Commodore Frank Lynch
“For us the Naval Tradition and the Maritime Traditions has not been great for many different reasons. To some extent what we went down to Argentina for, was to borrow a little of the Irishness that was in Admiral Brown, and bring it back here to Ireland so that we could have our own Naval Hero. There are certain things about Admiral Brown that was quiet unique. He had a difficult childhood having lost his father when he was 8 or 9 years of age. He was orphaned, survived at sea; in fact he had a chequered career at sea, eventually found himself down in South America. One of the things that was surprising about him was you have many naval hero’s in many countries but he stood aside from politics and wanted to serve his country. Another feature about him was he wanted to look after his sub-ordinates, not his Officers, but the Ratings. He felt the Officers could look after themselves. He had many such features and was renown throughout Argentina and unfortunately he is not so well known here in Ireland. We would like to change that. We would like to adopt him and bring him back into our Navy as one of one of our hero’s. Someone who was distinctly Irish in his own way This Ship went down to Argentina and it is quiet a journey. Admiral Brown came back to Ireland when he was 70 years of age on a sailing vessel. Came through the UK and here to Ireland and visited his home and place of his birth, and then went back down to Argentina and lived to the ripe old age of 80 years. So I think he is a very worthy hero. His success as a Naval Officer on behalf of his country is quiet striking something like 30 major battles and never beaten. I am delighted to see you all here this and I hope you enjoy the remainder of the evening”

Commodore Lynch then handed over to Commander...Mark Mellett