Edward Conor Marshall O'Brien (3 November 1880 – 18 April 1952) was an Irish aristocrat and intellectual. His views were republican and nationalist. He was also owner and captain of one of the first boats to sail under the tri-colour of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

. He was the first amateur Irish sailor to sail around the world. O'Brien was a grandson of the Young Irelander

William Smith O'Brien William Smith O'Brien (; 17 October 1803 – 18 June 1864) was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican who, in the course of Ireland's Great Famine (Ireland), Great Famine, had been converted to the cause of Irish nationalism, national i ...

, and learned Irish. He was a ship builder and designer, and his notable boats include the ''Kelpie'' (used for gun running in 1914), the ''Saoirse'' (in which he circumnavigated the globe) and the ''Ilen'' (a Falkland Islands service ship).

Early life

Edward Conor Marshall O'Brien was born in Limerick on 3 November 1880. His grandfather was

William O'Brien William O'Brien (2 October 1852 – 25 February 1928) was an Irish nationalist, journalist, agrarian agitator, social revolutionary, politician, party leader, newspaper publisher, author and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of ...

who was a member of

Young Ireland Young Ireland (, ) was a political movement, political and cultural movement, cultural movement in the 1840s committed to an all-Ireland struggle for independence and democratic reform. Grouped around the Dublin weekly ''The Nation (Irish news ...

; his grandfather and his aunt

Charlotte Grace O'Brien Charlotte Grace O'Brien (23 November 1845 – 3 June 1909) was an Irish author and philanthropist and an activist in Irish nationalism, nationalist causes and the protection of female Emigration, emigrants. She is known also as a Plant collectin ...

both played roles in social reform. Robert Donough, his uncle, was an architect, and the painter

Dermod O'Brien William Dermod O'Brien PRHA DL Hon RA (10 June 1865 – 3 October 1945), commonly known as Dermod O'Brien, was an Irish painter, chiefly of landscapes and portraits. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the ...

was his brother. O'Brien was educated in England at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and Oxford, and in Ireland in

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

. After his education he came back to Ireland and started practicing as an architect in 1903. According to the 1911 census he lived at 58 Mount Street, south County Dublin.

Architect

O'Brien was credited with two buildings in his lifetime: the Co-operative Hall in Co. Donegal and the People's Hall in Co. Limerick. He was also known as a naval architect, having designed two ships, the ''Saoirse'' and the ''llen''. He would later captain both of these ships himself.

''Across Three Oceans''

O'Brien's boat ''Saoirse'' was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. a journey that O' Brien documented in his book ''Across Three Oceans''. O’Brien’s voyage began and ended at the Port of

Foynes Foynes (; ) is a town and major port in County Limerick in the midwest of Ireland, located at the edge of hilly land on the southern bank of the Shannon Estuary. The population of the town was 512 as of the 2022 census. Foynes's role as sea ...

, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived. ''Saoirse'', under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes:

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

and

Cape Leeuwin Cape Leeuwin is the most south-westerly (but not most southerly) mainland point of the Australian continent, in the state of Western Australia. Description A few small islands and rocks, the St Alouarn Islands, extend further in Flinders ...

; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the

Roaring Forties The Roaring Forties are strong westerlies, westerly winds that occur in the Southern Hemisphere, generally between the latitudes of 40th parallel south, 40° and 50th parallel south, 50° south. The strong eastward air currents are caused by ...

and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925. Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the

grain race Grain Race or The Great Grain Race was the informal name for the annual Iron-hulled sailing ship, windjammer sailing season generally from South Australia's grain ports on Spencer Gulf to Lizard Point, Cornwall on the southwesternmost coast of t ...

from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the

clipper route The clipper route was derived from the Brouwer Route and was sailed by clipper, clipper ships between Europe and the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. The route, devised by the Dutch navigator Hendrik Brouwer in 1611, reduced the time of a ...

Restoration of the ''Ilen''

O'Brien's seagoing experiences were put to use in his design of the ''Ilen'' which was built for the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

as a service boat. In 1998 the ''Ilen'' returned to the site where she was first built, on the river Ilen near

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

in south-west Ireland, where she underwent a full restoration and was re-launched in May 2018. This task provided work-based learning for the students of the Ilen School.

Gun running

O'Brien had some involvement with gun running in 1914 on behalf of the

Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers (), also known as the Irish Volunteer Force or the Irish Volunteer Army, was a paramilitary organisation established in 1913 by nationalists and republicans in Ireland. It was ostensibly formed in response to the format ...

, for political reasons (he was a home ruler) and because he had experience in sailing. On 26 July 1914, 900 guns were brought to Howth harbour aboard Erskine Childers' yacht ''Asgard''. As part of the same operation Conor O Brien transported arms on his yacht, ''Kelpie''. The guns on ''Kelpie'' were transhipped to another yacht, ''Chotah,'' owned by Sir Thomas Myles, before being landed at Kilcoole in County Wicklow on 1 August 1914. After the gun running incidents, O'Brien served in the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roya ...

Mountaineering

O'Brien was a keen mountaineer as well as a sailor. He was known for climbing in bare feet, He climbed Mount Brandon in south-west Ireland and Mount Snowdon in Wales with

George Mallory George Herbert Leigh-Mallory (18 June 1886 – 8 or 9 June 1924) was an English Mountaineering, mountaineer who participated in the first three British Mount Everest expeditions from the early to mid-1920s. He and climbing partner An ...

and

Geoffrey Winthrop Young Geoffrey Winthrop Young (25 October 1876 – 8 September 1958) was a British climber, poet and educator, and author of several notable books on mountaineering. Young was born in Kensington, the middle son of Sir George Young, 3rd Baronet, a n ...

among others. Later, during his circumnavigation 1923–1925 he planned to climb Mount Cook / Aoraki in the Southern Alps in New Zealand's South Island. However because of delays during his circumnavigation he arrived in New Zealand too late.

Publications

O'Brien authored a number of books which document his experiences of sailing, from which he distilled advice for other boat designers, builders and sailors. He also wrote novels on the nautical theme. ;Non-fiction * ''Across three oceans'' * ''From three yachts – a cruiser's outlook'' * ''The small ocean-going yacht'' * ''Yacht gear and gadgets'' * ''Sea-boats, oars and sails'' * ''The practical man's cruiser'' * ''On going to sea in yachts'' * ''Deep-water Yacht'' * ''Sea-boats, oars and sails'' * ''Voyage and Discovery'' (1933) ;Fiction * ''The Castaways'' * ''The Runaways'' * ''Atlantic Adventure'' * ''The Luck of the Golden Salmon'' * ''Two Boys go Sailing''

Sources

* * *
Life and ships of Conor O'Brien – documented on the A K Ilen restorer's website.
(paragraph 2 on Conor O'Brien and the ''Saoirse'')

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Conor Irish sailors (sport) 1880 births 1952 deaths Architects from County Limerick Writers from County Limerick People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Naval architects Circumnavigators of the globe