vixen, previously owned by Childers.[5][6]
Asgard was bought for £1,000 in 1904 (£84,000 in 2006) from one ofNorway's most famous boat designers,Colin Archer.[7] The interior was custom built to the specifications of Childers and his wife Molly. Molly, disabled following a childhood accident, sometimes took the helm ofAsgard, strapped onto the deck with harnesses so she could navigate the rough waters of theIrish Sea.[8]
Asgard's most famous trip was theHowth gun-running in 1914. Childers, his wife and a small crew, made the channel crossing with a hold full of rifles fromGermany intoHowth harbour just north of Dublin, to arm theIrish Volunteers in response to the arming of theUlster Volunteers by theLarne gun-running in April.[3] There is a plaque on the dock wall in Howth as a memorial to this historic boat journey.[9]
Shortly after theEaster Rising,Asgard was put into long-term dry-dock in Northern Wales, where she was sold in 1928.[2] In 1968 the government formed the committee known as Coiste an Asgard and placedAsgard under their guidance and control to be used as a sail training vessel for the young people of Ireland. Sail training cruises were carried out onAsgard each year from 1969 to 1974.
In 1961, she was located in theRiver Truro, Cornwall by the journalistLiam MacGabhann[10] after lobby, theIrish Government procured the ageing vessel and returned her to Howth on 30 July 1961 in a re-enactment of the 1914 landing, using some of the original rifles and surviving members of the Irish Volunteers.[2][11] It was used forsail training by theIrish Navy for a number of years in the 60s, and as the national sail training vessel, under the command of Capt. Erik Healy, from 1969 to 1974,[12] when it was dry-docked and installed insideKilmainham Gaol in Dublin where it remained as a museum attraction, until 2001.[13]
In 2007 new restoration work began.[14] It focussed on preserving as much as possible of the original wooden hull and its metal supports, before replacing pieces with new material.[14][15] In a project led by master shipwright John Kearon, over 70% of the original deck and hull were preserved.
Since August, 2012 the restoredAsgard is on permanent display inCollins Barracks, Dublin. The yacht and related artefacts are now on permanent display in an exhibition titled ' Asgard: The 1914 Howth Gun Running Vessel Conserved'.[16]Nessa Childers MEP and her half-brother Prof. Rory Childers, grandchildren of Erskine and Molly, were the guests of honour at the official opening by Arts MinisterJimmy Deenihan.[17]