Shipwrecks, extreme swimming and Angelsharks

Diving Ireland Expo returns to the Abbey Court Hotel in Nenagh this month with a bristling array of interesting additions.

Ireland's biggest diving and watersports show, the annual event is being hosted again this year by Lough Derg Sub Aqua Club. As always, a key attraction of Diving Ireland Expo is the speaker lineup, with a series of talks on topics that are sure to fetch intrigue among many.

Among them is cold water extreme swimmer, adventurer, and scuba diver Nuala Moore, holder of two Guinness World Records for pushing human boundaries in the two most notorious bodies of water in the world, the Drake Passage and the Bering Strait. Nuala was part of the first international relay swim from Russia to the USA. She was the first Irish swimmer and only the third woman in the world to complete a 1,000m ice swim at 0°C, a challenge she met in Murmansk, Russia.

Recently publishing her biography - 'Limitless' - Nuala will be in Nenagh this month to share her incredible and inspiring experiences.

NAVY COMMANDER

Another Diving Ireland Expo speaker in the news currently is Chris Reynolds, former commanding officer of the Irish Navy diving section, former Director of the Ireland’s Coast Guard, and the first Irish head of an EU Mission in 2019 when he was appointed to lead the EU’s Capacity Building mission in Somalia.

Chris has a vast and varied experience spanning 45 years and ranging from military service aboard the LE Aisling to counter-piracy missions on the Red Sea. He will be talking about his Navy diving experience in Nenagh, as well as how voluntary search & recovery divers can work with the Irish Coast Guard.

Something completely different abounds with a presentation about Angelsharks, a fascinating endangered species that is sighted in Ireland. This joint talk - ‘Searching for Angels: An Irish Tale’ - will be delivered by Louise Overy from Angelshark Project Ireland and Marian de Jongh Swemer of Safari Diving, Lanzarote, where an annual ‘Count the Angels’ programme takes place.

WHALES, DOLPHINS AND BASKING SHARKS

‘The Waters We Share’ is the title of a talk to be delivered in Nenagh by Dr Simon Berrow, founder of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group and Irish Basking Shark Group. A well-known national commentator on marine megafauna, including whales, dolphins and basking sharks in Ireland since 1987, Simon has a raft of incredible information and imagery to share about our neighbours of the sea.

One of the biggest names in Irish diving, Barry McGill is making a welcome return to Nenagh this month to regale local audiences with his voyages of discovery to numerous previously undocumented shipwrecks, many of them lying in over 100 meters of water. A leading light in the art of technical diving, Barry has spearheaded major deep-wreck expeditions, including dives to the SS Empress of Britain (162m) and SS Transylvania (130m).

He was part of the international team that undertook the first internal exploration and artifact recovery on HMHS Britannic at 120 metres – Barry will be talking about that and diving the RMS Lusitania (93m) at the expo.

Elsewhere, Diving Ireland Expo features talks from the National Monuments Service Dive Team about underwater heritage; Fair Seas NGO on Ireland’s Marine Protected Areas, and a documentary about ‘Cill Stuifín’ / the ‘Sunken City’, a legendary reef off the coast of Clare.

UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION

The event will further feature a series of talks about underwater photography and a new display of photographs taken around Ireland and abroad. The awards from last year’s Diving Ireland Underwater Photography competition will be presented at the expo.

Diving Ireland Expo is anchored by a trade show where those interested in scuba-diving, free-diving, snorkelling and similar watersports can avail of great deals on gear. The event is complemented by an assortment of art & craft stands - most of which will have an aquatic theme - involving several well-known local artisans.

There will be numerous prize draws over the weekend with a holiday in Egypt among the prizes to be won. The expo features a raffle, with tickets available here and at the venue itself on the weekend - thanks to everyone who has provided raffle prizes.

Diving Ireland Expo will bring hundreds of visitors to Nenagh for the weekend, most of them staying locally and availing of the hospitality in the town and district.

Lough Derg Sub Aqua Club would like to thank all our sponsors of this event. Local sponsors include Tipperary Co Council, Abbey Machinery, Jenny’s Kitchen, The Peppermill and Pepé’s restaurants, Rohans pub, Rocky's pub, Clare St B&B, Williamsferry House, Lough Derg House B&B, Larkins of Garrykennedy, Portroe Dive Centre, Jack Bayly and Nenagh Tyre Centre.

It's all happening at the Abbey Court Hotel on Saturday and Sunday, March 21 and 22.

For further details, visit the website divingirelandexpo.ie and check out @diveirelandexpo on Facebook and Instagram.