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Growing up locally I spent all my time on the water, I was always a sailor

21. 05. 2020

Ireland’s only high street chandlery providing everything you need for water sports, sailing and marine

Viking Marine is a specialist marine and leisure business located in the heart of Dun Laoghaire Town and it’s one of our town’s great ‘destination’ specialist shops. Longtime residents know Viking Marine has been in town for 35 years. The Viking Marine team are unique with over one hundred years experience collectively in chandlery, in-shore and off shore racing, cruising and watersports

Arthur Rumball set up Viking Marine in the late 70s, which he ran until selling on to its present owners, Ian O’Meara, in 1999.  His brother, Alistair Rumball, had set up the Irish National Sailing School in 1978 and Arthur then joined INSS. Ian’s a local man from just down the road in Sandycove.

“Growing up locally I spent all my time on the water, I was always a sailor”.

What do you get when you walk through the doors? Ian says they’re all about “all things to do with water.” Unlike other specialist marine businesses, Viking Marine is the only one in Ireland to be based on a high-street. You’ll get the full brick and mortar experience in Dun Laoghaire town and online.

As lovers of everything on the water, it’s not hard to see why Dun Laoghaire is the perfect fit for Viking Marine.

“It’s beautiful…and of course, one of the best man-made harbours in the world.”

In common with many businesses, the lockdown hasn’t been easy. We’re now almost into the summer season, and staying at home means that few people are on the water and access to the physical shop is ony starting to be possible now with the gradual relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions. But Ian hasn’t let the lack of face-to-face interaction stop communication. Instead, the team has pivoted to making contact with customers by phone rather than email, and both the Viking Marine team and customers have found it to be very rewarding.

What’s on offer during the COVID-19 restrictions

As of mid-May, we’re getting ready to leave our homes but not quite ready to leave our immediate surroundings. For many people, a staycation is a reality, and Viking Marine is ready to help both through the online shop and when the store reopens in the coming weeks and months.

What can you expect? Ian says, the “online range growing all the time and, with staycation now a reality, we have just added Kayaks and Stand-up-Paddleboards (SUPs), to our range. We have had a lot of local online orders in the last few weeks, especially in the swimming and Dryrobe range. Locals find it great to get quick delivery from us (often same day) and with the added advantage it is easy to change if size isn’t quite right.”

Viking Marine offer a full ecommerce enabled website, see –  https://vikingmarine.ie/

Google Reviews Dun Laoghaire Town

Google Reviews Viking Marine

Enter the Love Dún Laoghaire Day Competition – May 2020

Viking Marine are partners in the inaugural Love Dun Laoghaire Day, it’s easy to enter, just click the image below and follow the instructions! We look forward to receiving your entry.