custom yacht interior
The Asgard is a 51-foot (16 m) yacht, formerly owned by the English-born Irish nationalist, and writer Robert Erskine Childers (DSC) and his wife Molly Childers. It was bought for £1,000 in 1904 (£84,000 in 2006) from one of Norway's most famous boat designers, Colin Archer. The interior was custom built to the specifications of Childers and his wife.
Molly, an invalid from early age, would at times take the helm of Asgard, strapped onto the deck with harnesses so she could navigate the rough waters of the Irish Channel. Its most famous trip was in 1914. Childers, his wife and a small crew, made the then treacherous channel crossing with a hold full of rifles from Germany into Howth harbour just North of Dublin, to arm the Irish Volunteers in response to the arming of the Ulster Volunteers in April. There is a plaque installed into the dock wall in Howth as a memorial to this historic boat journey. Shortly after the Easter Rising, the Asgard was put into long-term dry-dock in Northern Wales, where it was sold in 1928.
In 1961 the Irish Government procured the ageing vessel, returning it to Howth on 30 July 1961 in a re-enactment of the 1914 landing, using some of the original rifles and surviving members of the Irish Volunteers. It was used for sail training until 1974, when it was dry-docked and installed inside Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin where it remained as a museum attraction, until 2001..
As of December 2007, the Asgard Restoration Project is under way in Collins Barracks, Dublin. The yacht is being painstakingly restored with the focus being on preserving the original wooden hull and its metal supports, before replacing pieces with new material.. Once completed, the restoration will see the Asgard fully rigged with its mast for the first time in over 40 years. The National Museum of Ireland in Dublin is creating a permanent "boathouse" for the yacht.
The Asgard is often confused with the "Dulcibella"; the boat referenced in Robert Erskine Childers's classic novel The Riddle of the Sands. The "Dulcibella" was a totally different vessel.
Trivia
- There is an Irish pub in Boston, USA called the Asgard. It is located adjecent to MIT.
See also
- Asgard II
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