Famous Irish Mariners

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.

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