Between 1860 and 1990, seven Irish ferries proudly bore the name ‘Munster’, each honouring the Irish province of the same name. The province’s name comes from “Mumhan,” meaning “The Land of Mumha’s people,” with Mumha being a Celtic goddess.
RMS Munster (1860)
Our story begins when the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company was founded in 1822 in Dublin under the name Charles Wye Williams & Company. Charles Wye Williams, an often overlooked pioneer of steam navigation, established the company to operate steamships between Dublin and Liverpool. On May 1st, 1850, the lucrative Dublin-Holyhead mail contract was awarded to the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company, which went on to maintain the service for over seventy years. In 1860, four advanced paddle steamers were commissioned, named after Ireland’s provinces: Connaught, Leinster, Munster, and Ulster. The Munster, the first vessel on the Irish Sea to bear the name was built by Laird’s of Birkenhead, was 1,700 gross tons, 337 feet long, and powered by two-cylinder oscillating engines producing about 750 horsepower—cutting-edge technology at the time. In 1885, RMS Munster and the other three ships underwent upgrades to improve accommodation and boiler performance, reducing their funnels from four to two and further boosting their speed.
RMS Munster (1860) Specifications:
Builder: Laird’s of Birkenhead
Type: paddle steamer passenger ship
Owner: City of Dublin Steam Packet Company
Laid down: 1858
Launched:1860
Tonnage: 1.700 GT
Length: 337ft
Propulsion: 2-cylinder oscillating steam engines – 750 hp
Speed: 17 knots
Passengers: 100 approx.
RMS MUNSTER (1896)
In 1896, the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company purchased four twin-screw steamers to replace the 1860 paddlers on the Irish Sea mail service, maintaining their province names. These steamers were the first cross-channel ships to exceed 24 knots and were powered by triple-expansion engines. The service ran daily with morning and evening trips in each direction. The 1896 RMS Munster was laid up in Holyhead and eventually sold for scrap in 1924.
RMS Munster (1896) Specifications:
Type: screw steamer passenger ship
Owner: City of Dublin Steam Packet Company
Laid down: 1895
Launched: 1896
Propulsion: 2-triple expansion steam engines
Speed: 24 knots
Passengers: 150 approx.
MV LADY MUNSTER (1929)
The Irish Sea mail and passenger service was a lucrative business and on July 27th 1836 a group of Dublin businessmen including Arthur Guinness and James Jameson came together to form the British and Irish Steam Packet Company. By December of the same year, the company’s first wooden paddle steamers, all 500 tonnes—Devonshire, Shannon, and City of Limerick—were offering weekly services between Dublin and London, via Plymouth. For the next ninety three years the company continued to expand its Irish Sea passenger and mail services and by 1929 added the 1,871-ton SS Graphic to their fleet and renamed her the MV Munster as the third vessel plying the Irish sea to carry the name. Prior to entering service the ship underwent a major refurbishment, including an extended boat deck and the addition of two modern, shorter funnels (one purely decorative). After the overhaul, she began serving the Dublin-Liverpool passenger route.
MV MUNSTER (1938)
The fourth MV Munster, commissioned by the British and Irish Steam Packet Company and built by Harland & Wolff in Belfast, was celebrated as the largest passenger vessel on the Irish Sea at that time with capacity for four hundred and twenty three first-class passengers, over one-hundred of whom could stay in private cabins.
FIRST IRISH SHIP SUNK
On a routine overnight voyage from Belfast to Liverpool, chartered by the Belfast Steam Ship Company, Munster carried a general cargo of eggs, poultry, textiles and animal gut. Approaching Liverpool’s Queens Channel on February 7th 1940 at 6:00 a.m., the ship triggered a magnetic mine planted by German submarine U-30, commanded by Fritz-Julius Lemp. A massive explosion followed, sinking the Munster near Mersey Light.
MV Munster (1938) Specifications:
Builder: Harland & Wolff Belfast County Antrim
Type: passenger ship
Owner: British and Irish Steam Packet Company
Laid down: 1936
Launched: November 3rd 1937
Tonnage: 4.302
Length: 105.2m
Beam: 15.2m
Propulsion: two Single Acting (S.A.) diesels 1.347 hp – two screws
Speed: 17o knots
Passengers: 250
Cargo: animal products and textiles
Fate: sunk by a magnetic mine
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ALL SOULS SAVED
Captain W. J. Paisley ordered distress flares to be fired, and the British coaster Ringwall arrived from 8 miles away, rescuing all 190 people on board, including 20 children and 44 crew. Twelve people required hospital treatment, mostly for cuts and shock, with two staying overnight due to steam scalding.
According to The Western Morning News on February 8, 1940, Captain W.J. Paisley of Liverpool showed remarkable bravery during the sinking of his ship. Despite suffering a fractured arm and an injured shoulder, he initially refused to leave the bridge. Eventually persuaded to abandon ship, he boarded a lifeboat, only for it to capsize due to waterlogging. Thrown into the sea, Captain Paisley was later rescued by the crew of another lifeboat.
In the same newspaper there was a witness report by able seaman, Allan Clure who explained that he had just left the bridge when the explosion occurred there was a blue flash and a terrific explosion, the lights went out and the galley collapsed. Boiling water and pieces of galley fixtures were flung everywhere. “We managed to get on to the deck where the lifeboats were already being lowered. I finally got into one lifeboat but it became waterlogged and were flung into the water. I swam until a motor lifeboat came alongside and pulled me on board. As I was being pulled to safety, I noticed a passengerr swimming alongside and I helped him up. There was no panic whatsoever, although there were women and children amongst the passengers everyone behaved perfectly and apart from the mishap of the waterlogged lifeboat the rescue went through as quickly as possible”. Inefficient
MV MUNSTER (1948)
The fifth MV Munster was also commissioned by the British and Irish Steam Packet Company and was built by Harland & Wolff and launched on March 25th 1947. She entered service in January 1948, initially operating the Cork–Fishguard route before switching to Dublin–Liverpool. In October 1961, the ship had a serious collision with the oil tanker Jakinda near Liverpool, resulting in injuries to crew members on both vessels.
By 1967, the ship, onto which cars were loaded by crane in what was a slow process was deemed inefficient compared to the new ‘roll on- roll off vessels. She made her final voyage with the British and Irish Steam Packet Company on October 15th 1967, and was laid up in Liverpool for sale. In 1968, the ship was sold to George Potamianos SA of Piraeus, Greece, and renamed Munster-1. After departing Liverpool on April 8th she underwent conversion into a cruise ship at Eleusis Shipyard, emerging later that year as the Theseus.
MV Munster (1948) Specifications:
Builder: Harland & Wolff Belfast County Antrim
Type: passenger ship
Owner: British and Irish Steam Packet Company
Laid down:1946
Launched: 1947
Tonnage: 4.115 GT
Length: 111.82m
Beam: 15.30m
Propulsion: two 10 Cylinder B&W Diesel
Passengers: 1.500
Fate: dismantled India 2000
Renamed Orpheus in 1969, she was chartered by West Line in 1970 for services on the west coast of the United States, operating routes between Seattle and Alaska, and Los Angeles and Mexico. The ship returned to Mediterranean cruising in November 1970 and continued until October 2000, when she was sold for scrap. She arrived at the breakers yard in Alang, India, on Christmas Eve 2000, where she was dismantled.
MV MUNSTER (1968)
The sixth vessel to bear the name MV Munster was built by Werft Nobiskrug GmbH in Rendsburg, Germany, in 1967. Initially commissioned by Scandinavian Lion Ferry, she was sold to B&I Line while still under construction to meet the new demand by Irish holiday makers to be able to travel by car to Britain and the continent.
The Munster was launched on January 25th 1968, and began service on May 15th, 1968 on the Dublin–Liverpool route, completing the journey in six hours, thirty minutes, three hours quicker than her predecessor. Equipped with bow and stern doors, she had an efficient turnaround time of just one hour. Notably, her hull was reinforced to operate in icy conditions, making her the only “ice-capable” ship on the Irish Sea at the time or indeed if ever?
MV (Motor Vessel) Munster (1968) Specifications:
Builder: Werft Nobiskrug GmbH Rendsburg Germany
Type: ice-capable car ferry
Owner: B &I Line
Laid down: 1967
Launched: 1968
Tonnage: 4007 GT
Length: 110.2m
Beam: 18.9m
Propulsion: 4 MAN V9V30/45 diesels
Speed: 22 knots
Passengers: 1000
Cabin berths: 250
Car capacity: 250
Cargo loading: bow and stern doors
Scrapped: China 2002
In 1970, she was chartered by Brittany Ferries for various routes, including Roscoff–Plymouth, St. Malo–Portsmouth, and Pembroke–Rosslare. In 1982, the Munster was chartered to Egersund Thyborøn Linien in Norway for the Egersund–Thyborøn route. She briefly returned to Dublin–Liverpool service in 1983 before being sold to Petra Navigation Agencies in Jordan.
Over the next nineteen years, she was refitted, renamed “Farah,” and sold to various owners, including a transfer in 1990 to Tourist International Investments in Malta. In 1991, she was sold to Dalian Steamship Co. in China, where she remained in service until being scrapped in 2002.
MV MUNSTER (1990)
By the late 1980s, the B&I Line faced severe financial difficulties, having accumulating losses of £100 million. In response, the company began cutting ferry services, including the closure of its one hundred and fifty-two-year-old Dublin-Liverpool passenger ferry route.
In 1989 to maintain operations on the Rosslare-Britain route, B&I then chartered several ships, including the St. Patrick II, The Viking, Earl Harold, and Norrona. The company also chartered the Cruise Muhibah, which had run aground off Singapore on January 1st that year. On February 5th, 1990, the vessel arrived in Dublin for refitting and modifications, including the installation of a bow visor, and was renamed MV Munster. On April 27th, MV Munster began operating on the Rosslare-Pembroke route, serving for the next two and a half years as the seventh Irish Sea ferry to bear this iconic name.
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Sources of Information and Photo Credits:
Creative Commons Licence – Roger D Kidd
Discover Ferry Photos Group
Dover Ferry Photos Forums
Faktaomfartyg
Gordon Hislip
Ian Boyle – Simplon Postcards – The City of Dublin Steam Packet Company
Ian Boyle – Simplon Postcards – The Harland and Wolff Standard Motorships
Ian Collard
Irish Ferry Enthusiasts
Lugnad
National Maritime Museum of Ireland
Old Mersey Times
Peter Inpyn
The Yard website (Harland & Wolff)
U-Boat.net
Wikipedia
