Charles E. Ireland, Jr.

Charles (“Ted”) Ireland passed away in 2010. He lived in Newark, Delaware near Corner Ketch with his wife, Patricia. They have two children, one in Hawaii and one in Maryland, and five grandchildren. Born in Philadelphia, Ted grew up in a small town in southeastern Pennsylvania and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Finance and Commerce. He retired from the DuPont Company in 1993 and worked three years with First Chicago NBD Corporation in Wilmington before volunteering as a wood carver on the Kalmar Nyckel project.

Ted’s lifelong passion for wood and woodcarving as well as his appreciation for craftsmanship, tools and artisans made the building of Delaware’s tall ship a near perfect match for his interests and presented a unique opportunity to test and hone his skills on a project of historical, educational and community significance.

With some reservations as to whether he could measure up to the challenge of carving replicas of seventeenth century ship decorations, he took his mallet and chisels to the Kalmar Nyckel shipyard and started an incredibly rewarding two-year journey as a volunteer member of the building crew.

At the shipyard he watched, learned from and worked with highly skilled and dedicated craftsmen and women and received a first-hand education in the skills, methods and emotions of wooden boat building. Mallets, Chisels and Planes is Ted’s first effort at writing for publication.