Tall Ships Visit Dublin

Majestic tall ships, lively street theatre, uplifting music and a colourful outdoor market - the Docklands Maritime Festival had something for everybody this June Bank Holiday weekend and we were there to photograph the event.

With over 60,000 visitors flocking to the Festival, this year's event was, in our opinion, much better than the 2006 festival but the weather was not nearly as good and some street traders reported a reduction in business (street traders always say that, don't they).

There was a spectacular fleet of tall ships, exciting maritime-related street theatre and musical entertainment performed by Waterford-based arts group Spraoi. Dublin's largest outdoor market offered fine food, clothing, jewellery and plants and there were boat trips along the river liffey.

Some of the most beautiful ships in Europe took up residence on the River Liffey and for those of you who are interested in Tall Ships we have listed below some of them.

Jeanie Johnston and Asgard II
Matthew
Atlantis and Tolkien
Tenacious
Thalassa
Mercedes
Stavros S Niarchos

Jeanie Johnston is a remarkable replica of the original Jeanie Johnston ship which was built in Quebec in 1847 which carried Irish emigrants during the Famine from Tralee Co. Kerry to the United States and Canada. The reborn Jeanie Johnston is a 19th century replica built to 21st century marine safety standards. Some concessions have been made to modernity, but these, as far as is practicable, have been cleverly concealed within the traditional 19th century timber hull.

Matthew: A modern recreation of the square-rigged caravel in which John Cabot sailed from Bristol in 1497. Struck by the success of Christopher Columbus and backed by the wealthy merchants of Bristol, Cabot and his crew set sail for Asia hoping to trade goods and commodities with the people who lived there. Instead of China or Japan, he discovered what he called "New Founde Landes (modern day Newfoundland, Canada) and claimed it for King Henry VII. In 1997 she celebrated the 500th anniversary of the original voyage by following the same course to Newfoundland as John Cabot. The majority of children really loved this little ship as they were all convinced that it was a real pirate ship.

Atlantis and Tolkien:

Atlantis was launched in Hamburg in 1905 and then named the lightship ELBE 2, this ship with stood all weather conditions for 70 years until it was removed from service. A German owner converted it into an elegant three master barquentine and henceforth sailed with guests in Western Europe and the Caribbean under its new name, Atlantis until it was taken over by the Tallship Company in 2005.

J.R. Tolkien is an elegant gaff-topsail schooner of 42 metres. J.R. Tolkien often sails in the Baltic. With so much luxury, it's hard to believe that this ship was launched originally as the tug Dierkow in 1964. The tug was sold on and converted to her present use in 1994.

Tenacious is owned by the Jubilee Sailing Trust charity. The ship is purpose-built to enable physically disabled and able-bodied people to work and live alongside one another on board. Tenacious has special facilities on board – from speaking compasses to vibrating pads in the bunks and flat wide decks and lifts to enable wheelchairs to get around easily.

Thalassa - the 47 metres tall ship makes an impressive appearance with her 16 sails. Under the best conditions she can make 13 knots. Rigged according to century-old tradition and equipped according to the latest security regulations, tallship Thalassa sails and seven seas on its way to maritime events in busy harbours and idyllic isles. In the characteristic saloon and the large bar everyone feels at home right away.

The two-masted and total square-rigged sailing ship Mercedes is a newly-built and magnificent tall ship.

The Tall Ships Youth Trust owns 2 magnificent 60 metre square-rigged ships. One of world’s magnificent brigs Stavros S Niarchos was open to the public during the Maritime Festival. The Tall Ships Youth Trust is dedicated to the personal development of young people aged 16 to 25 through the crewing on Tall Ships.