{"id":613,"date":"2024-03-21T14:39:33","date_gmt":"2024-03-21T14:39:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seswpcourse.hosted7.connect.ie\/?p=613"},"modified":"2024-03-27T11:29:31","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T11:29:31","slug":"hobblers-who-were-they","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seswpcourse.hosted7.connect.ie\/index.php\/2024\/03\/21\/hobblers-who-were-they\/","title":{"rendered":"Hobblers \u2013 who were they?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hobblers \u2013 who were they?<\/span><\/h1>\n
\n

Dublin Bay\u2019s hobblers recalled at a D\u00fan Laoghaire ceremony<\/span><\/p>\n

first published in the 2002\/2003 edition of Inis na Mara<\/span><\/address>\n

More than seven decades after their dangerous enterprise came to an end D\u00fan Laoghaire families with close links to the sea gathered in late September to honour the hobblers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe who? \u201d\u00a0<\/em>asked one local teenager when told by a friend that he intended to be present at the dedication in D\u00fan Laoghaire harbour of a compelling monument to the men who years ago guided ships to harbour before the arrival of the Dublin Port pilots.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Many Families Represented<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n
\n
\"Desmond<\/a><\/dt>\n
Desmond Brannigan (centre) with members of hobblers\u2019 families<\/span><\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Skilled men<\/span><\/h3>\n

Councillor Donal Marren, Cathaoirleach of D\u00fan Laoghaire Rathdown County Council said of the hobblers: \u201cThey were men skilled in sailing, courageous men who frequently took risks on dangerous seas, competing against one another and the elements to be first to offer a guiding hand to a ship entering and berthing in harbour.\u00a0\u201cTheir story is a reminder that the poor and humble have had a central role in the history of D\u00fan Laoghaire and must continue to be accommodated within its confines alongside commercial interests and the more affluent in our society.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Symbol of hope<\/span><\/h3>\n

The monument, commissioned by the D\u00fan Laoghaire Harbour Board, is the creation of artist Fiona Mulholland. It is in the form of a tower of life-jackets suggesting the hazards associated with the sea and the vulnerability of man when faced \u2013 with its terrible force. It is in the form of a lighthouse and is a symbol of hope and man\u2019s will to endure and survive, said Councillor Marren.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pride among the present-day descendants of the hobblers gathered for the ceremony was tangible. They laid wreaths at the foot of the tower and touched with reverence the names of their kinsfolk who had perished in pursuit of their hazardous trade.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the lost were young men just out of school and learning their perilous business at the hands of hard fathers and uncles, men with names that currently comprise some of the stoutest and most formidable families in the Dublin districts of D\u00fan Laoghaire and Ringsend, the main centers of the hobbler trade \u2013 Lawless, Hughes, Shortall, Miller, Pluck, Brennan.The impressive monument stands on the East Marina breakwater in D\u00fan Laoghaire harbour. On one side is the huge new yacht marina with craft totaling millions of Euro and on the other the grand terminal for the HSS super ferry, all standing testimony to the passage of time, in a sense such a short time ago, and to the advances in shipping generally since the days when hardy men went out in flimsy craft to ply their perilous trade.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hobblers \u2013 who were they? Dublin Bay\u2019s hobblers recalled at a D\u00fan Laoghaire ceremony first published in the 2002\/2003 edition of Inis na Mara More than seven decades after their dangerous enterprise came to an end D\u00fan Laoghaire families with close links to the sea gathered in late September to honour the hobblers. \u201cThe who?…<\/span><\/p>\n

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