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Legend of Dublin ship that emerged after years ‘missing' at sea to remarried wives, ‘Ouzeler' babies & wild pirate tale
So the story goes...'Many women are remarried, children are born. So there's a bit of shock when they return. And so it's kind of this big scene when the ship comes in'
SAIL TALE Legend of Dublin ship that emerged after years 'missing' at sea to remarried wives, 'Ouzeler' babies & wild pirate tale
On an autumn day in 1700, a battered ship sailed up the Liffey after five years at sea.
The sailors on board were overjoyed to see their families once again - but wives, and their new husbands, were less excited.
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Images of the legendary ship live on...a medal displaying the Ouzel Galley and her crew
Credit: Enda McMahon
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The Ouzel, according to its sailors, was never lost at sea but instead was attacked by pirates
Credit: Enda McMahon
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The story has become part of Dublin cover art of The Missing Ship by William Henry Giles Kingston
Credit: Enda McMahon
The tale of the Ouzel galley is one of Dublin's oldest legends and is credited today as the origin of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, that is, of course, if the tale is true at all.
The story starts in 1695, when a merchant galley called the Ouzel is said to have sailed from Ringsend en route to the Ancient Greek city port of Smyrna – now Izmir in Turkey.
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The vessel's owners, a shipping company called Ferris, Twigg and Cash, had intended to trade at the port before returning to Dublin the following year.
The Ouzel, however, did not return the following year, nor the year following that.
After the third year passed without any sign of the vessel or her crew, many in Dublin, including the Ouzel's owners and the families of the crew, assumed that the ship had been lost at sea.
Ferris, Twigg, and Cash would eventually take an insurance payout on the ship, amounting to the value of the boat and its goods.
The Ouzel, however, according to its sailors, was not lost at sea but attacked by pirates from North Africa while it was sailing in the Mediterranean.
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The pirates did not kill the crew but commandeered them, using the men and their vessel to hunt down other ships and recover valuable goods.
After several years, the crew somehow managed to overpower their captors and fled back to Ireland in possession of vast amounts of treasure.
But their return raised a number of issues.
For one, many of the wives of the sailors had presumed that their husbands were dead and had remarried and started new families in the intervening period.
A PIRATE TALE
Children born from these strange circumstances would come to be known as "ouzelers", a term still used in the Ringsend area to describe someone who doesn't particularly resemble their father.
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The larger issue that came from the Ouzel's sudden return was the matter of its ownership, in particular, who would get to keep its precious pirate booty.
Dr Lisa Griffith, Historian and Director of the Digital Repository of Ireland explained: "By the time it gets back to Dublin, it's actually full of pirate booty, gold and jewels and all the things that they've been stealing.
"And so the story goes that they come in and they presumably think that they own the pirate booty as the ship sails, and that they're returning it, they think, to their families.
"But obviously, many women are remarried, children are born. So there's a bit of shock when they return.
"And so it's kind of this big scene when the ship comes in. But the bigger issue is who owns the ship and who owns the gold. And so this big legal case starts."
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This legal case supposedly spanned several years and threatened to cost more than the ship and its treasure were actually worth.
To resolve the issue, a number of well-known merchants, including those involved directly with the Ouzel, came together and formed an arbitration body.
AN UNWELCOME RETURN
Lisa explained: "The insurance company claimed that they own it because they paid out on the insurance, and the crew think that they own the contents.
"And Ferris Twigg and Cash say, well, we own the contents. So you have these three parties, and it gets quite complicated.
"And it looks like it's going to be weighed down. But instead, apparently, a group of Dublin merchants come together and they decide that they're going to look at the case and they're going to make a ruling about who owns it. "
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She added: "And the ruling is that the contents of the ship should be sold, and the ship itself should be sold, and the money should be given to the poor of Dublin."
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Enda McMahon Cover explained how the society would eventually come to an end
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Antiques, like the one above, carry reminders of the forgotten tale
Credit: Pete's antiques
This case was so successful that the group would go on to formally establish the Ouzel Galley Society, a permanent arbitration body that was hoped could deal with similar shipping disputes without the need of the courts.
This group would not only take its name from the famous vessel, but its membership was also regulated to match the ship's complement of forty men.
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Each member would bear a crew rank, such as captain, coxswain, or boatswain, and was expected to pay an annual subscription for the society's upkeep.
Obviously, many women are remarried, children are born. So there's a bit of shock when they return. And so it's kind of this big scene when the ship comes in".
Dr Lisa Griffith
The society would thrive for decades, boasting affluent members such as Arthur Guinness and John Jameson.
In 1783, the society would be partially subsumed to create the new Dublin Chamber of Commerce, an organisation aimed at promoting business in Dublin.
After over a century, however, in 1888, the society would eventually end.
STORIED HISTORY
Enda McMahon, historian and author of A Most Respectful Meeting of Merchants, explained: "Its purpose had gone, it was an arbitration society.
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"The number of arbitrations, initially, there might have been 50 arbitrations a year, but it started winding down to one, two, and then, towards the end, they were having no arbitrations for years on end. So that's why they wound it up."
In recent years, however, the society has returned in one form or another.
He said: "100 years after the Ouzel Galley Society wound up, the Chamber of Commerce found that they had all these past presidents and they were allowed to be on the board of the Chamber of Commerce.
"The board was getting bigger and bigger, so rather than that, they created a new Ouzel Galley Society. So it's mostly for past presidents.
"There's some honorary members and they meet once a year. They contribute money to be a member, and that money is given out to charities."
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The story of the Ouzel galley has become a quaint and quirky footnote in Dublin's strange history.
The chamber of commerce has certainly been happy to associate itself with the story, installing a plaque by the central on College Green to commemorate the society and at one point having a bar in a commerce building named after the titular galley.
A HOAX?
However, recently, there has been speculation over the beloved story and ship, particularly whether it happened at all.
Lisa explained, she said: "I mean, like the story is fascinating. But you're talking to a bit of a doubting Thomas here.
"So from my point of view as a researcher, I went looking for any kind of records around the Ouzel Galley Society to see what they're up to.
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"And so the Royal Arch Academy, which is where I work, has an early log. So it's kind of a record of when the society meets.
"And the book is dated to the 15th of February, 1748. So that's the earliest record I could find for the Society."
She added: "The reason that I am sceptical about this really great story is that there are no records that I can find from the late 17th or the early 18th century.
The story is fascinating. But you're talking to a bit of a doubting Thomas here."
Dr Lisa Griffith
"There are Dublin newspapers around this time. The records are patchy. But in saying that, you have a really lively pamphlet scene. So they're kind of like when a legal case kicks off, you would have lots of people writing these kind of long pamphlets.
"And it's kind of surprising that a case of this magnitude and interest. And it's got so many peculiar angles that there are no pamphlets that survive that kind of discuss the case itself."
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In 1877, a children's adventure book was written on the tale of the Ouzle Galley, both Lisa and Enda agree it likely fed into the already growing mythology surrounding the story.
TRUE DUBLIN LEGEND
At the moment, no records remain that prove definitively that the Ouzel galley or the story surrounding its legend ever existed.
However, while it may never have sailed the banks of the Liffey, the Ouzel Galley has certainly left its mark on the city of Dublin.
Whether you're an odd Ouzeler from Ringsend, a retired president of the chamber of commerce turned captain, or just passing by a weather-worn plaque on Dame Street, the strange story of the Ouzel galley certainly lives on in the capital city.
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Plaque of the Ouzel Galley displayed at the central plaza
