There’s a twinkle in the eye of Peadar Macken when asked what he has done for a crust over the years.
“I’ve done various jobs – too long to go into. But I describe myself now as a boat builder.”
Donning a trenchcoat and a briefcase, Peadar looks an unlikely boat builder but he has over the last four years single-handedly revived the tradition of currach building in Galway City.
In September he is organising the first ever currach relay contest involving teams from as far away as Boston, Dublin and Cork
The 63-year-old Rosmuc native built his own currach that he named Austerity from skills he attained as young lad, helping his father Kevin Macken, a vocational school teacher, and a neighbour Colm Walsh, a boatbuilder by trade.
“I tried to make it as close as possible to the way they made it. I used every type of timber I could get – they used to use driftwood, and secondary driftwood at that, as they would use the good timber on roofs,” he reflects over a cup of tea.
“It has to be in your head. There are no drawings. An awful lot more people would build them if there were drawings. You lay out the timber and adjust it by eye. You hardly use a measuring tape at all. It’s all about looking at the proportions.”
After the wood is nailed together with copper nails, it is covered by canvas all around. The vessel is made seaworthy by applying tar – in the old days it was the same tar used on the roads, nowadays it is chemical tar following environmental objections but he feels this is actually more damaging than the original substance.
Every currach ever built is different as there was never a prototype – he can tell the difference between one from the Aran Islands, which boast a higher bow for the big waves, to those built in Connemara and Mayo.
Currachs were the jeeps of their time. They could be rowed right up to the beach, they were easily repaired and would carry the provisions for each seaside community.
They would transport people and goods from the shore to the hookers moored on the bay; something that was common practice on the Aran Islands up to 20 years ago.
During his stint with Men’s Shed or Cumann na bhFear, Peadar spearheaded a project to build a currach for the Sea Scouts in order to instill a love of the boat in the next generation of seafarers.
It was a joint effort involving the Simon Community, Cumann na bhFear and Galway City Council, which provided a unit at Sandy Road for the currach to be built.
He has recently completed one for the Boston-Irish Currach Club – a team of ten along with an army of supporters have agreed to travel to Galway in September for the inaugural Marathon Mara, a 1916 commemoration challenge so far involving four teams in a relay event, including one from Carna and Roscmuc.
The twelve-mile race will start in Spiddal, change batons in Barna and finish off in the Claddagh.
Peadar was successful in getting funding for the project from the KBC Bright Ideas for Better Communities.
He wanted to do something to mark the centenary as his grandfather had a small but important role.
Seamus Ó Maicín, who used to teach Irish and the Uilleann Pipes in the Gaelic League, transported guns off the Asgard on the crossbar of his bike, helping arm the Irish Volunteers from one of the most daring gunrunning missions in modern history.
Peadar was born in Booterstown, Dublin, but his parents moved the family to Rosmuc so they could be raised in an Irish-speaking community.
Peadar made headlines for battling over the last five years to have his court case involving assault allegations heard before a bilingual jury. However after going all the way to the Supreme Court, he lost his bid and the case is now due to be heard in English this October.
It is clear Peadar is passionate about the language and the old customs – preferring to use the Irish spelling curach when talking about his beloved vessels, which he does not sell.
“If you’re selling them you’re not building them anymore – you’re manufacturing them. People are very reluctant to let go of them – they’re like the old Morris Minors which people hold onto for years. They wouldn’t just build them for anyone – if they didn’t like the cut of your gib they wouldn’t make one for you,” he reflects.
“There’s a bit of a revival in the currach – they’re coming into their own. There’s more currach clubs in America than there are in Ireland. I’d like to set up a club in the Claddagh and maybe link up with the homeless and with the students in the university and pass on the skills.”
Rowing a currach can be a bumpy affair – with their narrow body they may not be as steady as other boats and require some skill to manage.
He always gets a lot of attention when out on the water with his currach or building one on the Claddagh seashore.
The Marathon Mara on September 24 will be the first ever currach relay held in Ireland.
“That’s what they used to do with provisions – they’d meet up with other currachs and offload the mail and goods at sea,” he explains.
■ Peadar is selling a commemorative CD to help fund the event. For further details email him on mackenpeadar@gmail.com
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