Childers recalled as Smith commits £1/4 m to `Asgard'

The "passion, patriotism and love of the sea" of a forgotten hero, Erskine Childers, and his American wife, Mollie, were recalled by the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, yesterday when he confirmed his financial support for the restoration of the State's first sail-training vessel, Asgard.

Up to 50 per cent of the cost of restoration, estimated to be a total of £500,000, will be provided by the State, the Minister said at a press conference on the naval patrol ship, LE Aisling, before reviewing the Cutty Sark Tall Ships Parade of Sail in Dublin Bay.

The Minister has effectively reversed the decision to send the vessel from where it has been languishing in Kilmainham Gaol to the National Museum. He said he favoured a "living, moving" craft and supported the Asgard Restoration Project in its plans to have it returned to sea.

Welcoming the Minister's commitment, Mr Tim Magennis, spokesman for the project, said it would have particular significance for the Childers family, including Mrs Rita Childers, wife of the late President and daughter-in-law of the former Asgard owners. Her father-in-law, who was author of the spy novel, The Riddle of the Sands, was executed by firing squad during the Civil War.

The ketch was built in 1905 for Mr Childers and his Bostonian wife, Mollie, as a wedding present from her parents, and was designed by the internationally-renowned Scots-Norwegian naval architect, Colin Archer.

They sailed extensively in European waters, including the Baltic, North Sea, and along the sand dune coasts of Holland and Germany recalled by Mr Childers in his spy novel. The couple's most noted voyage together was the delivery run of guns to Howth in 1914 for the Irish Volunteers.

Following Mr Childers's execution in 1922, the ketch fell into several hands before being purchased by the State in 1961.

In 1968 it was given to Coiste an Asgard to be used for sail-training, and was put on display in Kilmainham Gaol after it was replaced by the Tyrrell-built brigantine, Asgard II.

Mr Magennis read from a postcard he had received two years ago from Mrs Rita Childers. She described her mother-in-law as a "fearless sailor", although she had been crippled in a skating accident when only three years old and had to walk on sticks.

Mollie had feared the Asgard would become a mere museum exhibit, whereas she believed "an old boat should have an ending on the sea bed".

"She did not live to hear of its future as a training ship for the young sailors of Ireland," Mrs Childers wrote.

Mr Magennis said he hoped the restoration, which will take at least two years, would bring new honour to the name of Erskine Childers, "a giant of a cruising man", and his "wonderfully courageous wife". He also thanked two key supporters in the move to have the vessel restored, the Norwegian ambassador and SIPTU.

The balance of the restoration costs will be raised by the project, which is chaired by Mr Arthur Hughes and includes the former Asgard and Asgard II skipper, Capt Eric Healy, among its members.