Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 145, Wednesday 30 September 2026

‘Disturb us, Lord … when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore’ … after sunset on the shore below the Fortezza in Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We have arrived at the end of September and we are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar. The week began with Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVII, 27 September 2026), and the calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Saint Jerome (420), Translator of the Scriptures, Teacher of the Faith.

Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, and for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

‘Disturb us, Lord … when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore’ … sails and boats in the harbour in Rethymnon at sunset (Photograph: Patrick Comerford; click on image for full-screen viewing)

Luke 9: 57-62 (NRSVA):

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ 58 And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ 59 To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ 60 But Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ 61 Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ 62 Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

Sir Francis Drake … ‘it is not the beginning, but the continuing of the same unto the end, until it be thoroughly finished, which yieldeth the true glory’

Today’s Reflections:

Saint Luke is a great story-teller, and we are all captivated by his stories of healing and his parables: the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, the unjust steward, and so on.

So this morning’s Gospel reading at the Eucharist (Luke 9: 57-62) comes as a little surprise. The first impression is that there is no story here, no drama, no healing, no showing how society’s perceived underdog is really a model for our own behaviour, for my behaviour – indeed a model of how God behaves, and behaves towards us.

Instead, what we have what reads like a series of pithy statements from Jesus: like a collection of sayings from the Desert Fathers or even a collection of popular sayings from Zen masters.

Good stories about wayward sons and muggings on the roadside make for good drama, and healing stories are great soap opera. But they only remain stories and they only remain mini-stage-plays if all we want is good entertainment and forget all about what the main storyline is, what the underlying plot in Saint Luke’s Gospel is.

The context of today’s reading is provided a few verses earlier, when Saint Luke says the days are drawing near and Jesus is setting his face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9: 51).

It is a challenge to us all. We are called to live not for the pleasure of a dramatic moment, but to live in the one great drama that is taking place: to set our faces on the heavenly Jerusalem; to live as if we really believe in the New Heaven and the New Earth.

We are called not to be conditional disciples – being a Christian when I look after everything else, sometime in the future. We are called to be committed disciples – to live as Christians in the here-and-now.

There is the man who wants to follow Jesus, but only if he can hold on to his wealth and property (Luke 9: 57-58). There is the man who wants to follow Jesus, but not until he has looked after burying his father (Luke 9: 59-60). There is the man who wants to follow Jesus, but who thinks first he must consider what his friends and those at home would think before he leaves them (Luke 10: 61-62).

Of course, it is good to have a home of my own and not to live in a foxhole. Of course, it is good that each of us should take responsibility for ageing parents and to bury them when they die. Of course, it is good that we should not walk out on our families, our friends and our responsibilities.

Of course, domestic security, filial duty and loyal affection are high ideals. But they are conditional, while the call of the kingdom is compelling, urgent and imperative. And it demands commitment in such a way that it puts all other loyalties in second place.

Christ is not saying that these men had the wrong values. But he sees how we can use values so that we can end up with the wrong priorities.

As GB Caird pointed out in his commentary on Saint Luke’s Gospel, sometimes the most difficult choices in life for most of us are not between good and evil, but between the good and the best. I am sure these three ‘wannabe’ disciples presented good excuses. But discipleship on my own terms is not what Christ asks of me. It can only be on his terms. There is no conditional discipleship, there is only committed discipleship.

As advertisers remind us constantly, there are terms and conditions attached to most things in life. But there can be no terms and conditions attached when it comes to being a disciple, to being a follower of Jesus.

As his ship, the Elizabeth Bonaventure, lay at anchor at Cape Sakar on 17 May 1587 after the sacking of Sagress, Sir Francis Drake wrote to Elizabeth I’s secretary of state, Sir Francis Walsingham: ‘There must be a begynnyng of any great matter, but the contenewing unto the end untyll it be thoroughly ffynyshed yeldes the trew glory.’

These words were later adapted by Eric Milner-White (1884-1963), who is credited with introducing the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols when he was the Dean of King’s College, Cambridge (1918-1941). In a collection of prayers he compiled and published in 1941 as he was moving from King’s to become Dean of York, he adapted Drake’s words in what has become a well-known prayer:

O Lord God,
when thou givest to thy servants
to endeavour any great matter,
grant us also to know that it is not the beginning,
but the continuing of the same unto the end,
until it be thoroughly finished, which yieldeth the true glory;
through him who for the finishing of thy work
laid down his life, our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

— after Francis Drake (c. 1540-1596)

But there is another prayer that is also attributed to Francis Drake. After the Golden Hinde sailed from Portsmouth to raid Spanish Gold before sailing on to California, he is said to have written:

Disturb us, Lord,
when we are too well pleased with ourselves;
when our dreams have come true
because we have dreamed too little,
when we arrived safely
because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
with the abundance of things we possess
we have lost our thirst
for the waters of life;
having fallen in love with life,
we have ceased to dream of eternity
and in our efforts to build a new earth,
we have allowed our vision
of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly –
to venture on wider seas
where storms will show your mastery;
where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
the horizons of our hopes;
and to push back the future
in strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
who is Jesus Christ.

This prayer exists in different versions, and many of these versions include lines that sound too modern to be Drake’s own words. Indeed, it is difficult to be certain whether any of this prayer was written or prayed by Drake himself, although, as the first person to circumnavigate the globe, he would certainly have understood its sentiment.

There is a well-known saying: ‘A ship in the harbour is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.’ Food, shelter, and warmth are not enough on their own. In order to flourish, we need a dream – a sense of purpose. A dream come true is, by definition, not a dream any more. And when our dreams come true, we need to dream new dreams, for: ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish’ (Proverbs 28.19).

So often, it is true, church life is a tussle between young people who want to try new things and older people who so want to keep things as they are. But young adventurers also need older people with wisdom and perspective who can still retain and nurture a healthy sense of adventure.

Drake’s prayer expresses the excitement of faith. It is so easy for some to dismiss faith as a crutch for the weak and prayer as a sign of weakness. But if all our prayers were prayers for help, then would there be nothing more to life than merely coping with it and whatever it brings us?

‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God’ (Luke 9: 62) … sculpture in Kanturk, Co Cork, of Thady Kelleher (1935-2004), World and All-Ireland Ploughing Champion (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Wednesday 30 September 2026):

In Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), the theme this week, from 27 September to 3 October 2026 (pp 42-43), is ‘Power of Language’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a reflection by Rachel Weller, Communications Officer, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (30 September 2026, International Translation Day) invites us to pray:

Gracious God, bless those who translate and interpret, making knowledge, scripture, and worship accessible to all.

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself,
and so bring us at last to your heavenly city
where we shall see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Lord, we pray that your grace
may always precede and follow us,
and make us continually to be given to all good works;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Gracious God,
you call us to fullness of life:
deliver us from unbelief
and banish our anxieties
with the liberating love of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

‘Foxes have holes … but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head’ (Luke 9: 57) … a fox in street art in Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2024: 144, Wednesday 2 October 2024

‘Disturb us, Lord … when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore’ … sails and boats in the harbour in Rethymnon at sunset (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024; click on image for full-screen viewing)

Patrick Comerford

We began a new month yesterday and we are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar. The week began with the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVIII).

I have a busy day ahead, with a number of journeys and meetings, and it looks like I am going to miss the choir rehearsal in Stony Stratford this evening. Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, and for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

‘Disturb us, Lord … when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore’ … sunset on the River Deel at Askeaton, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford; click on image for full-screen viewing)

Luke 9: 57-62 (NRSVA):

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ 58 And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ 59 To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ 60 But Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ 61 Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ 62 Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

A shofar or ritual horn in the Casa de Sefarad or Sephardic Museum in Córdoba … the central observance of Rosh Hashanah includes blowing the shofar in synagogues (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

‘He supports the fallen’

Rosh Hashanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה‎), the Jewish New Year, celebrates the birthday of the universe, the day God created Adam and Eve. This year, Rosh Hashanah 5785 begins at sundown on the eve of Tishrei 1 (2 October 2024) and ends after nightfall on Tishrei 2 (4 October 2024). Together with Kol Nidrei (Friday 11 October) and Yom Kippur (Saturday 12 October), it is part of the Yamim Nora’im, the Days of Awe or High Holidays, and the 10 Days of Repentance.

Most synagogues and Jewish communities will hold Erev Rosh Hashanah services this evening (Wednesday) and Rosh Hashanah services tomorrow (Thursday). The central observance of Rosh Hashanah is blowing the shofar (ram’s horn), normally blown in synagogues as part of the day’s services.

Rosh Hashanah traditions include round challah bread studded with raisins and apples dipped in honey, as well as other foods that symbolise wishes for a sweet year. Other Rosh Hashanah observances include candle lighting in the evenings and refraining from creative work.

It is almost a year since the shocking and startling events on 7 October, the worst tragedy for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. A year later, war and conflagration ard engulfing the Middle East and yet many of the hostages are not yet home. Next Monday’s anniversary is doubtlessly shaping how Jews all over the world are heading into the High Holydays and a time of reflection in the coming days.

Many Jewish people during this period will experience sadness, anger, pain, loss, grief, suffering, hopelessness yet hope, and many other emotions. The plaintive cry of the shofar, which will be heard in Jewish communities tomorrow and on Friday, will sound like a collective wail to many, the outpouring of the soul, and a prayerful wish for a peaceful tomorrow. The Amidah is the prayer said by pious Jews three or four times a day. The second blessing of the Amidah includes the reminder: ‘He supports the fallen, heals the sick, sets the captives free.’

Sir Francis Drake … ‘it is not the beginning, but the continuing of the same unto the end, until it be thoroughly finished, which yieldeth the true glory’

Today’s Reflection:

Saint Luke is a great story-teller, and we are all captivated by his stories of healing and his parables: the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, the unjust steward, and so on.

So this morning’s Gospel reading comes as a little surprise. The first impression is that there’s no story here, no drama, no healing, no showing how society’s perceived underdog is really a model for our own behaviour, for my behaviour – indeed a model of how God behaves, and behaves towards us.

Instead, what we have what reads like a series of pithy statements from Jesus: like a collection of sayings from the Desert Fathers or even a collection of popular sayings from Zen masters.

Good stories about wayward sons and muggings on the roadside make for good drama, and healing stories are great soap opera. But they only remain stories and they only remain mini-stage-plays if all we want is good entertainment and forget all about what the main storyline is, what the underlying plot in Saint Luke’s Gospel is.

The context of this reading is provided a few verses earlier, when Saint Luke says the days are drawing near and Jesus is setting his face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9: 51).

It is a challenge to us all. We are called to live not for the pleasure of a dramatic moment, but to live in the one great drama that is taking place: to set our faces on the heavenly Jerusalem; to live as if we really believe in the New Heaven and the New Earth.

We are called not to be conditional disciples – being a Christian when I look after everything else, sometime in the future. We are called to be committed disciples – to live as Christians in the here-and-now.

There is the man who wants to follow Jesus, but only if he can hold on to his wealth and property (Luke 9: 57-58). There is the man who wants to follow Jesus, but not until he has looked after burying his father (Luke 9: 59-60). There is the man who wants to follow Jesus, but who thinks first he must consider what his friends and those at home would think before he leaves them (Luke 10: 61-62).

Of course, it’s good to have a home of my own and not to live in a foxhole. Of course, it’s good that each of us should take responsibility for ageing parents and to bury them when they die. Of course, it’s good that we should not walk out on our families, our friends and our responsibilities.

Of course, domestic security, filial duty and loyal affection are high ideals. But they are conditional, while the call of the kingdom is urgent and imperative. And it demands commitment in such a way that it puts all other loyalties in second place.

Jesus is not saying that these men had the wrong values. But he sees how we can use values so that we can end up with the wrong priorities.

As GB Caird pointed out in his commentary on Saint Luke’s Gospel, sometimes the most difficult choices in life for most of us are not between good and evil, but between the good and the best. I’m sure these three ‘wannabe’ disciples presented good excuses. But discipleship on my own terms is not what Jesus asks of me. It can only be on his terms. There is no conditional discipleship, there is only committed discipleship.

As advertisers remind us constantly, there are terms and conditions attached to most things in life. But there can be no terms and conditions attached when it comes to being a disciple, to being a follower of Jesus.

As his ship, the Elizabeth Bonaventure, lay at anchor at Cape Sakar on 17 May 1587 after the sacking of Sagress, Sir Francis Drake wrote to Elizabeth I’s secretary of state, Sir Francis Walsingham: ‘There must be a begynnyng of any great matter, but the contenewing unto the end untyll it be thoroughly ffynyshed yeldes the trew glory.’

These words were later adapted by Eric Milner-White (1884-1963), who is credited with introducing the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols during his time as Dean of King’s College, Cambridge (1918-1941). In a collection of prayers he compiled and published in 1941 as he was moving from King’s to become Dean of York, he adapted Drake’s words in what has become a well-known prayer:

O Lord God,
when thou givest to thy servants
to endeavour any great matter,
grant us also to know that it is not the beginning,
but the continuing of the same unto the end,
until it be thoroughly finished, which yieldeth the true glory;
through him who for the finishing of thy work
laid down his life, our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

— after Francis Drake (c. 1540-1596)

But there is another prayer that is also attributed to Francis Drake. After the Golden Hinde sailed from Portsmouth to raid Spanish Gold before sailing on to California, he is said to have written:

Disturb us, Lord,
when we are too well pleased with ourselves;
when our dreams have come true
because we have dreamed too little,
when we arrived safely
because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
with the abundance of things we possess
we have lost our thirst
for the waters of life;
having fallen in love with life,
we have ceased to dream of eternity
and in our efforts to build a new earth,
we have allowed our vision
of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly —
to venture on wider seas
where storms will show your mastery;
where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
the horizons of our hopes;
and to push back the future
in strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
who is Jesus Christ.

This prayer exists in different versions, and many of these versions include lines that sound too modern to be Drake’s own words. Indeed, it is difficult to be certain whether any of this prayer was written or prayed by Drake himself, although, as the first person to circumnavigate the globe, he would certainly have understood its sentiment.

There is a well-known saying: ‘A ship in the harbour is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.’ Food, shelter, and warmth are not enough on their own. In order to flourish, we need a dream – a sense of purpose. A dream come true is, by definition, not a dream any more. And when our dreams come true, we need to dream new dreams, for: ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish’ (Proverbs 28.19).

So often, it is true, church life is a tussle between young people who want to try new things and older people who so want to keep things as they are. But young adventurers also need older people with wisdom and perspective who can still retain and nurture a healthy sense of adventure.

Drake’s prayer expresses the excitement of faith. It is so easy for some to dismiss faith as a crutch for the weak and prayer as a sign of weakness. But if all our prayers were prayers for help, then would there be nothing more to life than merely coping with it and whatever it brings us?

‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God’ (Luke 9: 62) … sculpture in Kanturk, Co Cork, of Thady Kelleher (1935-2004), World and All-Ireland Ploughing Champion (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Wednesday 2 October 2024):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘One God: many languages.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday in reflections by Rachel Weller, Communications Officer, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Wednesday 2 October 2024) invites us to pray:

May we embrace the value of multilingualism as a reflection of God’s creativity and design, affirming the inherent dignity of each language and its speakers, and striving to create inclusive spaces, including in our churches, where all languages are honoured and respected.

The Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God,
increase in us your gift of faith
that, forsaking what lies behind
and reaching out to that which is before,
we may run the way of your commandments
and win the crown of everlasting joy;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post Communion Prayer:

We praise and thank you, O Christ, for this sacred feast:
for here we receive you,
here the memory of your passion is renewed,
here our minds are filled with grace,
and here a pledge of future glory is given,
when we shall feast at that table where you reign
with all your saints for ever.

Additional Collect:

God, our judge and saviour,
teach us to be open to your truth
and to trust in your love,
that we may live each day
with confidence in the salvation which is given
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

‘Foxes have holes … but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head’ (Luke 9: 57) … a fox on the lawn at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute in Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

A sunny, summer Sunday afternoon by the yachts in the marina in Kilrush

Kilrush Marina on Sunday afternoon … home to the Royal Western Yacht Club of Ireland (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Patrick Comerford

I ought to be in Derbyshire this week, at the annual conference of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) in the Hayes Conference Centre at Swanwick.

But Covid-19 travel restrictions have led to the cancellation of the conference, and instead I spent much yesterday (20 July 2020) at a Zoom meeting of the trustees of USPG.

In normal circumstances, I might have expected to spend a day or two before or after the conference staying over in Lichfield, visiting Lichfield Cathedral and the chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, and perhaps also visiting Tamworth and Comberford.

But Sunday was an unexpectedly bright sunny, summer’s day, and not to be outdone, after two church services and a select vestry meeting, two of us decided to cross the Shannon estuary from Kerry to Clare, and take the ferry from Tarbert to Killimer … it was my first time on a boat of any type this year.

Coffee time on Sunday afternoon in the Vandeleur Walled Gardens at Kilrush (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

We stopped first for coffee in Kilrush and a walk around the Vandeleur Walled Gardens, before continuing on the other end of the town, and spending some time at the Marina in Kilrush.

Kilrush is a beautiful, brightly-painted town in Co Clare, and we had what you might call our Sunday afternoon dose of ‘Vitamin Sea’ as we watched children splashing about, learning water skills, and small boats leaving for and returning from Scattery Island.

The marina at Kilrush is also home to the Royal Western Yacht Club of Ireland, a traditional yacht club nestled in the heart of the Wild Atlantic Way. The club was established almost two centuries ago, in 1827, and to this day it continues to run yacht and dinghy sailing and racing events, mainly on the waters of the Shannon Estuary.

The Water Club of the Cork Harbour was established around 1720 and drew up rules for membership. At first, the club was based on Haulbowline Island, organising fortnightly sailing excursions and dinner parties to coincide with the Spring tides. The club went into decline around 1765 but was re-established itself in 1806.

An early member of the Water Club was Colonel John Bateman Fitzgerald, Knight of Glin. When he built Glin Castle on the south shore of the Shannon Estuary, he had the yacht Farmer, a large 18-gun brig, built in 1780 so he could enjoy sailing and cruising along the west coast.

A number of new royal yacht clubs were formed in Cork in the 19th century. The Munster Model Yacht Club was founded in 1872 as a Corinthian or amateur yacht club and eventually became the Royal Munster Yacht Club, based in the clubhouse of the Cork Harbour Motor Yacht Club at Crosshaven.

The Royal Munster merged with the dormant Royal Cork Yacht Club of Cobh which claimed descent from the original Cork Water Club of 1720. The royal charter dates from 1831 and the club organises the world’s biggest regatta bi-annually.

Meanwhile on the Shannon Estuary, with the encouragement of the Knight of Glin, the number of commercial local sailing trading vessels was growing apace, with the establishment of towns and sea-going trade along the Shannon Estuary. Soon, during summer months, interested groups organised regattas at each small port for all the types of craft on the estuary. They included trading brigs, cutters, turf boats, hookers, canoes, canvas currachs and gondolas.

The Royal Western Yacht Club of Ireland was first formed in Kilrush on 6 February 1828. The committee included the Earl of Dunraven (president), George Courtney (commodore), and Stafford O’Brien (vice-commodore), and other committee members included Crofton M Vandeleur and Colonel John Vandeleur of Kilrush, Maurice and John O’Connell, sons of Daniel O’Connell, and the Knight of Glin.

In the Vandeleur Walled Gardens at Kilrush … the Vandeleur family was involved in the foundation of the Royal Western Yacht Club of Ireland in 1828 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

The club had 201 members in 1837 with 82 sailing vessels, although not all members or vessels were based on the Shannon Estuary. The members were drawn from the Shannon Estuary area, including Limerick, Kerry, Cork, Westport in Co Mayo, Galway, Dublin and other places.

The Lords of the Admiralty gave permission on 16 January 1832 for members of the Royal Western Yacht Club of Ireland to fly the a white ensign with a red cross, a crown in the centre surrounded by a wreath of shamrocks, and with the Union Flag at the head of the ensign.

The Royal Western held regattas at Galway, Sligo, Westport and Belfast, which encouraged the establishment of the Royal Northern Yacht Club, which later moved across to the Clyde.

The Royal Western’s considerable resources in the mid-1850s included a club house at 113 Grafton Street, Dublin, and a floating club house based in Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire) Harbour.

The Admiralty withdrew the right to fly the defaced white ensign in 1858, putting into force an earlier decision that only naval vessels and members of the Royal Yacht Squadron could fly the white.

The move led to petitions to the admiralty and was raised in Parliament by Irish MPs. A lengthy dispute ensued, but by the beginning of the 1860s the Royal Western Yacht Club had faded away and no order was ever received by the club withdrawing its right to fly the white ensign, and no Act of Parliament has taken away this right.

The Dublin members of the Royal Western had run successful regattas in Dublin in 1854 and 1856. With the decline of the Royal Western, the members reformed as the Kingstown Model Yacht Club in 1857, later the Prince Alfred Yacht Club (1864) and later the Royal Alfred Yacht Club (1870), which claims – through these Royal Western links – it is the oldest amateur yacht racing organisation in the world.

Meanwhile, down in Cobh (Queenstown), the remaining Royal Western members there obtained an Admiralty Warrant in 1862 to fly the Blue Ensign under the title Royal Western Yacht Club of Ireland, based at the Queenstown Yacht Club which had been formed in 1860 but was disbanded and replaced by its new title and distinctions.

A year later, the new Royal Western obtained the Queen’s Cup for yacht racing from Queen Victoria and all the Cork yacht clubs were later amalgamated into the present Royal Cork.

Back on the Shannon Estuary, sailing was being revived slowly, with Tarbert in Co Kerry as the main base. The club was re-established in Kilrush as the Western Yacht Club in 1984, through the efforts of Brendan McMahon, Hugh McKiernan, Dan Beazley, Fintan Keating, Paudie Eustace, Richard Glynn, Gerald Griffin and others.

When Kilrush Marina was built by Shannon Development in 1991 to provide the infrastructure for developing yachting on the west coast and maritime-based tourism. The new development provided secure walk-on, walk-off mooring facilities and the club grew and increased its membership, becoming an active club in the traditions of the Royal Western of Ireland.

The crown on the Royal Western flags today is that of the Prince of Wales and not the monarch’s crown with orbs and crosses symbolising empire and faith. Today, the club is located at Kilrush Marina, a 120-berth marina that has excellent facilities just a five-minute walk from the centre of Kilrush.

Kilrush Marina is just a five-minute walk from the centre of the colourful Co Clare town (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

The world’s oldest yacht club has left its mark on the waterfront at Cobh

The crowned date ‘1720’ indicates the original use of the Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Patrick Comerford

During my visit to Cobh earlier this month, I was staying at WatersEdge Hotel, next door to the Sirius Arts Centre, housed in a beautiful Italianate building designed in 1854 by the English architect Anthony Salvin (1799-1881) to house the Royal Cork Yacht Club, the oldest yacht club in the world.

Salvin was best known for his restoration work on Windsor Castle and the Tower of London, but the former yacht club in Cobh is the only example of his work in Ireland.

The Sirius Arts Centre, the only organisation of its kind in east Cork, serves as an ‘intermediary between art and the public that endeavours to raise public awareness of art.’ It offers developing opportunities for both emerging and more established artists from both Ireland and abroad.

A crowned date ‘1720’ above the main door is a hint that that this is a heritage building of architectural and historical importance in Cobh, once home to the Royal Cork Yacht Club, which is now located at Crosshaven, Co Cork.

The Royal Cork Yacht Club claims it is the world’s oldest yacht club, although some consider the Neva Yacht Club to be older by two years.

The Royal Cork Yacht Club traces its story back to the Water Club of the Harbour of Cork, established in 1720 by William O’Brien, 4th Earl of Inchiquin, a great-grandson of the 1st Earl of Inchiquin, who was a courtier of King Charles II.

Sailing for private pleasure surfaced first in the Netherlands in the early 1600s. After his restoration and return from exile, King Charles II was presented with the Mary by the Dutch, and developed an interest in sailing on the Thames. His courtiers, including the Earl of Inchiquin, followed his example.

When Inchiquin returned to Cork, private sailing started to become popular through his encouragement. Over half a century later, his great-grandson, 26-year-old William O’Brien, 4th Earl of Inchiquin, and five of his friends formalised their activities and established the Water Club of the Harbour of Cork in 1720.

At first, the club based in a castle on Hawlbowline Island, then held by Lord Inchiquin. It became inactive in 1765, but was re-established in 1802. However, in the wake of the American Revolution and then the French Revolution, the Admiralty identified Hawlbowline for its needs in Cork Harbour. Until then, Kinsale had been the main naval centre on the south coast, but its harbour had begun to silt badly causing problems for warships, which were becoming bigger with deeper draughts.

By 1806, the club had moved to the nearby town of Cove, later named Queenstown and now Cobh, and had started calling itself the Cork Harbour Water Club.

During the 1820s, following the fashion of the few other clubs that had emerged by then, the club changed its name to include the word ‘Yacht’ and dropped the word ‘Water,’ becoming the Cork Harbour Yacht Club. In time, the word ‘Harbour’ was dropped from the name, and it became the Cork Yacht Club. In 1831, King William IV granted the club the privilege of using the prefix ‘Royal’ and it became known as the Royal Cork Yacht Club.

The former clubhouse of the Royal Cork Yacht Club … designed by Anthony Slavin and completed in 1854 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

The club used various premises in Cove as clubhouses until 1854, when it moved into a new building built on land given by Admiral John Hugh Smith Barry of Fota House.

The architect of the new clubhouse, Anthony Salvin, was born in Sunderland Bridge, near Durham, the only child of General Anthony Salvin and his second wife Elizabeth (Eliza) Mills. He was educated at Durham School and in 1820 became a pupil of John Paterson of Edinburgh, who was then working on the restoration of Brancepeth Castle.

Salvin moved to London in 1821, and entered the office of John Nash. His commissions for major houses included Keele Hall in Staffordshire for Ralph Sneyd, and Thoresby Hall in Nottinghamshire for the Earl Manvers. He refaced Norwich Castle, repaired the ruins of Newark Castle and the ruins of Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight, and restored Alnwick Castle in Northumberland.

He restored the Salt, Wakefield and White Towers at the Tower of London and the Chapel of Saint Peter ad Vincula, and was commissioned by Prince Albert to carry out work on Windsor Castle, where This included replacing sash windows with lancets and mullioned windows and rebuilt the Clewer Tower.

Salvin also worked on the cathedrals in Norwich, Durham and Wells, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Cambridge, and the restoration of Trinity College Cambridge, and was made an honorary member of the Cambridge Camden Society.

Salvin’s supervising architect in Cobh was Henry Hill (1807-1887), a member of an influential Cork architectural dynasty.

Salvin’s clubhouse in Cobh stands directly on the waterfront, and it became not only a major yachting centre but also an essential meeting place for Cork society.

The first general meeting in new club house took place on 4 May 1854. Because of the club’s popularity, membership was keenly sought after and club records show many candidates were disappointed when they were not elected to membership.

The members included Prince Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria, later the Emperor of Mexico. He was the founder of the Imperial Austrian Navy and a brother of the Emperor Franz Joseph. A special committee meeting was called on 30 November 1858 to consider whether Prince Ferdinand should be admitted. Many members feared ‘the admission of Foreigners’ into the club might cause the Admiralty to withdraw some of the club’s privileges.

The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, attended several RCYC regattas, sailing his yacht Britannia. Sir Thomas Lipton, who challenged for the America’s Cup in a series of yachts called Shamrock, was admitted to the club in 1900.

Meanwhile, the Munster Model Yacht Club was founded in 1872 and later received a royal charter, becoming the Royal Munster Yacht Club. It settled in the clubhouse of the Cork Harbour Motor Yacht Club at Crosshaven in the 1930s.

By the 1960s, changing economic and social patterns made Cobh less attractive as a base for the club. The Royal Cork and the Royal Munster Yacht Clubs merged in 1966 and the Royal Cork moved to Crosshaven, becoming ‘The Royal Cork Yacht Club, incorporating the Royal Munster Yacht Club.’

Cork Week, hosted by the Royal Cork Yacht Club, is held every two years, usually in late June or early July. Once Ireland’s largest sailing regatta, it has been superseded in popularity in recent years by the Dun Laoghaire biennial regatta.

The Royal Cork Yacht Club is celebrating its tercentenary this year. But, while it may be 300 years old this year, it can still claim that it is vibrant, progressive and innovative – just as it was in 1720.

As for the Sirius Arts Centre, it takes its name from the SS Sirius, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic, departing from Passage, about 3 km upriver from Cobh, in 1838. It is a worthy name for an arts centre in a town often associated with Famine ships, the Titanic and the Lusitania.

The story of Ireland’s oldest yacht club, told at the Sirius Arts Centre, is part of the Titanic trail in Cobh (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

A summer evening to enjoy sailing and dinner in Bray

A view of the beach and the Irish Sea from Butler and Barry in Bray, Co Wicklow (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Patrick Comerford

Bray was planned in the Victorian decades as the ‘Brighton of Ireland.’ So, it is only to be expected that it should be at its best on a sunny summer evening in August.

The August bank holiday weekend was over, and they were taking down the last of the funfair rides on the seafront when four of us arrived late in the afternoon with plans for an evening meal to celebrate a family milestone.

The summer funfairs come to an end in Bray (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Looking up towards Bray Head, there were no signs of the recent fire that had devastated part of this place of natural beauty just a few weekends ago.

For some years now, Carpe Diem has been my favourite restaurant and wine bar in Bray. But it closes on Tuesdays, and instead we opted to have dinner in Butler and Barry, the gastropub on Sea Road, above Sealife.

Many years ago, this was the Beach House, and I had many enjoyable dinners there on summer evenings, including one memorable evening when we watched dolphins dancing and playing in the sea.

Sailing in Bray … seen from a table at the window in Butler and Barry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

We had no booking on what seemed like a busy summer evening [7 August 2018], yet we were warmly welcomed and given a table by a large window looking out on the beach and to the Irish Sea.

There were no dolphins in the sea yesterday. Instead we had a perfect view of an evening’s sailing that entertained us throughout dinner.

After double espressos, there was still an invitation in the evening sunlight to walk along the seafront and enjoy authentic Italian ice creams.

I recalled stories of how an aunt and cousins had lived in Bray for many decades, how this was the town where my parents first lived after they married in September 1945 at the end of World War II, how in my early teens Bray was a fun destination for a day out, and how the Bray People was one of the provincial newspapers I had worked for as a journalist in my early 20s, designed the front page and editing the sports pages.

Hopefully, Bray will bring its own joys and pleasures to future generations.

A double espresso after dinner in Butler and Barry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Catching glimpses of Tarbert House during an afternoon in Tarbert Bay

Tarbert House seen from Tarbert Bay during an afternoon sailing (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Patrick Comerford

I have often passed Tarbert House during my fortnightly visits to Tarbert, Co Kerry. But my first time to see the house clearly was during my afternoon sailing across the Shannon Estuary yesterday [20 June 2017].

Tarbert House is normally hidden by the large trees that surround it. But as we sailed out of Tarbert Bay, the house came into clear view as it rose up from the surrounding trees and parkland in the distance.

Tarbert House, which dates from 1690, is a Georgian era house built by John Leslie or by James Leslie, Bishop of Limerick, in the Queen Anne style of architecture. The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage suggests the house was built ca 1720.

In 1786, Wilson describes it as ‘happily situated on an eminence commanding an extensive view.’ Tarbert House was owned by Robert Leslie at the time of Griffith’s Valuation, when it was valued at £24 10s.

In the past, visitors to the house are said to have included Jonathan Swift, Benjamin Franklin, the Duke of Wellington, Daniel O’Connell, Charlotte Bronte, Lord Kitchener and Winston Churchill.

After a visit to Tarbert House, Dean Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) wrote: ‘The Leslies have lots of books upon their shelves. All written by Leslies about themselves.’ However, Swift is also said to have written these lines about the leslies of Castle Leslie in Glaslough, Co Monaghan.

John Paul Jones sought shelter for his ship at Tarbert when he was chased by the British navy during the American War of Independence. In order to confuse his pursuers, Raymond McGibney told us in the bay as we looked at Tarbert House, John Paul Jones sent men ashore to place lanterns in the trees, indicating he was still in the bay. Then, under cover of darkness, he sailed silently out to Valentia and on to the US where he founded the US navy.

We were told this story inspired the name of the Lanterns Hotel on the road between Tarbert and Glin.

The US President Benjamin Franklin came to visit Sir Edward Leslie as part of his efforts to rekindle trade between Ireland and America. Franklin presented Sir Edward with a type of rose which, when planted in the gardens of the house, became the inspiration for the famous Rose Pattern that was woven into the curtains that hang to this day in Tarbert House. The pattern has been used since then in curtains as far away as the White House by Nancy Regan, who also visited Tarbert House.

Daniel O’Connell was a friend of the Leslie family and Tarbert House still holds a parchment that is a plea to the House of Commons in 1813 for Catholic Emancipation, signed by bishops, politicians and other notables, including Daniel O’Connell and his brother.

Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855), the author of Jane Eyre, spent part of her honeymoon at Tarbert House, although there is no record of her visit. She married her father’s curate, the Revd Arthur Bell Nicholls, in April 1854. She went to West Clare first and then came to Tarbert House, where she spent a night or two. They then went on to Tralee and to Killarney, where she missed her step getting into a boat. It turned out she was pregnant at the time but soon after she had a miscarriage and died as a result.

Lord Kitchener, who was baptised in a font that is now at Saint Brendan’s Church in Kilnaughtin, once lived on the Leslie estate at Ballygoghlan, where his father had a farm. Surviving correspondence tells how, as a boy, he came to the shore to gather seaweed for his mother’s bath to help relieve her arthritis.

Sir Winston Churchill’s aunt Leonie Jerome married a Leslie cousin, John Leslie of Castle Leslie and it is said that as a boy Winston Churchill spent some of his school holidays at Tarbert House.

Tarbert House, which is located in ancient parkland, retains many of its original internal features, furniture, pictures and decorative forms. They are testimony to the importance of this house in Ireland’s architectural heritage.

Although the estate was sold to the tenants around 1904, Tarbert House remains the home of the Leslie family to this day, and is occasionally open to the public during the summer months.

Tarbert House is open this year [2017], from May to August, from 10 am to 12 noon, and from 2 pm to 4 pm, and during National Heritage Week (19 to 27 August) the house is open each day from 10 am to 4 pm. However, it is advised to contact the house directly before making any arrangements to visit.

Tarbert House emerges from the surrounding trees and parkland and rises above Tarbert Bay (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

A day sailing out of Tarbert on the hottest day of the year

Arriving back at Tarbert Island after an afternoon sailing (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017; click on image for full-screen view)

Patrick Comerford

Who can work through the hottest day of the year?

The temperatures soared as high as 28 or 29 in this part of Ireland yesterday [20 June 2017], and more of the same is promised again today, the longest day of the year.

I had been working a long stretch – at least 10 or 12 days in a row without a break. But early on Tuesday a parishioner rang with an offer she knows I was never going to refuse.

Would I like to go sailing?

Three of packed into a car in Askeaton and headed west for Tarbert, where her friend was waiting for us to join him.

I have enjoyed boats ever since I was taken rowing on Lough Ramor at Virginia, Co Cavan, 50 years ago this summer. But I have never been very active about this pleasure. It has been a more passive form of pleasure for me.

In Cambridge, I regularly enjoy walking along the Backs, watching rowers and scullers alike. I keep in touch on Facebook and on Instagram with the exploits of Sidney Sussex Boat Club. Why, even one of my photographs was used in a fundraising drive by Jesus College Boat Club to find corporate sponsors.

In Greece, I love hopping on and off boats on island-hopping trips and I have had similar pleasures in Turkey and Italy. And there have been occasional trips in currachs and on coastguard floats between Achill Island Inishbiggle.

I have often promised myself in Rethymnon – it seems every year, to be honest – that I am going to take up the offer of a one-day introductory lesson in sailing. But, apart from walking around the sailing clubs in places like Bray and Skerries, and the yacht clubs in Dun Laoghaire, I have never managed to get nearer.

All apart from one memorable afternoon sailing on Tagus estuary in Lisbon late in 2014.

Tuesday’s sailing experience in Tarbert was a dream afternoon and a dream come true.

Three on board on the Shannon Estuary (Photograph: Liliana Montoya, 2017)

We sailed out from Tarbert Island Maritime Club, beside the car ferry pier, where the small and basic clubhouse is a valuable resource for local boat owners.

But it was no small experience. Tarbert is well known for its fast-outgoing tides, and we quickly became aware of the tides as we sailed out from the pier and out across the Shannon Estuary to Shannon Fort in Co Clare, and then across Clonderalaw Bay to Knock.

It was an active afternoon, without a moment’s slacking. I got to raise and lower the sails, navigate take the tiller, monitor the tides and learns how the winds and tides can change all our plans without a moment’s notice.

Tarbert Island Maritime Club takes advantage of the natural amenities of Tarbert Bay. The club has a large membership and the range of activities varies from competitive sailing to leisure activities, including sailing, rowing, swimming and angling. Rowing boats can be rented out, complete with life jackets for those who want to row around the bay or even venture to Glin and beyond.

The club also arranges tuition in seamanship, sailing, rowing, canoeing, power boats and swimming. Dolphin Watch Tours operate from Tarbert Pier, but we never got to see any dolphins. Perhaps they too needed a break on the hottest day of the year.

This was an afternoon that gave me all the experiences I dream of when I look at those offers of a day’s sailing in Rethymnon. We ended up celebrating our afternoon’s fun in the Shannon House by the pier.

Thank you to Rose Fitzgerald, Liliana Montoya and Raymond McGibney for a day of real fun. Yes, I’ll be back. And yes, I’m off to Rethymnon next week.

Blades back in Tarbert Island Maritime Club (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Sailing in Dublin Bay and in a unique biosphere in a city

Sailing by the ‘Lord Nelson’ in Dublin Port (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Patrick Comerford

I spent most of the day on Dublin Bay. I was on the Saint Bridget, a 26 meter steel hull vessel run by the Garrihy family at Dublin Bay Cruises and Doolin2Aran Ferries.

The full-day cruise began at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay in the centre of Dublin, beside the aptly-named Ferryman and opposite the Convention Centre.

The East Link Bridge opened for us as we sailed alongside the Lord Nelson out of Dublin Port Docklands, passing the Poolbeg Lighthouse, the Pigeon House and the South Wall out into Dublin Bay and on to Dun Laoghaire. There we found ourselves in the middle of the Dun Laoghaire Regatta, involving all the sailing clubs and yacht clubs in Dun Laoghaire.

Watching Dun Laoghaire Regatta in Dublin Bay (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

After coffees and ice cream at Teddy’s on the East Pier in Dun Laoghaire Harbour, we sailed back across the mouth of the port and across Dublin Bay to Howth, coming around Heath Head, and sailing between the land and Ireland’s Eye into Howth Harbour.

During the day, there were views of the Dublin Mountains, Dalkey Island, Joyce’s Martello Tower, Clontarf and the world wildlife reserve at Bull Island, the Baily and Kish Lighthouses, Lambay Island, and Ireland’s Eye.

Arriving in Howth Harbour this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

After lunch a walk along the West Pier and lunch in Howth, we caught the DART back into the city centre.

The cruise is part of the educational programme to raise awareness of the Biosphere that now covers Dublin Bay.

Unesco recognised the importance of Dublin Bay in 1981 by designating the North Bull Island as a Biosphere because of its rare and internationally important habitats and species of wildlife.

To support sustainable development, Unesco’s concept of a Biosphere has evolved to include not just areas of ecological value but also the areas around them and the communities that live and work within these areas. Since then, there have been additional international and national designations, covering much of Dublin Bay, to ensure the protection of its water quality and biodiversity.

To fulfil these broader management aims for the ecosystem, the Biosphere was expanded in 2015. The Biosphere now covers Dublin Bay, reflecting its significant environmental, economic, cultural and tourism importance, and extends to over 300 sq km. Over 300,000 people live within the newly enlarged Biosphere.

Dublin Bay Biosphere now contains three different zones that are managed in different ways.

The core zone of Dublin Bay Biosphere comprises 50 sq km of areas of high natural value. The key areas include the Tolka and Baldoyle estuaries, Booterstown Marsh, Howth Head, North Bull Island, Dalkey Island and Ireland’s Eye.

The buffer zone comprises 82 sq km of public and private green spaces such as parks, greenbelts and golf courses that surround and adjoin the core zones.

The transition zone comprises 173 sq km and forms the outer part of the Biosphere. It includes residential areas, harbours, ports and industrial and commercial areas.


The Dublin Bay cruise is a unique opportunity to explore what I believe is the only designated biosphere in a European capital.

Later this evening, I went up into the Wicklow Mountains for a walk and to look across Dublin Bay in dimming lights before dusk turned to dark, and across the valleys and lakes of the mountains. This is a green and pleasant land too.

In the Wicklow mountains this evening … this is a green and pleasant land too (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016; click on photograph for full-screen view)

Schull or Skull, it is still beautiful in the morning in early summer

Looking out to the sea from a beach near Schull Harbour (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Patrick Comerford

Schull or Skull – the spellings compete. As I tried to post photographs, Facebook kept telling me on Saturday morning that I was in Skull. Google Maps, on the other hand, told me I was in Schull.

Local people might have preferred to tell me I was in ‘Scoil’ and that the name of the village comes from the Irish An Scoil, the school.

The name of this pretty village in West Cork is said to be derived from Scoil Mhuire, or Saint Mary’s School, the name of a mediaeval monastic school. But there are no traces of this school anywhere.

Schull is a pretty, painted village on the south-west coast of Ireland, below the slopes of Mount Gabriel (407 metres). The town once had its own railway station. This opened in 1886 as the last stop on the Schull and Skibbereen Railway, a steam-operated narrow gauge railway that closed by in 1947.

The colourful main street in Schull, Co Cork (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

CIE finally closed the station in 1953, and local buses to Cork seem to pass through only once or twice a day. But people still get to Schull in large numbers on these early summer days, attracted by the small sandy beaches, the sheltered harbour, the sailing and boating facilities, the dramatic coastline, the colourful pubs on the Main Street, the art galleries, cafés, restaurants and food and book shops.

Schull has cafés, restaurants and tapas bars all along the Main Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Schull is a small place on the peninsula leading out to Mizen Head, with a resident population of about 700 people. But there are many holiday homes along the coast, and the village was abuzz when we arrived on Saturday morning.

Schull Harbour on a sleepy Saturday morning (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Schull is internationally known as a sailing centre and there are regular weekend races for cruisers and dinghies. Its sheltered harbour makes it popular for sailing activities and festivals as well as being vital for local fishing and markets.

Out at sea, the Fastnet Rock lighthouse was built in 1897. It is 11 km south of the mainland and rises to about 30m above sea level. It is used as the midpoint of one of the world’s classic offshore yachting races, the Fastnet Race. This is a 979 km (608 mile) round trip from Cowes on the Isle of Wight, round the rock and back to Plymouth.

Fastnet is used too as a mark for yacht races from local sailing centres in Schull and Baltimore. The harbour was busy on Saturday morning with fishing boats and sailing classes. During the summer months, there are boat trips to Clear Island and around Mizen Head.

Skull sounds like a ghoulish name for a village. But on Saturday morning, although the tourist and holiday season has yet to begin, Schull was a vibrant place, and I was overwhelmed by the choices I had for an early morning walk on the beach.

Beaches close to Schull Harbour (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016; click on image for full-screen view)

A taste of Italy and of the sea on a grey afternoon in Bray

Sailing out from Bray Harbour this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Patrick Comerford

After a week inland in England, I missed being by the sea.

Despite walks by the River Cam in Cambridge, and by the River Stort, the River Lea and the canals, locks, weirs and small lakes in the Lea Valley in Essex and Hertfordshire, during the past week, I think I missed being by the coast and opportunities for walks on the beach.

Late this afternoon, two of us went to Bray for a late lunch in Carpe Diem, close to the seafront.

A glass of Vernaccia from Tuscany )and a double espresso) in Carpe Diem this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

The staff in Carpe Diem offer interesting selections of Italian wines that change day by day. Lunch this afternoon was accompanied by a glass of Vernaccia di San Gimignano from Tuscany.

The Tuscan variety of Vernaccia appears to be an ancient one, but wine mappers and experts do not agree whether the grape’s origins are Eastern European, Greek or Roman. In the Middle Ages, a Vernaccia wine known as Vernage was popular in England.

Vernaccia di San Gimignano, which I tasted this afternoon, is the best-known variety and is a crisp wine with good acidity and tastes of citrus fruit.

After two double espressos, we crossed over to the Promenade and the seafront. But, while this should be high summer, and the funfairs are still spread along the promenade in Bray, there were grey skies above and a slight chill in the air.

We opted for a short walk along the sand on the foreshore, and as we began a clutch of sailing boats began to move out of the Bray Harbour and into the natural cove between the harbour and Bray Head.

On the tiny beach at Bray Harbour, beside Bray Sailing Club this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

The chill and the grey skies apart, it now looked like an ideal summer afternoon, and we continued on past Martello Terrace to the small compact harbour where Bray Sailing Club is based. The River Dargle flows into the sea here, along the North Wall of the harbour. The tide influences most of the activities because the harbour dries at low water.

Bray Sailing Club is more than 100 years old, and welcomes new members, who are welcome to take part in racing events for dinghies, keelboats and cruisers. Many former members have earned national and international reputations.

The clubhouse, which was refurbished and reopened recently, overlooks the harbour and was refurbished recently. There are three public pontoons on the North Wall of the harbour but the sailing club’s moorings are on the South side.

Afternoon calm in the harbour beside Bray Sailing Club (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

The club caters for all ages and for cruisers, keelboats and dinghies, with a full programme of racing, cruising and an active sea school that provides training courses for adults and juniors.

The club races between Killiney and Bray Head against the backdrop of the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains, and the club also offers the possibility of long-distance trips to other destinations in Ireland and to Wales and the Isle of Man.

Sailing between Bray Harbour and Bray Head this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

This afternoon’s delightful sight in the natural cove between Bray Harbour and Bray Head was part of the Club’s Sea School, which includes an exciting programme of sailing and training for junior members running until September and a programme of courses for adults and improvers.

Back at the bus depot beside Carpe Diem, unlike other afternoons, there were no buses displaying ‘Palermo’ as their destination. But it was good to get a taste of Italy and a taste of the sea this evening before heading off tomorrow afternoon for a week in Sicily.

A taste of Italy in Carpe Diem in Bray this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

‘And I love to live so pleasantly … Lazing on a sunny afternoon’

Skerries Harbour in the afternoon sunshine (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Patrick Comerford

Summer sunshine and summer afternoons should provide more time for enjoying sailing and cricket. Just because I’m beyond taking part does not make me lazy. I had an enjoyable, relaxing Sunday afternoon today [14 June 2015], walking along the beach at Skerries, walking around the harbour, and then spending a little time watching Sunday afternoon cricket in Rush.

Earlier in the morning, I was in Christ Church Cathedral, where I was deacon at the Cathedral Eucharist, reading the Gospel (Mark 4: 26-34) and assisting with administration of Holy Communion.

The celebrant was the Revd Garth Bunting, the preacher was the Precentor, Canon Peter Campion, and the setting was the Missa Brevis S. Johannis de Deo by Franz Josef Haydn (1732–1809), sung by the Cathedral Choir

There was music too from Mozart, Orlando Gibbons, and Arthur Brown’s tune ‘Saffron Walden’ for the Communion Hymn, ‘Just as I am’ by Charlotte Elliott:

Just as I am, of that free love
The breadth, length, depth and height to prove,
Here for a season, then above,
O Lamb of God, I come.

I suppose I have come to love this hymn not only because of its associations with Saffron Walden, one of my favourite towns in East Anglia, but because of its incarnational call to acceptance of present limitations and gifts.

Walking on the beach in Skerries this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Those words, ‘Here for a season,’ were an important reminder to accept the gifts of the present moment. After coffee in the crypt, instead of having lunch in the city centre, two of us drove out to Skerries, and had lunch in the garden courtyard behind the Olive before going for a walk on the beach.

The tide was out, the temperature had gone above 20, the skies and sea were blue, and families were enjoying the sand and the summer.

We cut back in behind the Sailing Club out onto the harbour, and around the pier. Out beyond the harbour, a small crew were rowing parallel to shore. Inside the harbour, one woman was paddling on a surfboard, a man was enjoying the pleasures of a small kayak, a seal was basking in the water, and one man was stretched out, enjoying the solitary pleasure of sitting in the sun alone on a small yacht tied up to the pier.

Enjoying solitary pleasures in Skerries Harbour this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

They were innocent pleasures, but it brought me back to the summer of 1966 and Sunny Afternoon by the Kinks, which went to No. 1 in the British Singles Chart on 7 July 1966, remaining there for two weeks, and to No 1 in Ireland on 18 July 1966:

The tax man’s taken all my dough,
And left me in my stately home,
Lazing on a sunny afternoon.
And I can’t sail my yacht,
He’s taken everything I’ve got,
All I’ve got’s this sunny afternoon.

Save me, save me, save me from this squeeze.
I got a big fat mama trying to break me.
And I love to live so pleasantly,
Live this life of luxury,
Lazing on a sunny afternoon.
In the summertime
In the summertime
In the summertime …

Help me, help me, help me sail away,
Well give me two good reasons why I oughta stay.
’Cause I love to live so pleasantly,
Live this life of luxury,
Lazing on a sunny afternoon.
In the summertime
In the summertime
In the summertime

Of course, the words by Ray Davies are a parody of the protests by the rich against the taxes introduced by Harold Wilson’s Labour government in the 1960s. They are not meant to evoke sympathy for the rich but to depict their contempt or even failure to understand the basic needs of the working class and the impoverished.

But lazing on a sunny afternoon in the summertime, watching those who might think of sailing away … or not sailing away … was a real pleasure in the warmth of summer this afternoon.

Cricket at Rush Cricket Club this afternoon … a club with humble facilities and international achievements (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Later in the afternoon, we stopped to watch play at Rush Cricket Club, across the road from Kenure Parish Church.

Cricket is first mentioned in Fingal in the diaries of Margaret Taylor in 1830, when the Taylors of Ardgillan Castle, outside Balbriggan, played the Palmers of Kenure Park, Rush. Other estate teams in Fingal were associated with the Talbots of Malahide Castle and the Cobbes of Newbridge House, Donabate, in a day when teams were made up from the families, staff and tenant farmers and their sons.

The Fingal Cricket League started in 1926, but Rush Cricket Club was not formally founded until 1931. It has played on its current ground since 1969, when the former Palmer Estate in Kenure was broken up because of heavy taxation in the 1960s.

The present grounds are humble in appearance, surrounded by concrete walls on three sides, and with 50-ft netting to prevent sixes flying over the short boundary into the houses along the fourth side.

On a summer afternoon like today, it may seem to the outsider that there is little remarkable about Rush Cricket Club, a Division Two team in the Leinster League. During the dark ages in Irish cricket in the 20th century, it was clubs like this that kept the flame alive. Cricket has stubbornly remained an important part of sporting life in North County Dublin.

But Rush has a unique role in the 2015 World Cup. It is a club that can claim to have developed two captains in the tournament. The new England captain, Eoin Morgan, grew up playing for Rush, his local club, and the Ireland skipper William Porterfield honed his game here in 2006/2007.

I could have lingered longer in Rush this afternoon … or in Skerries. Summer afternoons should be filled with more time for cricket and sailing.

As I left Rush this evening, I found myself recalling the words of this morning’s Offertory hymn ‘All my hope on God is founded’ by Robert Bridges (1844–1930), to the tune Michael by Herbert Howells (1892–1983):

God’s great goodness aye endureth,
Deep his wisdom, passing thought:
Splendour, light, and life attend him,
Beauty springeth out of naught.
Evermore
From his store
New-born worlds rise and adore.

Collect:

Lord, you have taught us
that all our doings without love are nothing worth:
Send your Holy Spirit
and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love,
the true bond of peace and of all virtues,
without which whoever lives is counted dead before you.
Grant this for your only Son Jesus Christ’s sake.