LÉ Deirdre (P20) was a ship in the Irish Naval Service

Irish Naval Service

The Naval Service is the navy of Ireland and is one of the three standing branches of the Irish Defence Forces. Its main base is in Haulbowline, County Cork....

. She was named after Deirdre

Deirdre

Deirdre or Derdriu is the foremost tragic heroine in Irish mythology and probably its best-known figure in modern times. She is often called "Deirdre of the Sorrows." Her story is part of the Ulster Cycle, the best-known stories of pre-Christian Ireland.-Legendary Biography:Deirdre was the...

, a tragic heroine from Irish mythology

Irish mythology

The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branch and the Historical Cycle. There are...

 who committed suicide after her lover's murder.

Deirdre was built as a replacement for the s. She was to have longer range and be a more seaworthy ship for work in the Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

. Deirdre became the prototype for the later Emers

LÉ Emer (P21)

LÉ Emer is a ship in the Irish Naval Service. The ship is named after Emer the principal wife of Cúchulainn and the daughter of a chieftain from Rush, County Dublin....

.

Deirdre was sold at public auction

Public auction

A public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government, or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a government agency with similar authority....

 for IR£190,000. She was purchased by the English yacht chartering company Seastream International for conversion into a luxury charter yacht. Speaking on the Radio a Seastram spokesman appeared pleased with their bargain as they had been prepared to bid up to IR£500,000. The auction starting price had been IR£60,000.