LÉ Macha
LÉ Macha was a ship in the Irish Naval Service. Built as a of the Royal Navy named, she was transferred on 15 November 1946 to the Irish Naval Service and renamed LÉ Macha after Macha, an ancient Irish goddess of war.
HMS ''Borage''
HMS Borage was a that served in the Royal Navy during World War II as escort for the Arctic convoys from 1942-1945 before being sold to Ireland. She was ordered in July 1939 as part of the Royal Navy's 1939 War Emergency building programme. She was laid down by George Brown & Co. of Greenock on 27 November 1940, launched on 22 November 1941 and completed on 29 April 1942. After working up and sea trials she joined Western Approaches Command for anti-submarine warfare and convoy escort dutiesFrom July 1942 onwards Borage served with close escort groups for convoys on the North Atlantic, Gibraltar and South Atlantic routes. In three years she helped guard more than 50 merchant convoys ; from these just two ships were damaged and none were lost. Borage contributed to the safe and timely arrival of more than 1,000 merchant ships. In December 1943 she was part of the close escort to convoy JW 55B, which was subject to a failed attack resulting in the sinking of the German battleship Scharnhorst.
With the end of hostilities Borage was decommissioned.
In 1946 Borage was sold to the Irish Naval Service where she was commissioned as. She was scrapped in November 1970.
LÉ ''Macha''
In September 1948, she had the honour of carrying the remains of William Butler Yeats from France to Drumcliffe, County Sligo, for reburial. There was a funeral march from Nice to the ship with band, trumpeters and military honours from a company of French alpine troops. It was the first time that France rendered military honours to a civilian. The remains were received at Rocquebrune near Nice by Sean Murphy, the Irish Ambassador to France.The voyage home took 17 days. LÉ Macha stopped en route at Gibraltar and in France. The ship returned to Galway, whence the remains were carried by hearse to their final resting place in County Sligo.
LÉ Macha was sold for scrap on 22 November 1970.