THE YEAR 2008

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I DISCOVERED MALLIN TRAIN STATION

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WHEN I VISITED DUN LAOGHAIRE IN 2008

During my 2008 visit to DĂșn Laoghaire, an American tourist’s question about “Malin Station” led me on an unexpected discovery. Having lived near Malin Head in Donegal, I knew there was no station there. After clarifying they wanted to reach Tara Street, I directed them to DĂșn Laoghaire train station.

Later, on the station’s rarely used back platform, I noticed a sign reading “DĂșn Laoghaire/Mallin.” The following day, I asked colleagues from DĂșn Laoghaire about Mallin Station, but none were aware, despite using the station daily.

A recent inquiry (July 2024) revealed that DĂșn Laoghaire Station was officially renamed DĂșn Laoghaire/Mallin in 1966 to honour Michael Mallin, a 1916 Easter Rising leader. However, the dual name wasn’t widely publicised in subsequent years.

Reviewing my 2008 photographs of DĂșn Laoghaire, I was struck by the derelict Carlisle Pier, a prominent feature yet to be demolished. In 2008, DĂșn Laoghaire was a bustling coastal town with a rich maritime history, though showing signs of needing revitalisation.

The Carlisle Pier’s decline began in the 1980s with the ferry service’s cessation, followed by the railway line’s closure in 1980 due to platform incompatibility. Its historical significance couldn’t save it from demolition in 2009, a decision driven by safety concerns, dilapidation, and harbour redevelopment plans. The controversial demolition aimed to create a car park and promenade, aligning with the town’s changing needs.

The 2008 economic crisis significantly impacted DĂșn Laoghaire, like much of Ireland. Redevelopment projects stalled, businesses suffered, and unemployment rose. The crisis intensified the need for urban renewal and highlighted coastal towns’ challenges in adapting to shifting economic landscapes.

NOW NNS PROSPERITY WITH THE NIGERIAN NAVY

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LÉ EMER P21 PHOTOGRAPHED 29 JUNE 2008

To the best of my knowledge LÉ Emer was here, Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, as it was tasked with escorting the Sea Stallion from Glendalough on it return journey to Denmark.

LÉ Emer (P21) of the Irish Naval Service, now known as NNS Prosperity of the Nigerian Navy, was built as a patrol vessel in Verolme Dockyard, Cork, Ireland in 1977.[1]

After evaluating Deirdre for 3 years, Emer was ordered by the Irish Naval Service in 1975. Commissioned in January 1978, she was named after Emer, the principal wife of CĂșchulainn, a legendary Irish folk hero.

She was an improved version of the sole of class Deirdre and similar to LÉ Aoife (P22) and LÉ Aisling (P23). She was commissioned on 16 January 1978 and had 35 years of service with the Irish Naval Service.

Decommissioned on 20 September 2013, in October 2013 Emer was sold at auction for €320,000 to a Nigerian businessman.

In July 2014 Emer was impounded by the Nigerian Navy because the new owner had failed to secure the necessary military approval before bringing the ship into Nigerian waters. On 19 February 2015 Emer was commissioned into the Nigerian Navy as a training ship and renamed NNS Prosperity.

THE SEA STALLION FROM GLEANDALOUGH WAS LIFTED INTO THE LIFFEY USING A LARGE CRANE

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28 JUNE 2008 THE DAY BEFORE IT SET SAIL

Yesterday [6 Jan 2023] and today my photographs of this Viking Longship attracted much attention and a few people who were actually involved asked me if I had and photographs of the boat in the water [arriving in Dublin or leaving Dublin] and after much searching I found a number of original Canon RAW files which needed a lot of post processing as they contained a lot of noise.

The Viking longship – the ‘Sea Stallion from Glendalough’ – set sail from Dublin 29 June 2008. It left Custom House Quay at noon to begin a return journey to Roskilde in Denmark having been scheduled to arrive at the Viking Ship Museum there on Saturday August 9.

The voyage from Roskilde to Dublin and in 2007-2008 was the culmination of many years of work, and the most ambitious archaeological experiment the museum has ever carried out.

A return voyage to Dublin took place over the summer of 2007. The ship left Roskilde Harbour on 1 July and arrived in Dublin on 14 August.

She was put on display in the Collins Barracks, the Decorative Arts and History building of the National Museum of Ireland, from 17 August 2007 until 29 May 2008. She was then moved to the Grand Canal Dock to be prepared for the journey back to Roskilde on 29 June 2008, and shortly afterwards the National Bank of Denmark issued a 20-kroner commemorative coin in celebration of the event.

The Sea Stallion is lying in the Museum Harbour. The longship is easy to recognise with its characteristic blue, red and yellow strakes.

MALAHIDE SEAFRONT IN 2008 NEAREST THE TOWN OR THE LESS ATTRACTIVE SECTION

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PHOTOGRAPHED 11 MAY 2008

About ten to fifteen years ago I had lunch almost every week in Malahide and frequently my mother would join me but she will be 103 years old next May.

The Irish Sea has played a major role in the development of tourism in the Malahide. The extensive Velvet Strand stretches to the horizon and is extremely popular with bathers, walkers and water sports enthusiasts.

Walking from the town centre along the beach you’ll come to the wide velvet strand along the Mouth of the Estuary, from here the beach leads to Low Rock, a popular swimming section of the beach. After this the beach gets more rocky as you approach High Rock, for a more challenging swim and eventually if you continue on you will find yourself at Portmarnock beach where the sandy strand opens wide in front of you once more.

From Malahide Beach you can also take the coastal walk on the footpath all the way to Portmarnock but beware, it’s 5km away and that did catch me by surprise back in 2008 
 I was exhausted and had to get a taxi back to the train station.

VIKING LONGSHIP SEA STALLION FROM GLENDALOUGH AND AN APRIL FOOL JOKE

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PHOTOGRAPHED 11 MAY 2008

Havhingsten fra Glendalough (“Sea Stallion from Glendalough”) is a Danish reconstruction of Skuldelev 2, one of the Skuldelev ships. The original ship was built around 1042 near Dublin. The original ship was built with oak from Glendalough, Wicklow, Ireland, hence the ship’s name. The reconstruction was built at the shipyard of the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde from 2000 to 2004. Havhingsten fra Glendalough is a reconstruction of the longest viking longship that currently is found. It is used for research.

A return journey to Dublin took place over the Summer of 2007. The ship left Roskilde Harbour on July 1 and arrived in Dublin on August 14. She was on display in Collins Barracks, the Decorative Arts & History building of the National Museum of Ireland from 17 August 2007 until her return voyage to Denmark in Summer 2008.

There was an April Fool Joke relating to this ship:

Viking Ship Museum: We are forced to give Sea Stallion away

In relation to a new EU-directive about the inviolability of the national cultural heritage Ireland has claimed the handing over of the Skuldelev 2-wreck, the remains of a 30m-long Viking ship, which today is on display in the Viking Ship Museum Roskilde. The background for this claim is the fact that Skuldelev 2 originally was built in the year 1042
 in Ireland. About 30 years later the ship sailed to Denmark and ended her days on the bottom of the Roskilde Fjord as part of a fortification against enemies traveling on the water.”We are still shocked. The claim from Ireland came by a huge surprise for us. This looks like a revenge with a delay of 1,000 years,” says the director of the Viking Ship Museum, Tinna DamgĂ„rd-SĂžrensen.

“Since the Skuldelev-ships were excavated in the 1960ies we have regarded them as precious stones of the Danish cultural heritage. But for Skuldelev 2 it is scientifically documented that she was built in the vicinity of Dublin. The new EU-directive, which comes into force on April 1st this year, gives the Irish the lawful authority to claim the wreck be handed over to its legitimate owner, this being the Irish Ministry for Culture”.

“We asked the European court of justice whether the fact that the ship was built by Vikings resident in Ireland would not turn the matter around. So to speak: the ship was built in Ireland but by people who had Nordic blood in their veins. But the EU-court turned down our complaint on the grounds that the oak timber the ship was built of came from the woods around Dublin and therefore is regarded as Irish timber. And the timber’s origin definitely plays a more important role than the nationality of the craftsmen,” continues Tinna
DamgÄrd-SÞrensen, who has kept the Irish claim a secret until now.

“We have also raised an objection against EU laws being valid for a ship that was built in 1042 – circa 900 years before the Rome declaration was written. This argument made no better impression on the judges of the EU-court than the others. In the end we raised the issue that the ship was excavated in the 1960ies when Denmark was not even a member of the EU (or EC, how it was called then). But the European court of justice holds to the directive being made retrospective
 back to the Viking Age if need be”.

There are good reasons though, that the Viking Ship Museum may keep the wreck Skuldelev 2. The pieces of the wreck are so delicate that they would not survive a transport from Roskilde to Ireland. After long and secret negotiations between the National Museum in Dublin and the Viking Ship Museum both partners have now reached an agreement.

When Sea Stallion from Glendalough, which is a true copy of Skuldelev 2, sails on her historic voyage from Roskilde to Dublin this summer, the crew will hand over the ship to the Irish authorities at arrival in Dublin in mid August. “One has to admit, that the project suddenly took a different direction than what was planned. During 10 years we have dreamed about and made plans for Sea Stallion to sail to Dublin
 and back again. Now the result is that we only need to sail to Dublin. There we will give her to the Irish and in return the original wreck can stay in Roskilde.

According to the National Museum in Dublin, Sea Stallion will be taken out of the water by Irelands biggest crane in the middle of August and from then on be on show at Collins Barracks, former military barracks and today part of the National Museum.

“The very day that was supposed to be a day of celebration – Sunday 1st July – has become a day of sorrow for we have to say good bye to Sea Stallion forever. It is a hard stroke for the Viking Ship Museum, but also a great loss for Roskilde, and for the whole of Denmark. Roskilde looses a symbol – it is like Roskilde Cathedral would burn down.
And Denmark has to depart from the world’s biggest reconstruction of a Viking ship, only one year after it became part of our ultimate cultural heritage in the so-called Cultural Canon”.

As Tinna DamgĂ„rd-SĂžrensen says, the Viking Ship Museum is not going to admit to the will of the Irish for nothing. The National Museum in Dublin displays a number of axes and jewellery from the Viking Age, which the Viking Ship Museum now will claim to come back to Denmark. A recent ship find has also aroused the Viking Ship Museum’s attention.

“This wreck is probably not from the Viking period but from the Middle Ages. But it is clinker-built, a building method that originates from the Vikings. In our opinion this fact alone is sufficient to claim the ship back to Denmark as part of our cultural heritage, according to the EU directive,” finishes Tinna DamgĂ„rd-SĂžrensen.