Irish Ferries has announced name changes for its ships on its Dublin-Holyhead and Dover-Calais routes.
Irish Ferries has a tradition of extending its Irish heritage through the naming of its ships after famous Irish writers and their works of literature.
The ship currently called Oscar Wilde– serving the Dublin to Holyhead and Dublin to Cherbourg routes – is to be renamed the James Joyce. The new James Joyce ferry, the largest and fastest cruise ferry on the Irish Sea, was appropriately built in the same dockyard as the Ulysses (named after Joyce’s most celebrated novel), the ship it will now partner with when sailing the Irish Sea.
Meanwhile, the recently acquired Spirt of Britain will be renamed as Oscar Wilde. The Oscar Wilde will join the Irish Ferries fleet on the Dover to Calais route later this month replacing the Isle of Innisfree, which will move to the Pembroke to Rosslare route. In a survey conducted by Irish Ferries, the new name had an astonishing recognition level of 92% amongst adults in England and Wales.
Andrew Sheen, Managing Director at Irish Ferries, said: “We are delighted to confirm the ship names James Joyce and Oscar Wilde, which will continue our proud heritage of Irish literary connections on our routes aligned to Irish Ferries’ award-winning hospitality and outstanding service for our freight and passenger customers. All of this truly lives up to our ethos of encouraging passengers to ‘Sea Travel Differently’”. Prices for one-way sailings start from €170 for a car plus 1 adult on its Dublin Holyhead route and from €84 for a car and up to nine passengers on its Dover Calais route.
