Built as a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy named HMS Borage, she was transferred on 15 November 1946 to the Irish Naval Service and renamed LÉ Macha after Macha, an ancient Irish goddess of war.

In September 1948, she had the honour of carrying the remains of William Butler Yeats from France to Drumcliffe, County Sligo, for reburial.

[1] There was a funeral march from Nice to the ship with band, trumpeters and military honours from a company of French alpine troops.

[2] The remains were received at Rocquebrune near Nice by Sean Murphy, the Irish Ambassador to France.

The ship returned to Galway, whence the remains were carried by hearse to their final resting place in County Sligo.