Craft: Our Currach

The picture on the left shows our currach in an inverted position, resting on a trestle. This is how it's stored. All that's missing is the stones-and-rope contraption that we drape over the currach to prevent it from blowing away in high winds. Note the high, tilted bow. This feature is typical of the currachs of the West [due, presumeably, to the rougher seas over/up there] so you won't be surprised to learn that the currach you're viewing was built in the Aran Islands.

To the right of this text is a photograph of our currach taken from the rear. Note the 'square' stern. We're not sure if this is a traditional characteristic or if it was constructed thus with a view to affixing an outboard motor.

The photograph on the left shows the inside of the currach from the rear and with the oars in place. Notice that, after the handles, the oars are parallel all the way down their shafts. That is to say, the ends that enter the water don't widen out into paddles as with 'normal' oars. Also unlike conventional boats, the oars of a currach have different lengths. The "stroke" position [nearest the stern] has the shortest oars and the bow position the longest. This is because, at least in the currach you're viewing, the latter position corresponds with the widest part of the boat and the former the thinnest.

In this picture, we've moved closer to the currach so that you can better see the rowers' positions. You'll observe that these seats are what you'd expect to find in any small, wooden seacraft; they're simply wooden boards attached to the boat's shell in a traditional manner. When it comes to passengers, two largish people can be carried comfortably. One would sit on the floor up in the bow and another in the seat [which you cannot see] attached to the backboard. In addition, a small child could be carried in the stern as well. Of course, more people and heavier loads [cattle, for example] have been and continue to be carried, but usually by people who really know what they're doing. Another characteristic visible in this photograph is the double gunwale. The "gunwale" is the wooden rim around the top of the boat. This currach has a double gunwale [upper and lower] for extra strength.

Having moved even closer to our currach, you can now get some idea of how the oars are secured to the boat. A round pin of about 2 centimeters in diameter is inserted into an appropriately sized hole in the upper gunwale so that it rests in a seat on the lower gunwale and protrudes above the boat by about 10 centimeters. Attached to the side of each oar which faces the bow is a "v"-shaped small wooden 'plate' in which is drilled a hole to take the pin. When this 'plate' and, thus, the oar is fitted onto the pin, the oar is ready for rowing - the pin secures the oar to the craft and enables the currach to be "pulled" along. Also, the same view gives some idea of how the thinner stern broadens out to a wider bow.

This view looking down the currach from its bow illustrates more clearly how it tapers out to a broad bow. Other features to observe are:

• The "v"-shaped wooden 'plates' on the side of each oar [the pins are not in place].
• Along the "back-plate" at the stern is a horizontal black line. This is a seat which will accommodate one large adult [plus a thin person at a push].
• Along the bow, you can just about discern how the black, tarred canvas is tacked [nailed] to the yellow gunwale.
• Observe how while the bow is sitting squarely the stern is leaning slightly to the right. This litle twist along the length of the currach illustrates the flexibility of such craft that arises out of their form of construction. A conventional wooden boat [clinker built, carvel built and so on] comprises thick wooden planks fixed rigidly to a wooden keel. Thus, the whole craft presents a quite rigid entity to the sea. In contrast, due to its construction of tarred canvas tacked onto a lattice of thin wooden laths [which are evident in this photograph], there is more "give" in a currach. This renders currachs more seaworthy in the same way that a rigid tree will be blown down by a strong wind but a flexible tree will not.
• The bit of rope hanging out of your left hand side of the bow is called, in English, a "painter". A painter is connected to the bow and, traditionally, is one-and-a-half times the length of the boat. It is used for securing the craft to the shore or another boat [so that the bow will face into the waves, current or wind - whichever is strongest].