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Cruinniu na mBad
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Kinvara |
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The Cruinniu na mBad
festival, held annually in Kinvara celebrates the survival
of the
Galway Hooker and Ireland's other traditional boats.
The continuity of traditional sailing festivals, and
especially Cruinniú na mBád, is very important for the
survival of the craftsmanship of traditional boat building,
sail making, etc. |
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The festival also promotes
the art of traditional sailing and the culture that
surrounds it, e.g. sean nós singing, the Irish language,
etc.
These boats were at one time used extensively to ferry
cattle, sheep, pigs, turf and other necessities of life, up
and down the western seaboard, before the advent of trains
and motorised transport made them redundent.
In August of 1979, Kinvara man, Tony Moylan, fulfilled a
dream when he brought back the old boats laden with turf to
Kinvara, creating a link with the not too distant past when
the same boats and skippers made their living under sail.
Thankfully there were traditional sailors, boat builders,
and sail makers surviving in the 70s, and to the present
time, who have passed on their skills to the new generation.
In 2003 Kinvara celebrated the 25th anniversary of that
first Cruinniu na mBad festival with a weekend that included
not only the sailing tradition of the Turf Boats, but also
included the recently revived Mackerel Boats and Towel Sail
Yawls of West Cork, Bantry Longboats, Wexford Cots, Achill
Yawls, Donegal Drondheims, as well as the Kinvara-based Manx
Nobby.
Kinvara is also the home port of the Hooker MacDuach,
Leathbhád An Traonach, and an ever increasing number of
Gleoiteogs and currachs and a classic Laurent Giles, Khepri.
More recently a fleet of 25 or more locally built "Herons"
is ensuring a continued supply of enthusiastic young "Bádóirí"
into the future. 2003 marked the publication of "Turfboats,
the story of Cruinniú na mBád" by Tom Quinn.
Today, the Galway Hookers are used for more leisurely
pursuits, and some sailing purists take great pride in
restoring the old vessels, while others have new vessels
built on the old design. Unique features of these craft are
the sails, red in colour, which makes the vessels very
pleasing to the eye when they are unfurled and filled with a
stiff breeze. They were traditionally covered with butter,
which acted as a preservative, and over a period of time
turned red giving the fabrics their familiar colour, I can't
say if the smell was all that pleasing. The modern vessels
have their sails dyed red, or a reddish hue, in keeping with
tradition.
See more
Festivals
in County Galway |
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