Irish patrol vessel Muirchú
Public Armed Ship Muirchú (Irish: [ˈmˠɪɾʲxuː]) was a ship in the service of Irish Free State's Coastal and Marine Service (CMS). She was the former Royal Navy ship HMY Helga and was involved in shelling Liberty Hall in Dublin from the River Liffey with her pair of 12-pounder naval guns during the Easter Rising of 1916.
HMCS Malaspina of the same design as the Muirchu | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | |
| Name | Helga II |
| Builder | Dublin Liffey Dockyard |
| Launched | 1908 |
| Christened | 1908 |
| Completed | July 1908 |
| Commissioned | 1915 |
| Renamed | Helga 1915 |
| Fate | Passed to Irish Free State |
| Ireland | |
| Name | Muirchú |
| Namesake | Irish: Hound of the Sea |
| Builder | Dublin Liffey Dockyard |
| Acquired | 1923 |
| Commissioned | August 1923 |
| Decommissioned | 1947 |
| Renamed | August 1923 |
| Reclassified | 1923 |
| Fate | Sold to Hammond Lane Scrap Merchants Dublin, sank on delivery voyage. |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Steam yacht |
| Displacement | 323 tons |
| Length | 155 ft (47 m) |
| Armament |
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| Notes | |
Helga was purchased by the Irish Free State in 1923 and renamed Muirchú, 'Hound of the Sea'.
She sank off the Wexford coast after disposal in 1947. The wheel was recovered from the wreck by local divers and can now be seen in Kehoes Pub in Kilmore Quay.
The prefix LÉ is sometimes mistakenly used with Muirchú. The prefix was introduced in December 1946 when the Irish Naval Service was established with the purchase of three corvettes from the Royal Navy replacing Muirchú.