About Currachs

Currachs are heritage, culture, history, and athletics all in one; and the history of the Currach is as old as Ireland itself.

The first written record comes from Julius Caesar in 100 BC and early Gaelic accounts speak of large ocean going sailing Currachs roving the North Atlantic.  However, such a light and graceful craft were not only used on the sea and it is recorded that in 1602, O'Sullivan Beare, the Irish chieftain, quickly assembled Currachs to cross the Shannon to escape from the Earl of Thomond and his army.

The origin of the Currach may be lost in the mists of time, but their traditional construction has changed little over the centuries. Now made from tarred canvas they were originally built by craftsmen using animal skins, stretched over wooden slats or laths and rowed with bladeless oars. Although flimsy-looking it is perfectly adapted to the local seas.

According to Irish legend, it was in a Currach that St. Brendan journeyed across the Atlantic 900 years before Columbus and 400 years before the Vikings! He speaks of his visit to a vast land across the Western Ocean (Newfoundland) and a great impassable river (the Mississippi?). If true, the first European to arrive in America (in a Currach, no less) was an Irishman!

The Currach is a one of the most romantic Irish symbols, familiar to tourists all over the world. One hangs from the ceiling in the O'Flaherty's Pub in New Orleans as a reminder of a simpler time in Ireland. Brendan Rush, former President of the Celtic Society summed up its importance by saying:

“The Currach is Ireland, it is the sea and the Irish language, it is a vessel that has not only carried fishermen and adventurers across the ages but it carries with it the history, culture and mystery of ancient Ireland.