Facebook
Twitter
Dublin Docklands Development Authority Appoints Aiseanna Mara to Operate Jeanie Johnston
20th July, 2010 - The Docklands Authority today announced the appointment of Galway based company, Aiseanna Mara Teoranta to operate and maintain the Jeanie Johnston Tall Ship. The ship will remain at its berth on Dublin City Moorings where it will be open for tours which will commence at the chq building and also take in the famine statues.
Aiseanna Mara has been appointed by the Docklands Authority to operate the Jeanie Johnston following a tender process seeking options to open the ship up to public use. Alongside the operation of ship as a museum and tourist attraction, Aiseanna Mara will also continue the ship's maintenance programme.
The tender for operation and maintenance of the Jeanie Johnston was advertised in February 2010. The Docklands Authority received four proposals in response and following an assessment process has now awarded the contract to Aiseanna Mara Teoranta.
The Docklands Authority purchased the Jeanie Johnston in 2005 from Kerry County Council, the Kerry Group and Tralee Town Council. The project is an initiative of the Docklands River Regeneration Strategy which aims to animate the River Liffey and leverage its potential as a visitor attraction. Other projects delivered include the landscaping of the Liffey quays (campshires), refurbishment of the Scherzer Bridges and sea lock gates at Spencer Dock, the Liffey River Cruises tour service, the Dublin City Moorings facility and the M.V. Cill Airne Restaurant ship.
For more information, contact Loretta Lambkin, 01- 818 3300
History of the Jeanie Johnston
The original Jeanie Johnston was built in 1847 on the banks of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec City, Canada. Its architect was the Scottish-born shipbuilder and master craftsman John Munn. The 408 ton cargo ship was purchased in Liverpool by John Donovan and Sons of Tralee, Co.Kerry. As the famine gripped Ireland, the company ran a successful trade bringing emigrants from Ireland to North America and returning with timbers bound for the ports of Europe.
The Jeanie Johnston made her maiden voyage on 24th April 1848 from Blennerville, Co. Kerry to Quebec with 193 passengers on board. Over the next seven years, the ship made 16 voyages to North America carrying over 2,500 emigrants safely to the New World. Despite the seven week journey in very cramped and difficult conditions, no life was ever lost on board the ship - a remarkable achievement which is generally attributed to the ship's captain, Castletownsend-born James Attridge and the experienced Ship's Doctor, Dr Richard Blennerhassett.
The replica ship was designed by Fred Walker, former Chief Naval Architect with the Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England. The recreation was modelled closely on that of the 17th century Dutch East India ship, the 'Batavia'. Work began in 1993 and was completed in 2002. The ship is built with larch planks on oak frames, however to comply with international maritime regulations some concessions to modernity had to be made. She has two Caterpillar engines, two Caterpillar generators, an emergency generator located above the waterline in the forward deckhouse. steel water-tight bulkheads, down-flooding valves and fire-fighting equipment.
The Dublin Docklands Development Authority purchased the Jeanie Johnston from Tralee Town Council, Kerry Group and Kerry County Council in 2005.
