Red Bull City Currach- Soaking up tradition

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Red Bull City Currach: Soaking up tradition

Red Bull City Currach: Soaking up tradition

by Kirsten Corrigan, 21 Mar 2011

The first ever Red Bull City Currach rowing race filled the waterways of Cork, Ireland, on St Patrick’s Day much to the delight of patriotic partygoers.

In true St Patrick’s Day spirit, the ‘Maharees 1’ team rowed home to glory along the River Lee in Cork, Ireland, at the inaugural Red Bull City Currach event on Thursday to the cheers of revellers enjoying the country’s annual celebrations.

Captain and fisherman Declan Griffin, 37, steered the all-male ensemble to victory, beating eight other teams in the fast-paced dash along the course between Brian Boru and St Patrick’s bridges in Ireland’s second largest city after Dublin.

Tommy and Christopher Griffin and Michael O’Leary completed the winning squad, who literally won by a boat’s length of around seven metres. In the mood for merrymaking after the day’s excitement, they were planning big celebrations back at home in the Maharees, on Ireland’s south west coast.

Griffin family win the Red Bull City Currach race © Rutger Pauw/Red Bull Content Pool

Family values

The combined effort of the Griffin family fishermen along with fourth team member and boat builder Michael was enough to see the quartet from County Kerry win the first ever event of this kind to take place in the middle of a city centre. The patriotic team raced in their region’s colours of green and gold; a fitting palette for an event on Ireland’s national holiday.

“It was a short race which is why it was so close,” explained Michael after the unique sporting event, adding that members of the winning crew had also travelled to the USA for the Celtic Nations Annual World Cup Currach Regatta in past years. “We’ve been doing this for the last ten years or so and we race every summer. We’ve won 16 regattas but this is the first time we’ve done anything like this in the middle of the city! It’s been a great day and we brought all the family here with us. It feels brilliant to have won, we’re delighted.”

Revived tradition

Using the traditional currach rowing boat to race along the stretch of water at Merchant’s Quay in Cork, the race was designed to honour the traditional Celtic seafaring heritage of Ireland but with a modern day twist. The currach was originally used to transport cattle to the islands off the coast and is considered an integral part of the heritage of the fishing communities of the Atlantic Coast.

The boats are made from an intricate ribbed wooden frame, skinned in canvas and tar. Back in the day animal hides were used but that has since been replaced with more modern methods. Varying slightly from region to region in their shape and size, the boats are known in Cork as naomhóg.

For the special St Patrick’s Day event, local boat builder Meitheal Mara (translates as ‘workers of the sea’ in Gaelic) provided the vessels for the teams. The company operates a community boatyard, working with disadvantaged groups such as the long-term unemployed and those on probation.

Siubhan McCarthy, events manager for Meitheal Mara, was thrilled with the success of the race. “It worked really well and our dream is to really bring the traditional heritage to the city,” she said. “We want to bring the city’s eyes to the water – Cork city is an island itself, we’re literally walking on water, and you can circumnavigate it in a small boat. This event was really a great way to show people that potential.”