Designed by John Trumpy and built by the famed Mathis Yacht Building Company in the late 1930s, the 92-foot Innisfail was commissioned by Joseph Cudahy, a successful Chicago businessman of Irish heritage. As a Mathis-Trumpy yacht owner, Cudahy joined the elite rank of the Dodges, DuPonts, Chryslers, Whitneys and Guggenheims, people who valued pristine craftsmanship and the ultimate in performance. Not long after her christening, however, the U.S. Navy commandeered Innisfail and other luxury yachts to serve as a shore patrol fleet during World War II. She was refitted with two 20mm cannons on her deck and a depth charge rack on her stern, and protected the East Coast for five years. In 1947, Innisfail was decommissioned and was refurbished as a luxury yacht once again, remaining in government service until 1965. As a presidential yacht, she was host to world leaders and dignitaries from Charles de Gaulle, Anwar Sadat, Presidents Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy, and in later years Presidents Nixon, Ford & Clinton. In 1965, the ship was returned to private ownership, and used as a charter vessel in South Florida and Chicago.

In the fall of 2007, Moore's Marine in Beaufort, North Carolina, began painstakingly restoring the yacht to her original condition. Now sailing from Charleston, the lovely Innisfail once again proudly cruises the coast, offering the ultimate in luxury and style.