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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.
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Dec 25, 2022 · WATCH: How currachs, ancient Irish boats, were made. In 1968, the National Museum of Ireland recognized the threat to the traditional currach and began the process of having one commissioned ...
Currachs are a light, buoyant, affordable and adaptable craft that can be launched and beached in the most exposed places. Once made exclusively of natural, easily accessible local materials such as willow, hazel and animal hide, they now often use alternative materials such as calico and fibreglass.
The most commonly used currach is the 3-hand currach which is 21 foot in length. It sits on the water buoyantly like a sea gull, having a shallow draft. The wind has a strong effect on currachs; a trained crew however can expertly guide these boats on our turbulent coast.
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.
Michael Conneely making a currach on Inisheer, County Galway, 1968. Watch Video. 1. Preparing the ribs. Twenty-nine ribs cross under the seats from one side of the frame to the other and with the laths, they create a shell that gives shape and support to the currach’s skin.
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The frame of a typical currach is made up of the gunwales, shoulders and transoms. Mikey purchased the timber for the frames from a supplier in Galway city. Working outside his workshop on the beach, he measured out the long timbers that would form the lower gunwale.
