Galway Advertiser 2007/2007_03_15/GA_1503_E1_050.pdf 

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OLD GALWAY

Galway Advertiser

March 15 2007

Some Galway oarsmen and women
The Galway Vindicator of August 10, 1839 had a report of how George Petrie managed to kidnap the famous uileann piper Paddy Conneely by stealing his pipes. This was the only way he could get him to play tunes for him. Conneely said, "What will Mr Kilroy and the gentlemen of the Regatta Committee think of me?" This may be the earliest reference to competitive rowing in Galway. The early races and regattas were known as `rowing matches', and as clubs were formed, there were more of these races and they were better organised... The first rowing club on the river was the Corrib Club which was formed in 1864 in Woodquay. They held regattas which were confined to club members and were known as `badge races'. The following is a description of a typical race... "On Monday evening, an exciting rowing match, the third of the season, took place on the Corrib. The contending parties were Messrs W & P Daly on the one side, against Messrs Robert Evans and Hasler on the other, each gentleman pulling a single oar. The water, spreading out beautifully in the eventide, and here and there gently agitated by a refreshing breeze, presented a delightful spectacle. A respectable assemblage thronged the banks on either side and all seemed very much interested in the contest. The starting point was the buoy opposite the pier at Wood Quay and the distance to be run was about two miles. The signal for departure, a pistol shot, having been given, the boats were instantly in motion and flew across the surface of the Corrib to the delight of the bystanders. The match occupied nearly 17 minutes and Messrs. Daly came in over a boat's length ahead." In 1868, Commercial Rowing Club was founded, and the rivalry between the clubs generated a lot of interest in the sport. Later came the Royal Galway Yacht Club, St Patrick's Rowing Club (known as the Temperance Club), the Celtic Rowing Club, Hibernian Rowing Club (later known as Galway Rowing Club), the Galway Athletic Rowing Club, the Citie of the Tribes Club, Emmett's Club in Menlo, UCG, and the two schools clubs, the Jes and the Bish. Some of these organisations did not last for very long, but the fact that there were always a number of clubs on the river meant healthy competition, though there were periods when the sport was not that strong in Galway. In 1976 a group of ex-oarsmen got together and formed Tribesmen Rowing Club, and dedicated themselves to bringing top class rowing back to Galway. In 1977 they produced their first championship winning crew (photograph 1) John O'Toole, Pat Burke, Jim Silke, and Colm Dalton, with Terry McEvoy as cox. Since then they have trained hundreds of oarsmen and women, and brought many `pots' and honours to Galway. In 1978 they leased a disused shed on the Eglinton canal which had once been part of Ted Hunter's pram making factory (photo 2) and converted it into a clubhouse (photo 3). It was officially opened by Bobby Molloy and among those in attendance were (from left) Sean Coll, Danno Heaslip, Frank Kineen, Karen Kenny, John Curran, Paul Lawless, Neil Hannon, Jon Carlos, Helen and Anne Lawless, Ursula Gaughan, Frank Kavanagh, Colm Dalton, Irene Silke, Carmel Heavey, John O'Toole, Mabel O'Neill, Mick Hughes, Sean Heavey, Henry Wall, Mary Lawless, and Ted Hunter (photo 4). Thirty Years ago, Tribesmen took over the organisation of the Head of the River. It was the first ever computerised rowing event in Ireland, thanks to Tom O'Shaughnessy and his team of experts from Digital. It quickly became one of the highlights of the rowing calendar and went from strength to strength. This year's event takes place on St Patrick's Day and comprises three races at 10am, 2pm, and 4pm. The course is from Lough Corrib downstream to a point just south of the Quincentennial Bridge which provides an ideal vantage point. The crews will take about 15 minutes to cover the course to the bridge, so if you would like to see 370 of the best crews in the country in competition this weekend, that is the place to be. TK