05/06/2026
A lovely memory from a kayak around Ireland’s Eye, Howth, on this day 2023.
It was great to paddle alongside Ireland’s sole surviving ocean-going wooden sailing ship A. K. Ilen (the A. K. stands for Auxiliary Ketch), as she approached Howth Harbour. The Ilen was originally built in Baltimore, West Cork, in 1926. A restoration project began in 1998 and took over 20 years to complete, involving traditional shipwrights, students, and volunteers at the Ilen School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Limerick and at Hegarty’s Boatyard, near Skibbereen.