A currach (Irish: curach, Irish pronunciation: ['k???ax]) 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 and Scotland, with variations in size and shape by region. It is referred to as a naomhóg (Irish pronunciation: [n??i'??o:g?]; lit. "little holy one", "little female saint", from naomh ([n?e:??]) "saint, holy" and the feminine diminutive suffix -óg) in counties Cork, Waterford and Kerry and as a "canoe" in West Clare. It is related to the Welsh coracle. 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. A larger version of this is known simply as a bád iomartha (rowing boat).
The currach has traditionally been both a sea boat and a vessel for inland waters.
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History
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. 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 wickerwork and covered with cowhide.
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 and took them on board, whereupon they expressed amazement, never before having seen a large wooden ship.
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 osiers 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 thwarts were then fitted inside (cui e solida tabula, statumina, transtraque interius adduntur), horse hide was fixed to the exterior and oars with rowlocks were supplied. This vessel is described as being able to carry 30 armed men at a time.
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Sea-going currachs, c. 17th century
The construction and sailing of a seagoing curach of the 17th century - a hybrid of the skin-covered and plank-built boat - was depicted in some detail by an Englishman, Captain Thomas Phillips: "A portable vessel of wicker ordinarily used by the Wild Irish".
Though doubt has been cast on the accuracy of these sketches, 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 wickerwork hull stiffened by ribs, and with 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 when the wickerwork was complete, 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 boat but the hull would remain flexible.
The modern Irish currach
Currachs in general adhere to a plan designed to produce a sturdy, light and versatile vessel. The framework consists of latticework formed of rib-frames ("hoops") and stringers (longitudinal slats), surmounted by a gunwale. There are stem and stern posts, but no keel. Thwarts are fitted, with knees supplied as required. Cleats or thole pins are fitted for the oars, and there may be a mast and sail, though with a minimum of rigging. The outside of the hull is covered by tarred canvas or calico, a substitute for animal hide.
Currachs were used in the modern period for fishing, for ferrying and for the transport of goods and livestock, including sheep and cattle.
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. The Blasket Islanders found the currach (or naomhóg) particularly useful, and a distinctive regional type developed.
Donegal
Detailed plans are available for Donegal currachs.
Mayo
South Mayo currachs differ from most other currach types in that, instead of the stringers which elsewhere run outside the latticework frame, the bottom and sides are covered with a thin planking. In Achill Island the currach is built with double gunwales.
Connemara and the Islands
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 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.
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.
Clare
The Clare currach closely resembled that of the Aran Islands. In construction, a series of wooden markers were sunk into the ground at definite distances apart. These helped show the width desired for the lower gunwale frame. This was constructed first, followed by the upper frame, and the thwarts were then nailed into place.
Shannon
Currachs covered in cowhide were still common in the 1840s above Lough Ree, in the centre of Ireland. Thereafter they disappeared except at the seaward end of the Shannon Estuary.
Kerry
Kerry currachs had a reputation for elegance and speed. All were fitted for sailing, with a short mast without shrouds stepped in a socket in a short mast shoe. The halliard was rove through an iron ring near the masthead, hoisting a small lug sail, and this was controlled by a sheet and tack. When under sail lee-boards might be employed.
Currach Builders
Currently there are few full-time currach builders. A notable exception are Meitheal Mara, who build currachs and train in currach building in Cork. They also organise currach-racing.
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. A community group on Lough Neagh (LNBHA) 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.
Scottish currachs
The traditional Scottish currach is nearly extinct, but there are occasional recreations. It is known to have been in use on the River Spey, in the north east, and also in the Hebrides.
St Columba
St Columba is said to have used a currach.
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. He wrote of Columba:
Currachs in the River Spey
In the Statistical Account of Scotland of 1795 we read of
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).
Current use as racing boats
Currachs survive now as racing boats, often holding their own against much more modern types. In the annual London Great River Race, Currachs have regularly performed outstandingly in the Overall rankings (fastest boat on handicap), notably in 2007, 2008, and 2010.
A currach has entered the inaugural Race to Alaska. The West Kerry Naevog with two Canadian crew members will attempt the 1200 kilometer no-motor trip up the Inside Passage from Port Townsend, WA, to Ketchikan, AK.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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