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- The currach has traditionally been both a sea boat and a vessel for inland waters. The construction and design of the currach is unique to the west coasts of Ireland and Scotland, with variations in size and shape by region. It is referred to as a naomhóg in counties Cork, Waterford and Kerry and as a “canoe” in West Clare.
www.ouririshheritage.org/content/archive/topics/st_josephs_secondary_school_castlebar_co_mayo/history_of_the_irish_currachHistory of The Irish Currach | St. Joseph's Secondary School ...
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A currach (Irish: curach [ˈkʊɾˠəx]) is a type of Irish boat with a wooden frame, over which animal skins or hides were once stretched, though now canvas is more usual. It is sometimes anglicised as "curragh". The construction and design of the currach are unique to the west coasts of Ireland.
- Introduction
- History of The Irish Currach
- Development of The Currach Over Time
- Literature
- Regional Differences and Structure of The Currach
- The Modern Irish Currach
- Interview with John O’Flaherty
A currach is a type of Irish boat with a wooden/wicker-work frame, over which animal skins or hides were stitched together. They were propelled by oars or sails according to circumstances. The currach has traditionally been both a sea boat and a vessel for inland waters. The construction and design of the currach is unique to the west coasts of Ire...
The currach was the best-known of all the Irish boats. It was made of a wicker-work frame, covered with hides (animal skins) which were stitched together with thongs. Some currachs had a double hide-covering, some a triple. They are still used round the coasts, but tarred canvas is used instead of skins. They were propelled by oars or sails accordi...
Neolithic Period
The first settlers, after coming across Europe, settled in the northern part of Ireland possibly arriving in boats much like the currach, about 30ft in length. The development of basic joining techniques in the Neolithic period would have allowed the construction of simple timber frames at that time. Its early humble origins in the hide-covered basket are still evident in the Boyne River hazel currach in the east of Ireland. As the only seaworthy craft of the time, the skin boat played a cruc...
Christianity Period
The skin boat was already a popular vessel when early Christian monks entrusted their life to God’s hands – and to the fate of their small wicker and skin boats – in order to spread their spiritual message all over Europe. By far the greatest part of the water-communication round the coasts and across the narrow seas, as well as in the lakes and rivers, of Great Britain and Ireland, was carried on in those early days by currachs, which indeed were used also in other parts of Europe. We know t...
Middle Ages
The consistency in accounts from the early Middle Ages to the early modern period makes it likely that the construction and design of the currach underwent no fundamental change in the interval. In medieval annals, skin boats had a reputation for a less spiritual purpose. Cattle raids by the early Irish against Britain were successful thanks to the extraordinary qualities of skin boats. Light, seaworthy and extremely manoeuverable they also had an astonishing load capacity.
These boats are constantly mentioned in lay as well as in ecclesiastical literature, and also by Continental writers. Together with log boats, Gaelic coití, the history of the skin boat reaches back further than any other European watercraft Julius Caesardescribed encountering currachs in which the Scoto-Irish made incursions into Britain. He descr...
Captain Thomas Philips 17th Century Account
The vessel is some twenty feet long: it has a keel (the lengthwise timber structure along the base of a ship) and a rudder, (a flat piece hinged vertically near the stern of a boat or ship for steering) with a stiff wickerwork hull (the main body of a ship), and a mast. Because of the keel, the craft is shown as being constructed from the bottom up. A covering of animal hides was added when the wickerwork was complete, the sides being supported by rods in the interval. Two elements are essent...
Mayo
The currach on Inishturk have been used for the last 100 years and are of a wooden lattice and plank construction with a calico and tarred outer lining for water proofing. A sturdy, light and versatile vessel, the Inishturk currach was traditionally rowed by three men and used for fishing and as the main transport between the island and the mainland. On Achill Island the currach is built with double gunwales. In South Mayo they differ from other currach types because the bottom and sides were...
Connemara
The Connemara currach is also distinguished by a double gunwale and by a particular form of pivoting block or “bull” attached to one side of the squared region of the loom of the oar. The Aran islanders, like the Blasket islanders further south, were assiduous users of the currach. Unusually for the area a sail was used.
Currachs still have plenty to offer in our time and have great potential to contribute to a sustainable way of life. Materials from local, regenerative resources add to a low embodied energy value and environmental footprint of the boats. Currachs are easily driven by sail or oar and are inexpensive to make and maintain – characteristics that add t...
What were the typical materials used in making a currach? While making a Boyne River Currach we would make the framework of hazel rods, its gunwale of woven sally twigs and have a single ox hide covering the frame to help form the shape of the boat. Why do you think the currach has declined in Ireland in the last few decades? Netting salmon in fres...
May 20, 2024 · Currach specialist Pádraig Ó Duinnín explains the need for such an addition; ‘The high stern of the naomhóg does not allow for an outboard engine but, in the 1940s, an ingenious inboard ‘well’ was devised…it enabled the fishermen to use a standard outboard motor mounted within the boat’.²
Aug 10, 2021 · The naomhóg is a working currach associated with the south west coast of Ireland. Like many currachs today, it is now largely used for leisure rowing. The club owns twenty boats that include eight naomhóga and other currach types from the Aran Islands and Donegal.
Currachs are found all over Ireland as both sea going and river craft, and have varying designs according to how they were used. They are known as naomhóg in Cork, Kerry and Waterford. Currachs are a light, buoyant, affordable and adaptable craft that can be launched and beached in the most exposed places.
May 3, 2021 · How to build a currach – fascinating historic footage shows one of Ireland’s best traditional boat-makers in action. THE currach, with its primitive design of wooden frame and waterproof skin, is the best known of all the Irish boats.
Mar 31, 2007 · The Kerry Curragh is locally referred to as a ‘naomhóg’ or ‘canoe’. The naomhóg has a light lath construction with a very distinctive sheerline. A study in 2003 discovered around 100 naomhóg still in use on the Dingle Peninsula.
