An Cosantóir

25 wedding gift from Molly's father and designed by both Robert Erskine Childers and Colin Archer, legendary shipwright of Larvik, Norway. The first logbook of the Asgard is from 1905, the yacht delivered to the couple in the same year. Robert Erskine, then a 35-year-old clerk at the House of Commons, and Molly, then a first time mother of Erskine Óg, went out immediately on it, and they logged journeys up and down the coasts of England. The logbooks for the next decade are full of names of visitors, ports of call; voyages to Ireland and even north towards the Baltic Sea. It would be 1914, only a month before the outbreak of World War One that the couple took the boat into history, and infamy, depending on your political viewpoint. An echo through time I bring up infamy because I want the readers here to understand the nuances of Howth through the long historical snake of Irish history. To pacifists, the events of that day in 1914 brought tremendous pain and suffering to our people. It successfully "…inserted gun culture into Irish culture" as one well known Irish writer remarked to me personally. Many view those years to Easter 1916 as ruinous and refuse to see the merits of the path to independence. All understandable points, but a view I don't share. To those that consider themselves Irish Nationalists; the Asgard is very much seen as a vehicle for freedom and liberty. They look to it as the final push of an old wheel turning for centuries. Bulmer Hobson, Roger Casement and Robert Erskine Childers, as they sat together over tea in Buswells Hotel café in June of 1914, finalising the plans for Howth, had two big goals. One was to make sure that the event got into newspapers; and the other that the parade of armed Irishmen was seen and felt by the general populace. They counted on word of mouth to carry the news of an arms landing. Very few historians can argue that its mission was unsuccessful. "I am honoured to be asked to contribute to this special moment in the life of the Naval Service. The photos seen here are just a small glimpse into our family's connection to the legacy of the Asgard. Warm wishes to all our currently serving members of the Defence Forces, and gratitude to all our veterans, who put their lives on the line when duty calls". In my family, I was taught from as early as memory affords, that public service means everything. The pillars of character; of which all Irish Navy men and women have supplied in documented service. Decades of history - decades of pride. Globally, our Defence Forces members and veterans hold their heads high. My family was honoured to hear of the creation of the Robert Erskine Childers branch of O.N.E., something that I think about every time I go to Glasnevin and put flowers on his grave. Growing up as a namesake; in one sense forever binds you to someone else's legacy. Their joys, milestones, mistakes, victories and heartbreaks become a lifelong influence. If your namesake was executed by Irishmen, it adds a particular next dimension of intensity. Often, I think about the sheer miracle, by luck or natural selection, that I get to be here breathing and enjoying life. As that might have never happened, as a result of that November morning in the yard of Beggars Bush barracks in 1922. Executions in families reverberate for decades. Erskine and Molly My great-grandparents, Robert Erskine Childers and Mary "Molly" Childers were happily married for 18 years. The two sons born to them, one becoming a newspaper executive, the other President of Ireland, grew up between Ireland and England. The Asgard, a 52 foot ketch sailboat, was their ASGARD v Under the Asgard, Killmainham Gaol, Dublin 1980 v Underneath the Asgard. Of note is the installed prop engine, which was added by previous owners. The Asgard never had a prop whilst owned by the Childers family, nor was a prop engine used at Howth 1914. v Erskine B. Childers and Erskine C. Childers look up at the Asgard, Naval Docks, 1977 v Commodore Peter Kavanagh and other Naval Service members discuss the condition of the Asgard with Erskine B. Childers and Erskine C. Childers, Naval Docks, 1977

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