AN IRISH HISTORICAL ICON
BY DES GILROY
Robert Erskine Childers was born in London on June 25, 1870. He was only six when he lost
his father, the noted English Oriental scholar Robert Caesar Childers, to tuberculosis.
Through his mother was to survive for another eight years before she succumbed to the same
disease, with his father’s death Childers and his four siblings effectively became orphans,
raised by his mother’s family, the Bartons of Glendalough House at Annamoe in County
Wicklow.
Thus although he was educated through the classic English public school and university
system, all childhood holidays were spent in Wicklow, where his deepening love for Ireland
grew.
In 1894, after graduating from Cambridge, he began his career as a clerk in the House of
Commons in London, and had thoughts of eventually becoming a Member of Parliament.
From an early age he was an enthusiastic sailor and in 1893, when he was still 22, he and his
brother made their first cruise – to Scotland from Dublin Bay. In 1897 he made an extensive
cruise among the islands of the North Sea coasts of the Netherlands and Germany and then
went on through the Kiel Canal to Denmark when he developed the germ of an idea for his
most famous book, The Riddle of the Sands, published six years later in 1903.
From March to September 1900, he served in South Africa in the Boer War and his
experiences there planted in him the first doubts about the morality of the British Imperial
mission. Nevertheless an “instant book” on the Boer War, assembled from his highly
readable letters home, proved a popular patriotic seller.
However, it was for his thriller, The Riddle of the Sands, published in 1903, that he became
best known in London circles. This novel was an immediate success, selling more than two
million copies, and it has never been out of print since. In it the two heroes, Davies and
Carruthers in their little yacht Dulcibella, stumble on the fact that he Kaiser’s government in
Germany is secretly building a fleet of barges for the invasion of Britain across the North Sea
from the hidden harbours among those sandy islands and waterways which Childers had
cruised in 1897. The book was not only a bestseller but it focused English minds about the
dangers which were to eventually emanate from Germany when the 1914 World War broke
out.
In 1903 Childers visited Boston where he met Mary Alden Osgood, the daughter of a family
distinguished in Boston life since settling there from England in 1648. It was love at first
sight and their wedding in Boston in 1904 was a highlight of the Boston social calendar.
Molly’s father, Hamilton Osgood, was a distinguished Boston surgeon, and he very
generously offered to buy them a new cruising boat as a wedding present provided that Molly
shared her new husband’s passion for sailing. Despite a walking disability, caused by a
skating accident at 3-years of age which confined her to a wheelchair until she was 15, Molly
soon proved a natural sailor and a decision was made to place the order for the new boat with
Colin Archer, the premier boat designer and builder of the day.
The Asgard was designed and built by Colin Archer of Larvik in Norway in 1905. He was of
Scottish descent, his father having migrated across the North Sea From Newburgh by the
Firth of Tay in Scotland. However, throughout his long life from 1832 to 1921, Colin Archer
was to play a role of increasing national and international importance in Norwegian life as his
family’s new homeland re-established its own identity and sought peaceful separation from
Sweden.
His special contribution lay in his skills as a marine architect and master shipwright, a vital
role as Norway’s maritime expertise was central to the country’s economic well-being and
sense of purpose. His boatyard became a place of pilgrimage for determined yachtsmen who
sought craft which could confidently keep the sea in rough conditions and yet perform well
when the winds were gentle. Archer’s skill in developing such vessels amounted to genius.
Although he was already 73 in 1905 when he designed and built Asgard, he was at the height
of his powers as a yacht designer, and the new boat was one of the finest seaworthy cruising
yachts of her day.
While Asgard has great significance through her role in Irish national history, and in Irish sail
training, we must never forget that she is of special value in herself, a splendid example of all
that was best in seagoing yacht design in 1905.
Archer built a boat which was of a remarkably sophisticated design with an excellent turn of
speed allied to exceptional sea kindliness. Childers named the boat Asgard in honour of her
Scandinavian origins. “Asgardr” is a Norse word for Home of the Gods, the land between
heaven and earth. As well, it is thought that the name was also a pun on Osgood, the name of
the donor.
The Childers had their first cruise aboard Asgard in August 1905 and in the years that
followed, as their family grew, they spent many happy holidays aboard with the Baltic their
favourite destination. Their most ambitious cruise was undertaken in 1912-13 when they
sailed through the Baltic to Finland and then back to Norway. Asgard was left in Oslo for
their good friend Gordon Shephard to make a return cruise. That was undertaken by
Shephard in the Autumn of 1913 when he returned home by way of the Outer Hebrides. The
journey dragged into November and the weather was ferocious but after a horrendous
struggle, Asgard made it back to Bangor in North Wales. For this rugged sailing
achievement, Gordon Shephard was declared the 1913 winner of the world’s most senior
annual cruising trophy, the Challenge Cup of the Royal Cruising Club.
At the same time Childers’s political awareness was growing and he resigned from his
position in the House of Commons to return to Ireland and to work for Home Rule, putting
his views on record in 1911 with the publication of his book “The Framework of Home
Rule”. November 1913 saw the formation of the Irish Volunteers under Eoin McNeill in
support of the modest level of Home Rule which had been passed through the House of
Commons but was rejected for the third time by the House of Lords. As the situation
worsened, on December 4, 1913, the London Government prohibited the importation of arms
and ammunition into any part of Ireland. However, this order was defied by the anti-Home
Rule Ulster Volunteers on April 24, 1914 when they landed 20,000 German rifles and 3m
rounds of ammunition at Larne.
Alarmed by this move, the Irish Volunteers in Dublin decided that they must stand up to their
Ulster counterparts and set about importing arms. To do so was not an easy operation as
British naval patrols had been stepped up after the Larne affair and this made the use of ships
or fishing boats impossible. Yachts offered the only possible option.
Childers volunteered the Asgard and set about overhauling her rigging which had been
severely damaged during her Outer Hebrides adventure the previous winter. At the same
time down in Foynes in the Shannon estuary, the renowned Irish yachtsman, Conor O’Brien
prepared his old ketch Kelpie for the operation. On July 3, 1914, Asgard sailed out of
Conway in North Wales, spent the 8th and 9th in Cowes and on July 14th rendezvoused with
the Kelpie at the Ruytigen Lightship off the Belgian coast where they met a waiting German
tugboat and collected 1500 rifles and a consignment of ammunition.
The Asgard had a very experienced crew on board. In addition to Erskine and Molly
Childers, this consisted of Gordon Shephard, Mary Spring Rice from Foynes and two
Donegal seamen, Charles Duggan and Pat McGinley from Gola Island. Although the little
vessel was overcrowded with its illegal cargo, Asgard swept under sail into Howth harbour
twelve days later on Sunday July 26, 1914 in broad daylight to be met by the delighted
Volunteers. Among those present at the unloading of the 900 rifles and 26,900 rounds of
ammunition were Eamonn de Valera, Thomas Clarke, Sean Mac Diarmada, Thomas Mac
Donagh, Eoin Mac Neill, Arthur Griffith, Sean T O’Kelly, Francis J Biggar, Cathal Brugha
and, it is believed, Michael Collins.
The Kelpie cargo had a slightly more complex journey. It was met off the Welsh coast and
transferred its cargo to the Chotah, a yacht owned by Limerick-born and eminent Dublin
surgeon, Sir Thomas Myles. This latter yacht had an auxiliary engine, which provided it with
the capacity for prolonged manoeuvring off an open beach, and it landed its cargo of 600
guns onto the beach at Kilcoole in Wicklow on the night of Saturday, August 1, 1914.
The noted historian F.X.Martin wrote, “The immediate effect of the Howth gun-running was
the powerful fillip it gave to the Irish Volunteers. Their numbers increased rapidly: they
now marched with a defiant step, confident that they were no longer playing at being soldiers.
Without Howth and Kilcoole there could hardly have been a rising in 1916”. Veteran Fenian
John Devoy commented that it was “the greatest deed done in Ireland for a hundred years”.
However, the elation of the Volunteers was short-lived. Within a week the Great War broke
out and all the leading participants in the gunrunning joined the British forces, mainly in the
belief that they were fighting for the rights of small nations. Childers became a highly
decorated Lt Commander in the Royal Navy and then went on to a notable naval flying
career. Shephard became the youngest Brigadier in the British Army in 1917 but died on
active service with the Royal Flying Corps in January 1918.
Childers returned to Ireland in 1917 and by this time he had moved from favouring a modest
level of Home Rule to outright support for total independence.
In 1921 he was elected to the first Dail as a Sinn Fein deputy for Wicklow and became the
Dail’s first minister of propaganda. Later that year he was secretary to the delegation led by
Michael Collins to the Anglo-Irish treaty conference in London.
Following the signing of the Treaty, he sided with de Valera and the anti-Treaty forces and,
with their defeat in 1922, went on the run. On November 10th he was captured by Free State
forces in Glendalough House in Annamoe carrying a small, pearl-handled .22 automatic
handgun, which had been a present from his former friend, Michael Collins. Collins himself
had been killed at Beal na Bleath the previous August 22nd. The new Free State Government
had made the carrying of any gun punishable by death and on the morning of November 24,
1922 in Dublin, Childers was led out to face a firing squad comprising of his fellow Irishmen.
The execution was delayed by an hour at Childers’s request that he be allowed to see his last
sunrise. Childers was 52 years of age and before being blindfolded, he had shaken hands
with each member of the firing squad, asking them “Take a step or two forward, lads. It will
be easier that way”.
Shocked by this execution, de Valera wrote to his wife Sinead “Of all the men I have ever
met Childers was the noblest and the best. I never met a man with whom I would have
changed personalities except him and I only wish I could hope for as high a place in heaven
as I am sure he will occupy”.
After living for many years at their family home in Terenure, Molly Childers settled in
Glendalough House in Annamoe where she lived until her death in 1964. Asgard had been
laid up in North Wales in 1914 immediately after the Howth gun running and it was not until
1927 that Molly Childers could bring herself to put her beloved boat on the market. Between
1928 and 1960 Asgard had four owners and sailed mainly in the English Channel. However,
after a two-year lay-up in a boatyard near Truro in Cornwall, Asgard began to show signs of
serious neglect. There she was discovered by Irish journalist Liam MacGabhann who,
through his writings and the help of some influential friends, persuaded the Irish Government
to purchase her. Asgard was taken to a Southampton boatyard for a refit and a historic return
to Howth.
On July 26th, 1961, Asgard, with a combined Naval Service / Slua Muiri crew triumphantly
returned to Howth after 47 years to be greeted by a salvo of guns and a welcome from
President de Valera and Taoiseach Sean Lemass. In a message to Molly Childers, still living
in Annamoe, de Valera wrote “the great event in which she and her gallant husband took such
a memorable part will never be forgotten by the Irish nation”.
Asgard was used as a naval sail training vessel for a time during the 1960’s but after a
number of years the Naval Service decided she was unsuitable for this purpose and for the
fourth time in her career the ketch was laid up ashore for a prolonged period, this time in the
boatyard at the Coal Harbour in Dun Laoghaire.
However, following a campaign, Charles J Haughey, himself an enthusiastic sailor and
Minister for Finance took a hand. Asgard was taken under the wing of the Department of
Finance, funds were made available and Haughey established Coiste an Asgard in 1968 to
run Asgard as Ireland’s first sail training vessel. This was a high-powered committee with
Frank Lemass, then Chairman of CIE, as its founding chairman and boasting such members
as barrister Liam McGonagle and Clayton Love Jnr of Cork. Asgard was refitted at the
Malahide Boatyard in North Dublin and on Saturday, March 21, 1969, Erskine Hamilton
Childers, soon to be Irelands fourth President, met Asgard and made the official declaration
that his father’s and mother’s yacht was now Ireland’s sail training vessel.
For the next five years (1969 – 1974), Asgard was Ireland’s sail training ship. However,
during that period it became quite obvious that Asgard was too small, too old and too difficult
to maintain as a sail-training vessel to continue indefinitely in that role and the debate started
about its future. By mid-1974 Coiste an Asgard had decided that a new purpose built ship
was necessary if its training programme was to develop and that in the meanwhile a
temporary vessel should be sought. So at the end of the 1974 season, Asgard’s career as a
sail-training vessel came quietly to an end
Asgard then underwent another five years of abandonment. Then in 1979 the Kilmainham
Jail Restoration Society rescued her at their own expense and had her brought to the prison
museum where she was on open display until March 2001. She was then handed over to ARP
Ltd., a private group who plan to rebuild the vessel to seagoing condition and promised
secure storage. She was moved to a position alongside the main East Wall Road in the Point
Centre car park until protests in the Dail persuaded the Minister for Defence to order her
removal to a more secure resting place. When next spotted, in June 2001, Asgard was lying in
a Harry Crosbie compound close to the Calor gas storage area at Tolka Quay Road in Dublin
Port. In the meanwhile, ARP has erected corrugated iron sheeting around the vessel to
protect it from damage and spent £1,000 (E1,270) on a tarpaulin to protect it from the
elements. This week we confirmed that Asgard is still at Tolka Quay Road awaiting a
decision on her next resting place.
With acknowledgement to “Asgard – The Story of Irish Sea Training” by WM Nixon &
Captain Eric Healy, and to Coiste an Asgard
ASGARD STILL IN THE EYE OF A STORM
By DES GILROY
When Erskine Childers sailed the Asgard into Howth Harbour in July 1914 with a
consignment of rifles and ammunition for the Irish Volunteers, he gave the Irish national
movement a boost which ultimately proved unstoppable and had its final outcome with the
emergence of an independent Irish nation eight years later in 1922.
However, none of those involved in that operation could have foreseen that eighty-eight years
later the little yacht would still be in the eye of public controversy and be the centre of an
emotive argument about her future. This centres around the question as to whether Asgard,
now a national heritage item, should be conserved or restored. This is a question which over
the last two years has divided archeological, historical and sailing circles as well as causing
an embarrassing skirmish between two senior government ministers and an accusation from
the National Museum that Sile de Valera is guilty of an act of cultural vandalism.
Asgard was taken out of the water for the last time in late 1974 and spent most of the time
since then on public display in an open but covered area in Kilmainham Jail. Unhappy with
the condition of the yacht and this location, historical and archeological groups lobbied the
government with a view to having Asgard conserved and placed in a proper public display
arena. In 1993, John Kearon, a leading consultant on wooden boat conservation, was
commissioned by the Office of Public Works to survey Asgard to determine her condition
and make proposals for conservation. He was also asked to determine whether the former
gunrunner could be restored to sailing condition. John Kearon is from Arklow and trained in
the Tyrell’s boatyard there. He is currently Head of Maritime and Industrial Conservation at
the National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, Liverpool.
Kearon found that superficially the Asgard appeared to be sound and free from rot, a fact that
had encouraged hopes of her return to seaworthiness. However, on closer inspection, more
serious deterioration appeared. He found that, at some stage during an overhaul, steel nails
had been used to refasten the hull planking close to the original bronze nails, and the resulting
electrolysis had left a legacy of rusted heads and shanks. In a similar way, the builder’s use
of ferrous metal plates and clenched bolts to secure internal frames had proven to be a ticking
bomb for the larger structure below the waterline. All 130 or more such fittings have rusted,
in some cases to the point of disintegration, with damaging consequences for the surrounding
wood. He added that the fittings could be replaced but the product of the corrosion cannot be
removed from the wood and, even if the outer hull is made impermeable, there exists the
potential for further electrolytic action if moisture content rises – and rise it surely will should
the vessel be re-floated.
He warned that there were other reasons to be cautious. Most of Asgard’s wood had been in
place for 95 years and the normal processes of biological decay and denaturing had taken
their toll. Butts had split and while out of the water seams had irrevocably slackened with the
inevitable shrinkage.
He concluded that, given current marine safety rules, any naval architect or surveyor tasked
with returning the Asgard to sailing condition would be ruthless about the removal of
questionable material and in reality that could see the vessel gutted. Like any object formed
from degradable material that has spent its life in a hostile environment, the Asgard is old,
tired and well past its appropriate “use by” date, a fact that needed to be accepted. He
recommended that the yacht should be conserved rather than restored and this
recommendation was accepted.
Kearon presented a detailed programme of conservation work to be carried out which would
ensure that the vessel would be visually and structurally as she was in 1905 when first
launched. By 1997 conservation was ready to begin. Tenders had been invited and had been
returned by five Irish boatyards. The then Minister for Defence, David Andrews, had
guaranteed the estimated £185,000 (E235,000) required and the programme was ready to
begin.
However, events then took a new turn. In 1994 a private group of sailing enthusiasts, who
were very unhappy at the position in Kilmainham, came together with a view to restoring
Asgard to sea-going condition and in 1995 they officially registered as the Asgard
Restoration Project Ltd. (ARP). Initially the main players in ARP were its Secretary, civil
servant Michael Prior, former Bord Failte PRO Tim Magennis and Dublin haulier, Harry
Crosbie. Their belief at the time was that Asgard should be rebuilt as a seagoing vessel
which, under a professional crew, would sail around the Irish coast visiting ports and giving
Irish youth an opportunity to view and learn about her distinguished history. They also
envisaged that Asgard would carry the Irish flag abroad with the same distinction as sailtraining vessel Asgard II and promised that ”at the great classic and traditional sailing
festivals that now abound she would unquestionably create quite a stir”.
In 1997, when David Andrews approved the conservation programme, ARP objected and the
project was put on hold. However, Andrews was still firmly convinced that conservation was
the way to go, stating: “My view is that restoration of the vessel could produce a yacht which
would be a replica, rather than an authentic preservation of this historically valuable artefact.
Following full consideration, it was decided that the most appropriate course of action would
be to have the vessel conserved and placed on public exhibition in a historical museum
setting”. Andrews, as Minister for Defence, was the owner of Asgard, and he further
confirmed that he had advised the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Sile
de Valera, that he supported conservation. De Valera’s involvement was crucial because
Asgard had been declared to be an archeological artefact within the meaning of the National
Monuments Acts and no alterations could be made to the vessel without a licence from her
department.
However, in October 1987, there was a new twist in the story. When Ray Burke resigned as
Minister for Foreign Affairs, he was replaced by David Andrews and Tipperary man,
Michael Smith became Minister for Defence. Immediately Smith came under pressure from
ARP Ltd and they found him more receptive to their proposals than any of his predecessors.
However, Sile de Valera had at this stage taken advice from her own department, from the
National Museum, the Heritage Council and the OPW and all were vigorously opposed to the
ARP’s restoration proposals. Speaking in the Dail, she said “On balance I favour conserving
the Asgard and displaying it in an appropriate historical setting. This arises from the
classification of the boat as an archaeological object”. It should be noted that her predecessor
Michael D Higgins had been of the same view.
In July 1998, following a meeting involving both departments and the ARP, Sile de Valera
wrote to Michael Smith stating that she had considered the ARP’s arguments but was
reinforced in her view that conservation was the appropriate course.“The Asgard is primarily
a vessel of considerable national historical significance and, as such, as much as possible of
the surviving original material, estimated to be in the region of 85%, should in my view be
retained and displayed. This will not be the case if the vessel is to be restored/rebuilt for
sailing. It should also be borne in mind that there is an inherent risk of total loss of the vessel
should it be sailed in the future”.
Within a month Michael Smith had rejected this advice and on August 25, 1998 issued a
press release announcing his approval in principle for the full restoration of Asgard as a
sailing ship. In addition, he promised that the State would bear up to 50% of the cost – then
estimated by ARP Ltd at £500,000 (E635,000) – provided ARP Ltd raised the balance
through fundraising. The amazing aspect of this approval by Smith was that the project could
not go ahead without a licence from de Valera and her disapproval of the project had been
very clearly signalled.
De Valera then wrote back to Smith on December 16th, 1998 stating that she “was very
disappointed that you chose to make an announcement without any further reference to me
particularly in the light of my strongly held views on the matter”, adding that she was
“shocked” that Smith was now allocating funds to the restoration which had been earmarked
for conservation. She then went on to point out that she had been advised that the ARP’s
plans could cost in the order of £800,000 (E1.016m), considerably higher than ARP’s
estimate of £500,000 (E635,000)
Following receipt of Smith’s approval, ARP Ltd applied to the Department of Arts, Heritage,
Gaeltacht and the Islands for a restoration licence in November 1998 and it was to wait over a
year for a response. In that period archeological, historical and other concerned interests
awoke to the danger facing Asgard and became particularly active. The Heritage Council
established a working group and this strongly advised against restoration in March 1999. In
September 1999 the National Museum issued a very strong rejection of ARP’s plans,
estimating that restoration would result in the replacement or destruction of 80% or more of
Asgard. It also pointed out that the issuing of a licence would be in breach of the
Departments own policy document “Framework and Principles for Protection of the
Archaeological Heritage” which states that “the first option in all circumstances must be
non-destructive investigation and study”. The Museum also claimed that allowing the
restoration of Asgard would be in breach of the 1992 European Convention on the Protection
of the Archaeological Heritage and of the World Heritage Convention.
However, the most damning condemnation of any proposal to return Asgard to water came
from Sile de Valera’s own departmental advisors who agreed vigorously with the National
Museum and the Heritage Council. Chris Flynn of the Cultural Institutions Division
commented that in the event of a restoration “it would no longer be the Asgard but still
retaining the name Asgard would become the exclusive plaything (“pet”) of the ARP”. He
also expressed concern that commercial sponsors of the project would have special claims on
Asgard for promotions and celebratory occasions.
One would have thought, with such an array of expert opinion in favour of conservation, that
the restoration plans of the ARP Ltd would be dead in the water. What happened next is best
described by Sheila de Valera herself in a reply to a Dail question on May 1, 2001.
“In view of the vessel’s place in Irish history, I decided to consult my colleagues in
Government on the matter. The Cabinet agreed that the preservation of the memory of the
Asgard would be best served through the vessel’s restoration to full sailing condition.
Accordingly, a licence under the National Monuments Acts was issued in December 1999,
subject to a number of conditions and requirements. I stress that this was a Government
decision.”
In view of all the expert opinion available to her, it is difficult to know what or who caused
Sile de Valera to change her position from being a champion of conservation to switching
over to the restoration camp and recommending that course of action to the cabinet. She
confirmed this change of mind, in a Dail reply on April 11, 2001, when she said “There are
others, and I share their view that it (Asgard) should be a seagoing vessel”. She also told the
Dail that “my department did not raise any objection to this”. Yet, departmental papers made
available through the Freedom of Information Act indicate that key departmental officials
strongly disagreed with her and sided with the National Museum and the Heritage Council on
the issue. Indeed, on the day after the licence was granted, Eamonn P Kelly, Keeper of Irish
antiquities at the National Museum told the Department “I’m obliged to put on record my
view that the decision to restore Asgard along the lines proposed is an act of cultural
vandalism that will have far reaching and detrimental consequences. I consider it shameful
that the State should fail in its responsibility to protect the heritage in its care and that for
reasons of expediency it should fail to impose upon itself standards that it routinely demands
of private citizens”.
Following this decision Asgard remained in Kilmainham Jail until March 4, 2001 when it
was handed over to ARP Ltd for display for fundraising purposes at the RDS Boat Show. Sile
de Valera told the Dail (May 1, 2001) that she agreed to its removal, conditional on “suitable
insurance cover being provided” as well as appropriate accommodation acceptable to the
National Museum. However, the Boat Show was cancelled due to the Foot and Mouth
outbreak and Asgard was parked in the public car park in the Point Centre, just inside the
metal railings and within feet of the public footpath. For a number of weeks this invaluable
national heritage lay unprotected and an easy bonfire target for any vandal with a petrol
soaked rag and a box of matches.
This unguarded and public storage of Asgard infuriated the conservationists and in the Dail
on April 10, 2001, Pat Carey TD asked Sile de Valera “if her attention had been drawn to the
fact that the Asgard is lying unsecured and unprotected in the car park at the Point Depot?”.
Responding the Minister said “The housing of the Asgard has recently been examined by
officials of the National Museum of Ireland. The ARP has been verbally advised that the
current accommodation is most unsatisfactory and a formal notice to this effect is being
issued to the ARP”. Then, distancing herself from the debacle, she told the deputy “In the
meanwhile the location of the Asgard is primarily a matter for the vessel’s owner, the
Minister for Defence”. Over three weeks later, on May 1, she was again telling the Dail that
“the current location and security of the vessel is unacceptable. I understand ARP has
indicated that it will redress the situation” It is uncertain when Asgard was moved but in
response to a question from her predecessor Michael D Higgins on May 29, de Valera told
the Dail that “the ARP has re-housed the vessel in a more secure location in the docks area.
The current arrangements satisfy the requirements of the museum for the time being”. This
statement is contested by the Save the Asgard committee who claim that in the following
month, June 2001, Asgard was observed lying in an area signed “highly flammable” close to
the Calor gas storage area at Tolka Quay Road in Dublin docks.
Over the months since then the pressure on Sile de Valera and Michael Smith to reverse their
decision to hand over Asgard to ARP Ltd has grown. Opposition spokesman Dinny
McGinley told the Dail “I would be in favour of conservation, preservation or even
restoration. However, the present plan is neither – it is a reproduction and it will leave us with
a mere replica of the original craft.
“The proposal to restore the Asgard to sailing condition would entail the removal of at least
80% of the original vessel and perhaps significantly more. She can never again be the yacht
that Erskine Childers sailed. She will be but a replica with some of the fittings of the Asgard
and her historical and structural significance would be greatly reduced in status. Does the
Minister or, indeed, the Cabinet understand the enormity of what is proposed? This national
treasure, a part of our maritime heritage, is being desecrated. Should the Government allow
the proposed destruction of the Asgard it would sanction an extraordinary act of cultural
vandalism involving an internationally important heritage object. Other than the experts and
the officials who have advised the Minister, the voices of those who would wish to see the
Asgard maintained as near as possible to the original have not yet been heard. It is certain
that when the reality of the proposal sinks in, there will be growing opposition at home and
abroad. The decision of the Minister to take the unprecedented step of making her decision
contrary to the advice of statutory bodies, consultants and officials leaves many questions
unanswered”
McGinley continued, “I earnestly request the Minister to call a halt to this project. When one
considers from where the Minister is coming, one would expect her to have a deeper
understanding of the value and significance of one of our great national treasures. What is
proposed is like adding diamonds to the Ardagh Chalice or putting a coat of pebbledash on
the high cross of Monasterboice. Conservation must be the order of the day. If the restoration
project proceeds, we will have a replica masquerading as the Asgard. The only original
feature which will remain will be the name.”
Other organizations joined in the protest. The Institute for the Conservation of Historic and
Artistic Works in Ireland commented “We believe it would be more fitting and appropriate to
conserve the Asgard to the highest standards, conforming to the accepted principles of good
practice, thereby maintaining her integrity and prolonging her chances of survival. She could
then be exhibited in a sympathetic environment, using modern display techniques to instruct
and delight future generations”.
Chairman of the Irish Professional Conservators and Restorers Association, Fergus Purdy,
wrote “In order to make the Asgard seaworthy, so much will need to be replaced that it will
no longer be the Asgard. The only hope for the Asgard to survive as an authentic artefact
providing uncorrupted historic evidence is her conservation and preservation within a
museum setting. Surely it is towards this goal that funds should be spent” John Kearon,
consultant to the OPW and Head of Maritime & Industrial Conservation at the National
Museums and Galleries on Merseyside agrees with this view: “Building an exact replica of
Asgard carries none of the risk or controversy associated with ‘doing up’ the original, and in
the current climate where apprenticeships have dried up, it would also serve a vital role in
redressing the loss of centuries of wooden boat building skills. The notion that boats can
appear out of place in a museum environment is not necessarily true. With some imagination
the Asgard could offer an excellent opportunity to interpret not only her involvement in our
history, but also the skills of the boat-builder and the art of traditional sailing”.
Conservation architect Gareth O’Callaghan of Cork commented, “I feel very strongly of the
need to reverse the decision to restore the Asgard. As a conservation architect I understand
the ethos of conservation to mean that interventions into historic fabric should be reversible.
Conservation is preferred to restoration and pertains to retain all original fabric especially if
an object is still intact and unchanged. Restoration will make it new again and so lose all the
mystery and intrigue associated with an old and intact object. This uniqueness will vanish if
work is allowed to proceed and a unique treasure will be lost forever”.
Within this debate, the ARP Ltd., a small group of sailing enthusiasts, has won little support
from any major historical or archeological organization or group although some individuals
such as John de Courcey Ireland, Paddy Shaffrey and Dr Peter Harbison are listed as
supporters in a personal capacity. It would appear, therefore, that ARP support has come
mainly from the yachting fraternity. However, even within sailing circles, support has not
been unanimous and some major names have protested strongly at their plans. Winkie Nixon,
respected yachtsman and author of “Asgard – the Story of Irish Sail Training” and “Howth –
A Centenary of Sailing” wrote “The logical course would be a patient restoration of Asgard
to her 1905 design for eventual display in an appropriate setting, and the building alongside
her of a sister-ship which could then be taken to sea without her crew being additionally
saddled with the original’s major historical significance. It would be a worthy indication of
the maturity of our Celtic Tiger Economy if such a project could be properly undertaken”.
John Gore-Grimes and Ted Crosbie wrote to the Irish Times “The £850,000 “restoration”
project that is intended to allow the original Asgard to sail again is not a restoration: it is a
rebuild to make her seaworthy and little of the old Asgard will remain to be correctly
honoured. Don’t please try to replicate this old lady. Honour her, make her respectable and
build a structure on Howth Pier where she can be kept in perpetuity as an inspiration to port
visitors with historical and maritime interests, and as an evergreen memory which will not
become a dangerous liability on the high seas when maintenance funds run out and interest
wanes”.
So where lies the ARP Ltd project today? In August 1998, ARP PRO Tim Magennis wrote
“Funding for Asgard’s total restoration to full sailing condition would, in the main, come
from sources outside the State who are anxious to see this lovely vessel sail again under the
Irish flag. We have on-going contacts with these sources. All they seek before swinging into
action is an indication of the official green light for our proposals”. The green light was
given to ARP Ltd by Michael Smith and Sheila de Valera in December 1999. Two years
later, ARP has found that fundraising is much more difficult than perhaps had been
anticipated. In August 1998 Michael Smith committed the Government to 50% of the then
ARP projected budget of £500,000 (E635,000 Today ARP are projecting a spend of
£840,000 (E1.006m) Opposition experts claim the cost would be at least £1 million
(E1.25m) to complete the project. However, after the financial disasters which the Jeanie
Johnston and the Dunbrodie famine ship restoration projects turned out to be, many are
fearful that once work commences costs will escalate. The other question which has not to
date been discussed is who will bear the annual maintenance and running costs of a restored
Asgard which, depending on the operational programme chosen for the yacht, could run at
close to £100,000 (E1.27m) per annum. Conservation, incidentally, is costed at
approximately £400,000 (E508,000)
To date the ARP has received a £50,000 (E63,500) advance from the Department of Defence.
In response to enquiries from this newspaper, ARP admits that fundraising has been moving
slower than they would like. They state that they have substantial pledges but they will not
draw these down until they have a minimum of £420,000 (E508,000) in pledges.
Commercial sponsors are being sought and their contributions will be noted with a plaque on
the Asgard. With regard to the work programme, ARP has pinpointed three experts to lead
the project once the funding is in place. These are Falmouth based naval architect, David
Cox, Jeppe Nielsen of Risor in Norway, a specialist in maintaining Colin Archer vessels, and
Bill Crampton, a shipwright based in Arklow who was involved in the Dunbrodie famine ship
project. David Cox, incidentally, owns the Velsia, the oldest Colin Archer boat in everyday
use. Michael Prior has said the project will take up to two years to complete from
commencement but as yet there is no start date. Commitments have been made and deposits
placed for timbers in Scandinavia at a reported cost of £40,000 (E50,000), and these will have
to be left to dry out for at least 12 months before being used in the restoration.
As costs escalate and time passes, ARP is prepared to discuss a more limited role for Asgard,
one confined to coastal sailing or even ceremonial display in Dublin Bay three or four times
each year provided weather conditions were favourable. Indeed, ARP now seems to be
moving to a position for Asgard close to that of the U.S. Constitution. This 204 ft vessel, built
in 1797, better known as “Old Ironsides”, scored a series of victories in the Anglo-American
War of 1812 –15 and has been adored by generations of Americans. Restored, initially in the
1830’s and on numerous occasions in the intervening years, the Constitution is today
maintained afloat at the old Boston Navy Yard in Charlestown, Mass.. Once each year she is
towed through the harbour of Boston and when she returns to her berth she is moored on the
opposite heading to equalize weathering of her wooden hull.
From discussion with ARP sources this week, it seems that the ARP is now prepared to
accept that Asgard will not return to sea as a racing or a sail-training vessel. It now seems
that ARP’s bottom line could be an Asgard on public display, moored on or by water, with
full rigging and occasional sails: a yacht, not necessarily equipped for the rigours of the sea
but one which could be ceremonially sailed within the confines of a harbour a few times each
year. What they are not prepared to countenance is the yacht being displayed in a museum as
a hulk with no rigging.
ARP’s failure to raise the necessary finance over a two-year period may cause the
Government to re-think the whole project and restoration work may never commence. In the
Dail on June 21 last, the Minister for Defence Michael Smith was asked by Tommy
Broughan (Labour) if he would review his decision to restore the Asgard to sailing condition.
Responding he said “The restoration work has not yet commenced, mainly, I understand,
because the private funding being sought by the ARP is not yet fully in place. I shall be
meeting representatives of the ARP in the near future to review progress on the project
generally”.
Also of considerable significance is a move by member of Save the Asgard committee,
archaeologist Erin Gibbons and An Taisce Heritage officer Ian Lumley who, each in a
personal capacity, have instructed their solicitors to initiate proceedings to revoke the licence
claiming, as did her own Department, that Minister de Valera is in breach of the National
Monuments Acts and of the 1992 European Convention on the protection of archaeological
heritage which Ireland signed in 1997.
However, this court action may never take place. It is generally agreed that the debate over
the last two years has been a very useful one and that all parties are now better informed
about the long-term dangers to Asgard which restoration presents. It has never been doubted
but that the parties to the debate, although holding conflicting views, have had the best
interests of the yacht at heart and have been keen to see Asgard preserved for posterity in one
form or other. The only debate has been on how this can best be done.
Well informed sources indicate that a reappraisal of the whole project has been taking place
in both the Departments of Defence and Arts, Heritage,etc over the last few months and that
there is a distinct possibility that the owner of Asgard, the Minister for Defence, Michael
Smith, may reverse his decision on restoration and decide to place the yacht for conservation
instead.
So if the decision is reversed, the debate will begin as to where the Asgard goes on public
display. At this stage Howth appears to be the main runner. It is interesting to note that there
is in the National Archives a record of a cabinet decision made on August 8th 1967 which
reads as follows: “The Minister for Defence mentioned he proposed to cease using Asgard for
training purposes, to bring her up from Haulbowline via Dunlaoghaire to Howth where she
would be taken out of commission, brought ashore and put on display as a museum piece.
Informally approved.” One week later the Irish Times reported that the Government
Information bureau confirmed that Asgard would be put in a state of preservation by the
OPW near a commemorative plaque on Howth’s East Pier.
Recently some Fingal councillors have voiced support for a maritime museum in Howth to
house the Asgard, a project being promoted by the Howth Sutton Community Council which
has identified a number of suitable sites on Howth’s West Pier. Depending on what future
Michael Smith decides for Asgard, it is quite possible that the little yacht will make a third
and final triumphant return to Howth before its hundredth birthday in 2005.
DES GILROY IS AN ECONOMIST AND CONSULTANT WITH SUMMIT
MARKETING CONSULTANCY.