Famous Irish Mariners
Published on 22. September 2025
Book
Hardback
168 pages
978-1-78849-492-2 (ISBN)
Description
Surrounded on all sides by water, Ireland and its people have long been shaped by the sea.
Ireland has a rich history of famous - and infamous - mariners: from our earliest navigators, who may have reached North America - by currach - a thousand years before Columbus, to daring polar explorers Ernest Shackleton and Tom Crean.
Read the stirring adventures of Ireland's seafaring women, from Granuaile to Kate Tyrrell, and naval leaders such as John Barry, who fought sea battles in the Americas. Irish people have helped to shape marine science, including Francis Beaufort, who devised the scale by which we measure wind speeds, marine biologist Maude Delap and John Holland, inventor of the submarine.
Ireland has a rich history of famous - and infamous - mariners: from our earliest navigators, who may have reached North America - by currach - a thousand years before Columbus, to daring polar explorers Ernest Shackleton and Tom Crean.
Read the stirring adventures of Ireland's seafaring women, from Granuaile to Kate Tyrrell, and naval leaders such as John Barry, who fought sea battles in the Americas. Irish people have helped to shape marine science, including Francis Beaufort, who devised the scale by which we measure wind speeds, marine biologist Maude Delap and John Holland, inventor of the submarine.
Reviews / Votes
wonderful, wonderful book -- South East Radio's Morning Mix a credit to your research skills and sheer tenacity. You've somehow managed to distil the lives of complex characters into a format readable by all, which is quite an achievement, because maritime books can often be difficult to engage with for those without seagoing knowledge ... your book will be of considerable value to the Maritime Museum's objective of attracting the attention of adult and younger readers to engage with and research Ireland's little known maritime history -- Richard McCormick, President Emeritus, Maritime Institute of IrelandMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Dublin
Ireland
Product notice
Vinyl
Plastic
Illustrations
3 Maps; 50 Halftones, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 136 mm
Width: 204 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
384 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78849-492-2 (9781788494922)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Emma Byrne is a graphic designer and artist. She is a graduate of Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design. She has won numerous awards for her design including The IDI (Irish Design Institute) Graduate Designer of the Year, the IDI Promotional Literature Award for her work on Brown Morning, and a Children's Books Ireland Bisto Merit Award for her work on Something Beginning With P: New Poems from Irish Poets. She has illustrated many books, including Best-Loved Oscar Wilde, Best-Loved Yeats, The Most Beautiful Letter in the World by Karl O'Neill, a special edition of Ulysses by James Joyce, and A Terrible Beauty by Mairead Ashe Fitzgerald. Her other books are Irish Thatch and, with Eoin O'Brien, Best-Loved Irish Ballads.
Content
Maps
Chronology
Introduction
Early Navigators
Brendan of Clonfert
Great Naval Leaders
John Barry
William Brown
Peter Campbell
Bartholomew Hayden
Thomas Charles Wright
Robert Halpin
John de Robeck
Andrew Cunningham
James Forrestal
Marine Scientists
Francis Beaufort
John Philip Holland
Maude Delap and Annie Massey
Pirates
Granuaile
Anne Bonny
Polar Explorers
Francis Crozier
Robert McClure
Ernest Shackleton
Tom Crean
Worthy of Note
James Leander Cathcart
Kate Tyrrell
Conor O'Brien
Gottfried von Banfield
References
Photograph Credits
Chronology
Introduction
Early Navigators
Brendan of Clonfert
Great Naval Leaders
John Barry
William Brown
Peter Campbell
Bartholomew Hayden
Thomas Charles Wright
Robert Halpin
John de Robeck
Andrew Cunningham
James Forrestal
Marine Scientists
Francis Beaufort
John Philip Holland
Maude Delap and Annie Massey
Pirates
Granuaile
Anne Bonny
Polar Explorers
Francis Crozier
Robert McClure
Ernest Shackleton
Tom Crean
Worthy of Note
James Leander Cathcart
Kate Tyrrell
Conor O'Brien
Gottfried von Banfield
References
Photograph Credits