Celebrating Conor O Brien on the centenary of his pioneering circumnavigation

Celebrating 100 years since legendary yachtsman Conor O Brien returned from circumnavigating the globe aboard his yacht Saoirse. 

This June marks the centenary of legendary Irish yachtsman Conor O Brien returning from a history-making circumnavigation aboard his yacht Saoirse. 

The iconic sailor, mountaineer, architect, and author first set off from the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin on 20 March, 1923 on a 42-foot ketch of his design. Saoirse, or ‘freedom’, flew the flag of the newly independent Irish Free State. 

A history making voyage

For two years, Conor O Brien would sail East to West around the globe. It was a voyage of many firsts: he was the first Irishman to circumnavigate, the first to do so aboard a pleasure craft, the first to sail in that direction, and the first to pass South of the three great southern capes (Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin, and Cape Horn). 

40,000 miles and two years later, on June 20th 1925, O Brien returned home triumphant. For three consecutive years (1923, 1924, 1925), he was honoured with the Challenge Cup of the Royal Cruising Club, an honour so far unrepeated. 

O Brien kept cruising on Saoirse for much of his life. The iconic vessel lives on as a reproduction, as well as in the design of the restored vessel AK Ilen, whose story is an unlikely part of the voyage.

Passing in the Falklands in 1924, Saoirse had made such an impression on local mariners that a larger trading ketch was rebuilt in her image. O Brien named the resulting vessel Ilen after a river in West Cork. Ilen would go on to sail as a workboat for almost 70 years, and is now operated by the charity Sailing Into Wellness. 

Conor O Brien and Saoirse‘s legacy

As a pioneer of the history of cruising, Conor O Brien left a lasting legacy. To mark the centenary of his departure in 2023, the Irish Cruising Club organised a commemorative ‘Saoirse Rally’, for which a fleet (including the Ilen!) sailed from Dun Laoghaire to Madeira and back. O’Brien’s account of his history-making voyage, Across Three Oceans, was also republished for the occasion. 

On 20 June 2025, 100 years to the day of O Brien’s return, Saoirse’s reentry into Dublin Bay was celebrated by the Royal Irish Yacht Club, with a restored AK Ilen acting as flagship of the commemorative Parade of Sail.

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