Tom MacSweeney column: Frank Walley new chair of Cobh World Ship Society

Since it was founded by ship enthusiasts in 1946, the World Ship Society has grown in to the largest international organisation dedicated to maritime and naval history.

There is only one branch of the society in Ireland. It is in Cobh, and this is its 21st year and, at its annual meeting, a former sailor of the legendary Cork Harbour One Designs was elected chairman.

Frank Walley also sailed in Dragons, Enterprises, and Mirror dinghies and is a former international athlete, an Irish sprint champion who captained the Irish team in Lisbon in 1973. An all-round sportsman, who also played rugby and tennis, he is a lifelong maritime enthusiast.

The Cobh WSS branch has a busy programme of monthly lectures and international visitors. There are presentations on inshore shipwrecks, the Tom Crean centenary expedition, the Q ships of the First World War — when Cobh was a maritime base — and the Forts of Cork Harbour. Planned trips include visits to museums and maritime sites in the UK, Ireland, and Europe.

Michael Martin, who was in the naval service for 23 years, was elected secretary. Originally from Dublin, he served with the United Nations peacekeeping force in South Lebanon in 1994/95, is the author of four books, and created the Titanic Trail historical walking tours around Cobh and the Cork City Ramble.

In the late 1980s, he championed union representation in the Defence Forces, becoming the first general secretary of the Permanent Defence Forces Representative Association.

Kevin Forrest is honorary treasurer, a native of Cobh, who served his apprenticeship building fishing trawlers in the former maritime industries at Carrigaloe on the harbour’s edge. He served in the navy for 33 years as a chief petty officer engine artificer, was on four resupply missions to Lebanon, and was on the LÉ Niamh voyage to Boston, St John’s, and Toronto. He later worked with Doyle Shipping and has been a passenger on 15 global cruises with his family.

Paul Nash, Tom Kelly, and Seamus Harrington are committee members. Seamus, from Bere Island and Bantry Bay, is a keen sailor, who has voyaged as far as the Caribbean and undertaken many coastal trips. He has just published his book of maritime poetry, Time and Tide, in which weather, memory, and the restless pull of the sea are themes.

Cobh has a strong team, a driving force for maritime interest. It has six monthly lecture meetings per year at the Commodore Hotel on a variety of maritime-related subjects delivered by nautical experts from all over the world.

Membership of the society is open to the public. Email: secretary.wsscobh@gmail.com.

Welcoming Yakub in Aghada this Sunday

The Lower Aghada Pier Development Group oversees the operation of the pontoon on the eastern shore of Cork Harbour. The group is voluntary and funded by the local people.

This Sunday, the group’s annual regatta day will mark the homecoming of Jakub Ziemkiewicz, after his year-long solo sail around the world. With support from the community, he home-built his 19-foot plywood yacht in Aghada for the McIntyre Mini Globe Race, or the MGR 5.80, the figure denoting in metres the length of the yachts.

It was an amazing feat: A sailing commitment of a year, plus the construction time, to undertake 24,000-nautical miles of solo circumnavigation in the first-ever race for the smallest of yachts. He finished sixth of 15 starters.

The regatta, with traditional maritime events, will run from 2.30pm to 6pm.

Port applies for another Ringaskiddy licence

Cork Port Company has applied to the national Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA) for a maritime-usage licence for site-investigation marine environmental surveys on the northern side of the Ringaskiddy port area. It has requested a three-year licence period.

Details of this application and associated documentation are available on the MARA website at https://www.maritimeregulator.ie/application/mul260036.

International association for NMCI

The National Maritime College at Ringaskiddy has become a member of the International Association of Maritime Universities. The college said it was “an important opportunity for NMCI to further strengthen international partnerships, contribute to global maritime education initiatives, and continue supporting the development of highly skilled maritime professionals for an evolving industry.”

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