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A currach ( ) is a type of Irish boat with a wooden frame, over which leather 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. It is referred to as a naomhóg in counties County Cork, County Waterford and County Kerry and as a "canoe" in County Clare. It is similar to the coracle, though the two originated independently. The plank-built rowing boat found on the west coast of Connacht is also called a currach or curach adhmaid ("wooden currach"), and is built in a style very similar to its canvas-covered relative. Folk etymology has it that naomhóg means "little holy one", "little female saint", from naomh, Munster pronunciation "saint, holy", and the feminine diminutive suffix -óg). Another explanation is that it comes from the Latin navis, and it has also been suggested that it derives from the Irish language nae, a boat.Ua Maoileoin, p. 143.
A larger version of this is known simply as a bád iomartha (rowing boat). It is suggested that the prototype of this wooden boat was built on Inishnee around 1900 and based upon a tender from a foreign vessel seen in Cleggan harbour. These wooden boats progressively supplanted the canvas currach as a workboat around the Connemara coast.Mac an Iomaire (2000), Annotation by translator Padraic de Bhaldraithe p. 37 This rowing currach measured up to 20 feet, and is still seen in water in North Donegal.
The currach has traditionally been both a sea boat and a vessel for inland waters. The River currach was especially well known for its shallow draft and manoeuvrability. Its framework was constructed of hazel rods and sally twigs, covered by a single ox-hide, which not only insulated the currach, but also helped dictate its shape. These currachs were common on the rivers of South Wales, and in Ireland were often referred to as Boyne currachs. However, when Ireland declared the netting of salmon and other freshwater fish illegal in 1948, it quickly fell out of use.
The currach represents one of two traditions of boat and shipbuilding in Ireland: the skin-covered vessel and the wooden vessel. The flimsy construction of the former makes it unlikely that any remains would be available for the marine archaeologist, but its antiquity is clear from written sources.
One of these is the Latin account of the voyage of St Brendan (who was born c. 484 in the southwest of Ireland): Navigatio sancti Brendani abbatis. This contains an account of the building of an ocean-going boat: using iron tools, the monks made a thin-sided and wooden-ribbed vessel sicut mos est in illis partibus ("as the custom is in those parts"), covering it with hides cured with oak bark. Tar was used to seal the places where the skins joined. A mast was then erected in the middle of the vessel and a sail supplied. Navigatio sancti Brendani abbatis cap. IV: www.hs-augsburg.de Though the voyage itself is essentially a wonder-tale, it is implied that the vessel as described was built in accordance with ordinary practice at the time. An Irish martyrology of the same period says of the Isle of Aran that the boat commonly used there was made of Wicker and covered with cowhide.Quoted in Hornell (1977), p. 17: Erat enim in istis partibus, eo aevo, quoddam navigii genus usitatum, ex viminibus contextum, et bovinis coriis contectum; quad Scotica lingua Curach appellatur.
Tim Severin constructed such a ship, following as best they could the Brendan descriptions and drawing on the skills and knowledge of a few traditional craftsmen, and showed that the result was quite seaworthy by sailing it from Ireland to the new world.
Gerald of Wales, in his Topographia Hibernica (1187), relates that he was told by certain seamen that, having taken refuge from a storm off the coast of Connacht, they saw two men, long-haired and scantily clad, approaching in a slender wickerwork boat covered in skins. The crew found that the two spoke Irish language and took them on board, whereupon they expressed amazement, never before having seen a large wooden ship. Topographia Hibernica, Dist. III, Cap. XXVI: A translation can be found at: topography ireland, www.yorku.ca. The Latin passage, of great ethnological interest, is as follows: Audivi enim a navibus quibusdam, quod cum quadrogesimali quodam tempore ad boreales et inexscrutabiles Connactici maris vastitates vi tempestatis depulsi fuissent, tandem sub insula quadam modica se receperunt: ubi et anchorarum morsu, funiumque triplicium, immo multiplicium tenacitate se vix retinuerent. Residente vero infra triduum tempestate, et restituta tam eari serenititae quam mari tranquillitate, apparuit non-procul facies terrae cujusdam, eis hactenus prorsus ignotae; de qua non-longe post et cymbulam modicam ad se viderunt remigantem, arctam et oblongam, vimineam quidem, et coriis animalium extra contextam et consutam. Erant autem in ea homines duo, nudis omnino corporibus, praeter zonas latas de crudis animalium coriis quibus stringebantur. Habebant etiam Hibernico more comas perlongas et flavas, trans humeros deorsum, corpus ex magna parte tegentes. De quibus cum audissent, quod de quadam Connactiae parte fuissent, et Hibernica lingua loquerentur, intra navem eos adduxerunt. Ipsi vero cuncta quae ibi videbant tanquam nova admirari coeperunt. Navem enim magnam et ligneam, humanos etiam cultus, sicut asserebant, nunquam antes viderant..
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.
A 17th-century account in Latin by Philip O'Sullivan Beare of the Elizabethan wars in Ireland includes a description of two currachs built in haste to cross the River Shannon. The larger was constructed as follows: two rows of Willow were thrust in the ground opposite each other, the upper ends being bent in to each other ( ad medium invicem reflexa) and tied with cords, whereupon the frame so made was turned upside down. Planks, seats and Thwart were then fitted inside ( cui e solida tabula, statumina, transtraque interius adduntur), horse hide was fixed to the exterior and oars with Rowlock were supplied. This vessel is described as being able to carry 30 armed men at a time.O'Sullivan-Beare, Philip, Historia catholicae Iberniae compendium, Tom III., Cap IX: (though there are a number of errors in the transcription). For a translation of the work, see Chapters towards a History of Ireland in the reign of Elizabeth at www.ucc.ie
Though doubt has been cast on the accuracy of these sketches,Hornell (1977), pp. 35–36 they are detailed and represent a valid development of the ocean-going currach. The vessel is some twenty feet long: it possesses a keel and a rudder, with a ribbed hull and a mast amidship. Because of the keel, the craft is shown as being constructed from the bottom up. A covering (presumably of animal hides) was added, the sides being supported by rods in the interval.
The mast is supported by stays and by double shrouds on each side, the latter descending to an external shelf functioning as a chainwale. The forestay is shown as passing over a small fork above the yardarm, which supports a square sail: a branch is tied to the mast-top. The stern is surmounted by double half-hoops which could support a covering.
The sketches by Phillips imply that such a vessel was common in his day. The keel would improve the handling of the boatSee Ua Maoileoin, pp. 141–142, on the difficulty of tacking in a keel-less modern currach: Ar a tosach a choimeád sa bhfarraige agus gan í a ligeant i leith a cliatháin uirthi, is maith an bléitse farraige a chuirfeadh síos í. Agus tá iompar seoil inti ná cuirfeá féna tuairim in aon chor, ach aon ní amháin, gan aon chille a bheith fúithi agus nach féidir aon bhordáil, puinn, a dhéanamh léi ach roimis an ngaoith i gcónaí agus í ag imeacht leathchliathánach... but the hull would remain flexible.
Currachs were used in the modern period for fishing, for ferrying and for the transport of goods and livestock, including sheep and cattle.Tyers (ed.), pp. 94–95: Seán Ó Criomhthain describing how the feet of cattle were secured to keep them subdued in transit: Chaithfeá iad seo a leagadh agus na ceithre cosa a cheangal dá chéile, agus a fhios a bheith agat conas a cheanglófá leis iad, agus téadán maith a bheith agat. Iad a bhualadh isteach ansin sa naomhóg, agus, má chífeá aon bhogadh ag na cosa á dhéanamh, teacht agus an cupán, áras atá ag leanúint na naomhóige, a chur anuas don uisce, agus cúpla maith uisce a dhoirteadh anuas ar an téad, agus d'fháiscfeadh sé sin go maith ar a chéile iad.
Use of the currach was not continuous or universal along the Atlantic coast. In the modern period it did not reach Kerry (in the southwest of Ireland) until the late 19th century (c. 1880). Until then the only vessel used was the heavy wooden seine boat, which required eight men to row it.Ua Maoileoin, pp. 140–146 The Blasket Islands found the currach (or naomhóg) particularly useful,Tyers (ed.) pp. 29–30 and a distinctive regional type developed.
The Donegal Sea Currach is very similar to the Boyne Currach in construction and style although the two are produced on opposite coasts from each other. The Donegal Sea Currach is the last traditional Irish craft to use the free paddle instead of the traditional oar.
The Aran islanders, like the Blasket islanders further south, were assiduous users of the curach. Unusually for the area a sail was used, though without shrouds or stays. Apart from the halliard, the only ropes were the tack, led to a point near the stem, and the sheet, carried aft and secured to the last thwart.Hornell (1977), pp. 13–23
Currach races remain popular. In the mid-1950s and early 1960s the Seoighe cousins excelled by winning many county and All Ireland championships, including three in a row of the latter.
There has been a community-based enterprise in West Clare since 2005 called West Clare Currachs, with support from James Madigan of the Ilen School, Limerick. LNBHA, a community group on Lough Neagh, has made a number of Kerry naomhógs and Dunfanaghy and Tory Island currachs. In other counties on the western seaboard there are boat builders who sometimes make currachs.
St Beccan of Rùm may have lived on the island for four decades from 632 AD, his death being recorded in the Annals of Ulster in 677.Rixson (2001) op cit pages 21 – 25. He wrote of Columba:
The Spey currach would thus seem to be similar to the Welsh coracle in design, being used on a river rather than in the open sea. But twenty years earlier, we read of bigger ones, in Shaw's History of the Province of Moray (1775):
A more detailed description can be found in Scottish court records (1780):
Spey currachs were used in the timber trade there, as described in Ainslie's Pilgrimage etc. (1822):
These may have survived into twentieth century; there is a reference to a "currick" in the Banffshire Journal (1926).
A currach entered the inaugural Race to Alaska in 2015. The West Kerry naomhóg, with two Canadian crew members, attempted the 1,200 kilometre no-motor trip up the Inside Passage from Port Townsend, WA, to Ketchikan, AK.
Currach races are also performed at the Milwaukee Irish Fest. This event is held by the Irish Currach Club of Milwaukee in late August of every year and it features two races that are available for the public to view during the festival.
Currach races are also hosted in Albany, NY; Annapolis, MD; Boston, MA; Leetsdale, PA; New London, CT; Pittsburgh, PA and Philadelphia; PA as part of the North American Currach Association. North American Curragh Association, www.facebook.com
Races are held in Barcelona at Base Nautica, Playa Mar Bella. The artist and boatbuilder
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