Officially opened on Saturday 19 June 2016, the centre piece of the Fishing Boat Museum is an historic 19 foot restored wooden plank fishing boat named Elizabeth as well as associated artefacts used by the early Molfettese fishermen who settled in Port Pirie.
Our Lady of Martyrs Port Pirie Italian Community worked hard to make their vision a reality. This purpose built museum came to be through their own fundraising efforts with additional financial support from the state government and the Port Pirie Regional Council.
Festivities coinciding with the Molfettesi celebration of Our Lady of the Martyrs are known to have been held in Port Pirie by the devout Italian community since 1929. In 1932 a statue of the Madonna, sculptured in Molfetta was brought to Port Pirie. By the 1950s it was being taken aboard fishing boats along the Port Pirie river, replicating a similar blessing ceremony which takes place each year in Molfetta, an old city on the Adriatic coast in southern Italy.
The celebration of our Lady of the Martyrs and Blessing of the Fleet takes place annually in Port Pirie in September. More information regarding this ceremony can also be found at the Port Pirie National Trust Museum.