News Release
Irish Naval Service
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Contact: Michael Creasey, 617-242-5644
Charlestown, MA – The National Parks of Boston will welcome LÉ Samuel Beckett, one of four offshore patrol vessels in the Irish Naval Service Fleet, at Pier 1 of the Charlestown Navy Yard, from October 3rd through October 7, 2019. During the port visit the ship will be berthed alongside America’s “Ship of State”, the USS Constitution. Free public tours will be offered daily Friday, October 4th through Sunday, October 6th; from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tours are on a first-come, first-served basis, no reservations will be accepted. No weapons, bags of any kind, or drinking containers are permitted. Small purses and cameras will be permitted. Adults must have a photo ID. The ship is not handicapped accessible.
The naming of the LÉ Samuel Beckett shares in the literary tradition of all four vessels in the Irish Naval Service’s P60 class, being named for some of Ireland’s great literary figures; LÉ James Joyce, LÉ William Butler Yeats, and LÉ George Bernard Shaw. The LÉ is an acronym for “Long Eireannach”, meaning “Irish Ship”, as the United States uses USS for “United States Ship.” The primary mission of the P60 class vessels is fisheries protection, search and rescue, and maritime protection operations, including vessel boardings.
Established in 1800, the Charlestown Navy Yard was one of the original six navy yards created to support the young United States Navy. For the next 174 years, the yard served as a hub of innovation, an employer of skilled workers, and home to Naval officers, sailors, and U.S. Marines. In 1974, 130 acres of the Navy Yard were transferred to the National Park Service and the City of Boston. Today, over 1.5 million people visit the Yard, the USS Constitution, and the USS Cassin Young, a WW11 destroyer. Visitors today can experience a working shipyard, as the U.S. Navy continues to maintain and preserve the USS Constitution, and for five days, the Irish Navy enhances the visitor experience at the shipyard as they welcome the public aboard the LÉ Samuel Beckett.
About the National Parks of Boston
The National Parks of Boston is a collection of three National Park Service sites – Boston National Historical Park, Boston African American National Historic Site, and Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park. Established by individual legislation and for designated purposes, the three units have come together under a unified organizational umbrella to collaborate in ways that celebrate our cultural heritage, reconnect people to history and nature, and provide outdoor recreation opportunities on land and on the water.
Last updated: December 20, 2023