She was built in Verolme Dockyard, Cork, Ireland in 1979 and originally named after Patrick Pearse's poem, "Aisling" to commemorate the centenary of his birth.

Aisling's main weapon system is a Bofors 40mm Cannon capable of firing 240 2.5 kg shells a minute at a range of 1 km.

[6] During September 1984, the vessel was involved in the arrest of the Marita Ann off the southwest coast of Ireland, which carried a cargo of arms and ammunition consigned to the IRA.

The convoy, escorted by LE Deirdre, made its way to Haulbowline, Cobh, where a gathering of international media awaited its arrival.

[citation needed] In 1984 LÉ Aisling was involved an international incident with a 330-ton Spanish fishing trawler called Sonia, based in the Basque port of Ondarroa.

The Spaniards denied that any attempt had been made to ram Aisling and accused the Naval Service of causing their ship to sink by riddling it with gunfire.

[1] At the time of decommissioning, a proposal was made to potentially convert Aisling into a museum ship in Galway as a tourist attraction.

[9] However, while representatives of the Department of Defence advised that the proposal was "under consideration" as of December 2016, it was noted that the vessels of the type may be "unsuitable for conversion to use as museums or visitor attractions".

[9] Aisling was put up for a public auction on 23 March 2017 at the Carrigaline Hotel in County Cork,[10] and was purchased by a Dutch broker for his clients for a reported price of €110,000, there being no other higher bids.