The Connacht

The Connacht moves astern up Dublin's River Liffey for lay-over between Liverpool sailings. © Derry Walsh.

Built in 1978 to replace the Innisfallen on the Cork to Swansea crossing, the Connacht was, at that time, the largest ferry to fly the Irish flag.  Making her maiden voyage on 7th February 1979 her association with Swansea was a brief one and on 21st May that year the Welsh terminal was transferred to Pembroke Dock.

In September 1980 the Connacht was moved north to the Dublin - Liverpool run where she was joined in July 1981 by a new sister ship, the Leinster.

In a move aimed at better utilisation of the Dublin - Liverpool ferries, B+I Line commenced a new service between Dublin and Holyhead in March 1982. Sailing from Dublin at 1135hrs and returning from Holyhead at 1645hrs allowed one ship to maintain one daylight round trip before making an overnight run to Liverpool. Therefore, with two ships, the Connacht and the Leinster, a more intensive schedule could be offered serving both routes and reducing the time vessels were lying idle at high costs.

Having closed the Liverpool service  on 6th January 1988, the Connacht was immediately moved south to Rosslare where she reopened the service to Pembroke Dock six days later. She was later brought back to the Holyhead for a final spell of service from Dublin, relieving the Leinster for overhaul. The ship then saw out the summer back at Rosslare before being sold to Brittany Ferries in October 1988.

As the French-flag Duchesse Anne, the Irish-built ship was a welcome, if not somewhat unusual, additional to the fleet.  She remained with Brittany Ferries, serving routes from Saint Malo and Roscoff to the Portsmouth and Cork, before being sold to Croatian operator Jadrolinija in 1996 for further service as the Dubrovnik.