New Girls Currach Rowing Programme July 2024
This summer through the Her Moves campaign, Cork Sports Partnership, Meitheal Mara & Cork City Council are offering teenage girls from the ages of 13-17 years old the opportunity to experience rowing a traditional Irish currach through the heart of Cork City. This programme will provide participants with adventure and challenge while also building teamwork, personal development and a connection to Ireland’s maritime heritage.
Sessions on the water will allow participants to get active while learning how to steer and manoeuvre a traditional Irish currach. Sessions will also take place in Meitheal Mara’s city-centre boatyard will give the participants a sense of the rich history and heritage that the currach represents while also affording them the opportunity to meet boat-builders and to see the process of boat-building in operation.
Programme Details:
- Start Date: Thurs, 25th July
- Duration: 4 Thursdays
- For who: Girls aged 13-17yo, no experience needed. All equipment will be provided
- Time: 2-3.30pm each week
- Location: Lapps Quay, Cork City
- Register here: eventmaster.ie/event/r4VEfPmS9y
- Queries: Email James at jkirby@corksports.ie
All rowing takes place in Cork city centre giving the young people the chance to explore and view their city from a completely different perspective – travelling under the bridges of the north and south channels.
On days where strong winds prevent rowing, students will have the opportunity to visit Meitheal Mara’s traditional boatyard. They will learn about the earliest currachs and how the boat style has been developed and adapted over the centuries. They will hear about how important currachs were vital to the island communities of Ireland, how prominently they feature in the literature from the west coast of Ireland and how a currach is said to have beaten Christopher Columbus to America. They will have the chance to meet our boat-builders and to see numerous currachs in various stages of construction.
