An icon of Irish republicanism

Commissioned by Englishman Erskine Childers from famous Norwegian boat designer Colin Archer and paid for by the American parents of Childers's bride Molly Osgood, Asgard, the sleek, seagoing, gentleman's yacht with a Norse name meaning "home of the Gods", was to become, and has remained, an icon of Irish republicanism at its most romantic.

This explains the emotive arguments as to her future. A strong body of conservationists believes the 51-foot yacht should be conserved and preserved according to her archaeological object status within a museum space. A private group, Asgard Restoration Project Ltd, want her back on the water and in use. The feelings she inspires make it all the more difficult to understand exactly why, 40 years after her purchase by the State and her return to Ireland, the 96-year-old ketch's situation is again in dispute.

Completed in 1905 to her owner's precise specifications, Asgard was built for pleasure. For her first decade she certainly fulfilled that function as the couple enjoyed many ambitious cruises, particularly throughout the Baltic. No one expected her to become famous as a gunrunner, never mind republican icon, but who would have dreamt that Childers, who had progressed from favouring Home Rule to supporting total independence, would be executed by the Free State Government in 1922?

Asgard's story is closely bound to that of the emerging Irish nation. Childers was a fine yachtsman and already an experienced sailor by the time his future father-in-law, Boston surgeon Hamilton Osgood, was planning a definitive wedding present for his daughter Mary Alden Osgood (Molly) and her new husband. Childers was by then well known as the author of the bestselling thriller The Riddle of the Sands. Published in 1903 and credited with encouraging the Royal Navy's expansion of its North Sea fleet in the lead-up to the first World War, the novel, which features Dulcibella, a former lifeboat, has never been out of print.

When Childers approached Colin Archer in 1904 to order a yacht, the Norwegian marine architect and master shipwright, then 72, was the most respected boat designer of his time. His yard in Tolderodden at Larvik, near Oslo was the home of the Redningskoites, tough double-ended sailing lifeboats designed by Archer to handle the demanding conditions of Norway's west coast. The Larvik yard also became a place of pilgrimage for serious yachtsmen looking for versatile cruising vessels.

Asgard, ketch-rigged with a small mizen mast aft of the main mast, is unusual - most of Archer's yachts were single-masted gaff-rigged. Aside from Asgard's historic role in the struggle for Irish independence, she is extremely important internationally as one of the few surviving boats built by Archer still retaining a high proportion of her original materials. Many other Archer boats have been in near-continuous use since construction and so many timbers have been replaced.

In 1974, after five years service as the first Irish sail training vessel, Asgard was retired at the point when she would have required a major reconstruction to ensure her seaworthiness. What would appear to have been abandonment ironically resulted in her keeping much of her original material. Even the deck is the one laid down under Archer's supervision.

Looking at her now, stripped of paint following an agreed conservation plan, which was interrupted when suggestions of restoring her for re-floating were voiced, it requires an act of imagination to see her on that July day in 1914 when she returned to Howth having collected 900 guns off the Belgian coast. Her crew - Childers, Molly, Gordon Shephard, Mary Spring Rice (cousin to Conor O'Brien whose ketch Kelpie was also involved, as was Chotah owned by Sir Thomas Myles) and the Co Donegal Gola Island seamen Charles Duggan and Pat McGinley.

At Howth Harbour, the rifles were unloaded with the help of the Volunteers in less than an hour.

The first World War broke out in August. Childers served in the Royal Navy. Asgard, meanwhile, was laid up in Wales and would be sold by Mrs Childers in 1928, six years after her husband's execution, to a Cornish buyer. In 1932, she was sold on and was fitted with an auxiliary engine. Five years later, she was sold again, this time to the brother of the Cornish buyer. He kept Asgard for more than 20 years. In 1958, her new owner's plans to sail her to the Caribbean collapsed. An ambitious re-fit proved too expensive to attempt.

Asgard began another lengthy layup. Her previous owner was concerned about her condition. Help came from an Irish source. Journalist Liam MacGabhann discovered her in 1960 on the banks of the Truro River in Cornwall and began campaigning on her behalf. Later that year, the government purchased Asgard.

Re-fitted in Southampton, she returned to Ireland. Sailing back to Howth on July 26th, 1961, exactly 47 years after her famous day in 1914, Asgard was greeted by President Eamon de Valera. Molly Childers was still alive. She died in 1964. Although never designed for such a purpose, Asgard became, in 1969, Ireland's first sail training ship. Having served for five years, she was retired.

In 1979, she was taken to Kilmainham Gaol, where she remained until March. Her most recent move - including some weeks at the Point Depot - has again placed her in the news. Passions are high, but this battered, still gracious survivor remains in limbo.