Tradition kept alive at Galway hooker festival
25th August 2022
For decades, a fleet of traditional craft have sailed with tonnes of turf across Galway Bay each year, in tribute to the skippers who once provided this vital fuel and essential supplies to communities on the Irish west coast, reports Lorna Siggins.
Galway hooker An Tonaí sailing past Dunguaire Castle, Kinvara. (Photos: Joe O’Shaughnessy)
With the price of energy on everyone’s mind, there was keen interest in this year’s ritual turf delivery by Galway hookers An Tonaí and An Mhaighdean Mhara to Kinvara pier, Co Galway, as part of the 43rd annual Cruinniú na mBád (Gathering of the Boats) festival.
Covid-19 forced suspension of the annual event, but good weather drew hundreds of people from all over Ireland and beyond to the South Galway harbour for this year’s two-day celebration.
The festival dates back to 1979, when the late Tony Moylan persuaded three of the oldest wooden-built vessels with their distinctive ‘tumblehome’ hulls to revive the sea journey from South Connemara to the Galway/ Clare border.
Mairtín O’Brien, owner of Galway hooker An Tonaí, with turf for the Cruinniú na mBád.
An Tonaí, built in 1892, is one of that fleet of three bád mór or largest vessels in the Galway hooker class. Mairtín O’Brien, its owner and skipper, has never missed a Kinvara cruinniú.
Turf was also loaded onto An Mhaighdean Mhara (The Mermaid), built and owned by the MacDonnacha family of Carraroe, Co Galway. It was the last of the fishing hookers to carry cargo when it took turf to the Aran Islands in 1973.
With light winds and an incoming tide, An Mhaighdean Mhara arrived into Kinvara ahead of An Tonaí, winning the race. The turfs were unloaded onto the pier and bagged for auction.
This story was taken from the latest issue of Fishing News. For more up-to-date and in-depth reports on the UK and Irish commercial fishing sector, subscribe to Fishing News here or buy the latest single issue for just £3.30 here.
