Naval Service Fleet
P51 - LÉ Róisín
LÉ Roisin was built in Appledore Shipyards in the UK for the Naval Service and NS engineers stood by her construction at all stages.
She was built to a design that optimizes her patrol performance in Irish waters (which are among the roughest in the world), all year round. For that reason a greater length overall (78.8m) was chosen, giving her a long, sleek appearance and allowing the opportunity to improve the conditions onboard for her crew. Onboard facilities include more private accommodation, a gymnasium and changing / storage areas for boarding teams.
Her main armament is a 76mm OTO MELARA compact gun and RADAMEC fire control system which is tied in to the integrated bridge system. She also has a highly automated engine room. Her twin WARTSILA diesels give her efficient patrolling ability with good speed performance when required.
LÉ Róisín is associated with the Children’s Ward of Cork University Hospital and regularly conducts fundraisers on its behalf around the coast.
Although all the ships’ homeport is Haulbowline Island in Cork Harbour, LÉ Róisín has a particularly close relationship with the city of Dublin.
| Type | Offshore Patrol vessel |
|---|---|
| Commissioned | 15 December 1999 |
| Complement | 44 (6 Officers and 38 Ratings) |
| Displacement | 1500 tonnaí |
| Dimensions (meters) | 78.84 x 14 x 3.8 meters |
| powerplant | 2 x V26 WARTSILA 26, 5000kW, Medium Speed Diesel |
| Maximum Speed | 23 knots |
| Range | 6000 nautical miles at 17 knots |
| Weapons | 1 x 76mm OTO Melara Cannon; 2 x 12.7mm HMG and 4 x 7.62mm GPMG |
Róisín from Celtic Mythology
Róisín or Róisín Dúbh, though now usually portrayed as an allegory for Ireland, was probably one of the daughters of Red Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone in the late 16th Century. Like many young noblewomen of the time, she was married several times while quite young. One marriage was probably to Hugh O'Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell and another to O'Cahain of Innishowen. Such Dynastic marriages were not unusual and under Irish law, marriage was a purely secular matter and the church had no real involvement in it.
The poem 'Róisín Dúbh' is one of those poems of which almost everyone has heard but very few actually read. It is almost certainly a love poem to a real woman, not to an abstraction of idealised womanhood or an allegory of the country. Such poems were not unusual particularly in the 18th and early 19th centuries, but the language of 'Róisín Dúbh' is quite different. The other poems tend to express admiration for the beauty and courage of the lady being eulogised but they never express the sense of lust that comes across in this poem.