Cork’s community boatyard, Meitheal Mara, has appointed writer, sailor and adventurer, Jasper Winn, as its “writer-in-motion”. His task is to write a book about its history since foundation in 1993, analysing what it has achieved and looking to its future.

Jasper Winn, from West Cork, has journeyed with nomadic Berbers, canoed along the Danube, crossed countries on horseback, broadcast travel and history programmes and written ‘slow travel guides’ for Lonely Planet. He has explored the history of Britain’s canals and circumnavigated Ireland in a kayak, about which he wrote the book, ‘Paddle’.

“It is a very brave project because they have not given me a specific brief. They said, come and see what we do. Join in, see where it takes us,” he says. “The exciting thing is that it will take the organisation into the next stage, adding to what it has done already and the way it has provided training, qualification, entry into the maritime sphere. It is difficult to get young people involved in the maritime sector, Meitheal Mara has done this.”

A Meitheal Mara Boat near Cork City Hall on the River Lee

In many years of reporting the work of Meitheal Mara, I have never heard it described as a “radical organisation,” which is how he sees it.

“It is radical. It has managed to hold onto its aims. It hasn’t got corporated. It hasn’t become a corporate entity, hasn’t turned to profits or focused on just one aim. It tolerates and enjoys its diversity and that is a wonderful thing, which I am going to write about. This will be an immersive book,” he said.

Jasper Winn is my Podcast guest this week.

What, exactly, is an “immersive book?” I asked him.

Podcast below.

The river Lee was bustling with young people in traditional currachs as Meitheal Mara hosted their first physical event in Cork Harbour almost two years.

Some 50 participants in over 20 boats took part in the Ocean to City Youth Event, covering the 4.5km from Blackrock Village to Lapp’s Quay.

The Ocean to City Youth Event is part of the main Ocean to City –An Rás Mór since the very first race in 2005. Due to restrictions this year, it was held as a standalone event.

This year’s race participants reflect the great diversity of Meitheal Mara’s Bádóireacht youth rowing and sailing programme. Crews included young people from Mayfield Neighbourhood Youth Programme, Foroige’s Big Brother Big Sister programme, CDYS Youth Work Ireland Gurranabraher, St. Joseph’s Foroige Mayfield, Educate Together class of 2019, Naomhóga Chorcaí Currach Club, Fionnbarra Youth Crew, Glanmire Foroige, Foroige Togher and members the Bádóireacht Youth Council including past pupils from Cork Life Centre.

Some young people have been rowing with Bádóireacht since as far back as 2017, however, many there today were only introduced to currach rowing for the first time two months ago.

Over the past twenty years, Bádóireacht has provided rowing and sailing programmes to thousands of young people that would not otherwise have had access to the water. Bádóireacht in particular works with young people from marginalised groups or communities that are vulnerable or at risk of isolation. Over the past two years in particular; as a provider of non-contact, outdoor sport; Bádóireacht has played a particularly important role in creating a space where young people can be active and sociable in a safe environment. Today’s Ocean to City Youth Event is a culmination of that work.

The event is a celebration of the resilience of the young people over the past 18 months, of their achievements in training for this race and to mark the return of many more events and celebrations on the water.

Ocean to City participant Liam McCormack said: ‘’We trained for the last three months with the Bádóireacht programme as well as with Naomhóga Chorcaí. It has been great craic getting out on the water every week – I probably would have gone mental without!’’

Over the past year, Bádóireacht has also worked with Togher and Glanmire Foroige groups to establish integration rowing programmes with young people living in Direct Provision accommodation. This work has resulted in two very successful rowing programmes taking place this summer. These programmes are building on Bádóireacht’s work with young people from migrant communities since 2017 and sees young people from Direct Provision centres taking part in Ocean to City for their third successive race.

Clare Hayden, Bádóireacht Manager, said: ‘’I’m thrilled to have delivered a physical event for our young people at last. They have shown fantastic resilience over the past year and we’re delighted to put on an event to celebrate them. Our rowing programme gives young people space away from what’s going on in their lives. It gives them skills that they can build on and grow in confidence. They learn to problem-solve, overcome challenges in difficult weather - and it is fantastic to see them come through that programme and complete the 4.5 km race.’’

The Bádoireacht programme and youth event are organised by Meitheal Mara, the community boatyard, training centre and charity located in the heart of Cork City.

Cork city’s community and traditional boatyard Meitheal Mara has put out a call for those new to Ireland for its latest boat building project.

The new 12-week programme will see participants have a direct hand in building their own traditional fishing currach.

No skills or prior experience is required for Meitheal Mara’s next project “focused on growth and recovery through boat building”, which is set to begin on Thursday 26 September.

Prospective volunteers who fit the bill are invited to contact [email protected] to find out more about how to take part in this latest community build.

The death has occurred of Donal Lynch, one of Ireland’s leading figures in traditional boats, as Tom MacSweeney writes.

Donal was one of the founding and leading figures in the development of Meitheal Mara, the community and traditional boatyard in Cork city.

A stalwart member of Glandore Harbour Yacht Club in West Cork and a former club officer, he led the development of the Classic Boat Regatta there as well as the Glandore Summer School about the marine.

He had also been one of the main group in the publishing of the class Traditional Boats of Ireland book.

Donal’s solid, committed and dedicated involvement in the traditional boating scene will be very much missed. He was always a fount of wisdom, knowledge and sound advice on maritime matters.

Donal had been ill for some time and died at Marymount Hospice in Cork.

Among the many tributes being paid, Cathy Buchanan, Meitheal Mara manager, said Donal was “a great maritime man and much else besides. Meitheal Mara would be very different without his influence, if here at all.”

Organised by Meitheal Mara, this Thursday 13th of July will see dozens of young people from the Bádoireacht programme take part in a heated Youth Race between Blackrock and Cork City in Cork Harbour.

Starting at 18:30 from the newly renovated Blackrock Harbour, the crews include Cork Life Centre, Bishopstown Youth Project, Farranree Youth Project, Ballyphehane Foroige, Douglas Foroige, Ballincollig Foroige and Naomhóga Chorcaí. Most of these groups are regular participants in the Bádoireacht rowing programme and youth race, however for Ballincollig Foroige this will be the very first year.

A variety of handcrafted currachs will be used, including fifteen Dunfanaghy currachs, two Naomhógs and one Owey Island style currach. This is the first time that the Owey Island boat will be used in the Youth Race, rowed singlehandedly by William from Cork Life Centre who was part of the winning Ocean to City youth crew in 2016. Look out for Stufinali and An Doras Dearg, two of the participating currachs which were built by the young people themselves! In total there will be over 35 hardy rowers taking part in Thursday’s race, most of whom will be first year participants.

The race will culminate with a party at the Lapp's Quay finish line where families and supporters get together to cheer on the crews coming in from Blackrock. The first boats will cross the line around 19:00 with live commentary, music as well as a celebratory prize giving directly afterwards. Watch the spectacular fleet come in after the tough 4.5km race and welcome them at the finish line!

Clare Hayden, Youth Manager; We’re delighted to see the progression in our rowers this year. It’s fantastic to see the young people develop not just their rowing skills but also grow in confidence over the weeks. We look forward to a hotly contested race on Thursday!

Cathy Buchanan, General Manager; The blisters, rivalry and seamanship that will be exhibited at the youth race express the experiences that Lee-side young people have gained from their involvement in Meitheal Mara’s Bádoireacht rowing and boat building programme. Bádoireacht is key to Meitheal Mara’s activities and relationships. It is supported with energy and enthusiasm from Cork’s youth organisations and by funding from the Young People’s Facilities and Services Fund through Cork ETB and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

The Bádoireacht programme and Youth Race are organised by Meitheal Mara, the community boatyard, training centre and charity located in the heart of Cork City. Bádoireacht is a unique boat building and rowing service for young people (ages 14 – 18). It has been running successfully since 2002 with an average of 130 individuals participating each year. Young people have an opportunity to learn to row currachs, sail and to build their own boats and woodcraft. For more information please see www.meithealmara.ie.

Minister Simon Coveney TD launched the new Strategic Plan of Meitheal Mara, Cork Harbour’s community boatyard and maritime heritage organisation. The organisation’s plans for the future are ambitious and include the realisation of an expanded Meitheal Mara as part of an integrated maritime hub for Cork City.

Speaking at the launch, Minister Simon Coveney TD said, ‘This is an ambitious plan with many potential benefits, not just for Meitheal Mara, but also for Cork City and Cork Harbour. The proposed development will provide opportunities to grow and integrate the maritime recreation and tourism sector within Cork City, and extend and integrate maritime activities from the city throughout Cork Harbour ‘.

Founded in 1993, Meitheal Mara is a maritime heritage community for young people and adults. Over the last 20 years, the organisation has shared the organisation’s maritime culture ethos by bringing the pleasures of building and rowing currachs to a wide public. Since this time thousands of individuals have had the opportunity for personal growth and progression through these activities.

Over the years there has been a huge increase in interest in the marine environment and watersports activities throughout the city and county and amongst a diverse range of participants, boat lovers and tourists. Chair of Meitheal Mara, Martin Ryan said, ‘in response to these opportunities, our vision is to expand the organisation and provide additional supporting facilities for other maritime groups through the development of a maritime innovation hub on the banks of the River Lee. This hub will feature development, commercial as well as activity infrastructure, including training and education workshops, meeting rooms, exhibition spaces, boat building and repair, craft training, a clubhouse, changing rooms, and storage for boats as well as equipment’.

The launch was attended by over a hundred stakeholders, sponsors and partners of the organisation and plans were received with great interest and support. See photos below Gerard Photography

A unique new tidal guide assisting river users to circumnavigate the city’s waterways was launched yesterday at the River Lee Hotel. CORKUMNAVIGATION is a pocket-sized map published by Cork’s community boatyard, Meitheal Mara. The guide is aimed at helping locals and visitors alike discover the city from a new angle by kayak, canoe or rowing boat. See link below to purchase the guide.

According to Cathy Buchanan of Meitheal Mara, ''very few people know that you can actually row or paddle all around the city, and experience a very different and special side of Cork. As several of the bridges are particularly low and some weirs quite high, they can only be passed at certain tides. With the CORKUMNAVIGATION guide you can successfully navi­gate the city’s 29 bridges and eight weirs at vari­ous stages of the tide.''

Niamh Twomey, Cork City Council Heritage Officer, added ''The River Lee is one of the great unexploited spaces in Cork, offering a beautiful route around the historic city centre. This guide will give the growing number of river users the opportunity to experience the natural and built heritage of Cork from the River Lee. The guide also includes quirky historical facts contributed by the late Cían Ó Sé.''

Corkumnavigate Cork city's 29 bridges and eight weirs with this latest pocket guide.

Originating near Gougane Barra in the Shehy Mountains, the River Lee flows east towards Cork City where it splits into two channels, form­ing the city's central island. Medieval Cork was a network of small river channels, which over the centuries have been covered in to leave just the north and south channels open. The river derives its name from the Irish "Laoi", meaning torrent or flood.

CORKUMNAVIGATION is a Meitheal Mara project, sponsored by Cork City Council and the River Lee Hotel. Fieldwork for the project was conducted in 2010 by the Cork Centre for Architectural Education, UCC and CIT, and sponsored by the Heritage Council.

The CORKUMNAVIGATION guide is available from Meitheal Mara via Afloat's Marine Market. Click HERE. 

#thisislandnation – We don't make enough use of the rivers which flow through our cities. These ribbons of life to our major urban centres pass through the heart of the cities where the pressure of traffic and pedestrians shows more interest in the speed with which they can be crossed, often seeming to regard them as unwelcome blocks which require bridges, rather than appreciate that underneath those bridges is a system of transport and leisure which is neglected and often used by citizens for dumping of their waste.

There are some moves to utilise them more efficiently. On the Liffey there is a sightseeing tourist vessel and Poolbeg maintains its sailing presence close to the shipping sector. In Cork a voluntary organisation, Meitheal Mara, has promoted boating on the many different strands into which the city forces the Lee to pass through. Cork's city-based shipping operations have been diminished by the port which wants to end them altogether and move commercial shipping to Ringaskiddy where its public presence will be more limited and removed from the public eye. Waterford has based a marina in the city centre, but shunted its shipping to Belview where it is practically unseen by the public, so that the contribution of shipping to the economy is not perceived as strongly as it should be. Galway is a restricted tidal port, but a new one is planned and close enough to be seen by citizens. Dublin maintains port operations close to the city.

Dublin Port docker from the North Lotts book

There was a time when the ports and the rivers throbbed with life. In Dublin Guinness barges traversed the Liffey and there were real characters on the docks in all of our cities. Life could be tough as a dock labourer, but there was a great pride in the communities which lived around the ports and recognised the importance of shipping.

The East Wall has always been a proud Dublin community with seafaring a vital part of its tradition. On my programme THIS ISLAND NATION I played a song from a CD which was presented to me. 'Songs from the North Lotts' by Paul O'Brien capture a time in East Wall which deserves to be remembered. The East Wall Residents' Association which has been in existence for some fifty years, "maintaining and promoting the rare and wonderful community that it is an always has been," led the production of the book of the songs, dedicated to the people of East Wall and North Wall.

The song I played was "Taking the Boat," about which Paul O'Brien wrote in a book accompanying his CDs in 2009: "When I was growing up Dublin people didn't emigrate, they 'took the boat'. Single or married, it didn't matter. I don't personally know of any Dublin family that has not been touched by emigration."

There was a great response to the song, which you can hear on the Afloat website by CLICKING HERE. It was so good that in the June edition of the monthly programme, I will be playing another ballad from the collection – "Me Handsome Stevedore."

Tune in to hear it – next Wednesday night, June 4 at 7.30 pm on Youghal Radio – Community Radio Youghal 104FM or on their website www.cry104fm.com or if you are in the Dublin area, tune in to NearFM 90.3 on Friday night, June 6 at 6 p.m. This is another station joining the "family of the sea."

There was an interesting comment on the May edition of the programme by Jim O'Donovan, Director of Environment and Recreation with Cork City Council, who compared the better environmental condition of the River Lee to the Liffey, particularly around Heuston Station, about which he was quite critical.

Click HERE to listen to him on the Afloat podcast of the programme.

MARINE COMMUNITY GROWING

Waiting for the tide at Youghal in County Cork

Community radio stations around the country are showing great interest in the marine sphere and counteracting neglect by national and local commercial radio. I met many of these voluntary broadcasters at the annual meeting of their national organisation, CRAOL, over the past weekend in Youghal. They have produced and broadcast programmes on a wide variety of marine topics. THIS ISLAND NATION, was amongst the winners in the annual CRAOL national awards, chosen by the broadcasters themselves. I am pleased that the description "this island nation" is heard being more widely used in general conversation, by the media, in politics and in business. Awareness of the marine sphere is growing.

WHELKS, BIRDS AND FISHING

I didn't know a lot about the Irish sea snail which is worth around €4m. a year in exports until I talked to Liam Kennedy from the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority who wants fishermen to protect them. I will be broadcasting that interview in the June edition of THIS ISLAND NATION radio next week, as well as an exclusive interview with the Head of the SFPA, Susan Steele. She tells me that she wants to see "a thriving fishing industry and thriving fishing communities," but warns that those who "lose the run of themselves" and engage in illegal fishing will be dealt with speedily and effectively because they damage the future of the fishing industry. I will also be talking to Birdwatch Ireland about the arrival, for the first time, of one of the world's rarest sea birds off the Irish coast.

This is the Bermuda Petrel, an endangered species, of which there are only 108 breeding pairs known to exist.

WOMAN WITH CONFIDENCE

"We've never sailed in Cork before, but we're quite confident anyway." That's the view of the top woman match racing sailor, 32-year-old Camilla Ulrikkeholm from Denmark, who will be at the home of sailing, the Royal Cork YC in Crosshaven, for the ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championships will be staged there next week.

 Camilla Ulrikkeholm from Denmark

The event will start on Tuesday and continue until Sunday, sailed in the ISA J80s fleet. "We've done a lot of research about the venue, we know the boat very well and we're definitely as tuned together as a crew should be. We'll just handle it the same way we usually do - arrive early to spend a day finding out all the practical details, then do some practising and get to know the boat and work our way into the regatta by using the first matches to learn about the local conditions."

That's confidence !

SHIPPING RECOVERY UNLIKELY

The Chief Executive of A.P.Moeller-Maersk Company has indicated that there will not be a sustainable recovery in the shipping industry in the short term. Nils Andersen is quoted as saying that "there is lingering overcapacity" which may remain until 2017. The Irish Maritime Development Organisation in its Weekly Market Review says that "the idle containership fleet" has gone below two per cent of the overall fleet for the first time since last September, but the global tanker market is experiencing low rates with the crude sector suffering particularly and providing only very low earnings for owners. The European Short Sea Bulk market is also experiencing a downward trend which has been developing since April.

BALTIMORE MARITIME COURSES

Baltimore Maritime Centre was formed in December 2013 by a nucleus of members of Les Glénans, following the closure of the Glenans sail training base in the village. It has acquired six of that organisation's keel boats and will start sailing courses this Summer in conjunction with Heir Island Sailing Schull and Baltimore Yacht Charters.

Twitter: @TomMacSweeney and @Afloatmagazine

#historicboats –  Boat-building organisations from France, Spain and Belgium and boating enthusiasts from across Ireland will attend an EU backed workshop conference as part of a three day visit to Cork Harbour next week.

The host organisation Meitheal Mara, based at Crosses Green in the heart of Cork City, is a community boatyard that, through its training programmes, utilises traditional boatbuilding, wood working and rowing skills to promote participant's social and personal development.

The EU Boat project is a three year learning partnership connecting Meitheal Mara with similar organisations from across Europe to share good practice, discuss challenges and devise solutions.

In addition to connecting community boat-builders, the project will also provide an opportunity for public representatives to come together to discuss their strategies for developing recreational water activities, preserving maritime heritage and promoting harbours and waterways for tourism. This week will see representatives from Cork City Council, Port of Cork and Failte Ireland come together with their European counterparts who are also travelling to Cork for the event.

The European visitors will also get the chance to try their hand at rowing a traditional Irish currach on the river Lee, visit the Port of Cork and tour the bonded warehouses on Custom House Quay. 

Ocean to City, Cork Harbour's annual maritime festival, takes place this year from 3-12 June. 

The yearly celebration of Cork’s maritime history and its unique harbour begins on Friday 3 June when members of the public can voyage through the city by kayak, enjoy the thrill of a sea safari trip around Cork Harbour or follow TG4’s Padraig Ó Duinnín as he presents a historical walking tour and talk on rowing in Cork. 

The highlight of the festival, An Rás Mór, takes place on Saturday 4 June and will see boats of all sizes row 15 nautical miles from Crosshaven via Cork Harbour, Monkstown and Blackrock before finishing at the boardwalk in Lapps Quay in Cork. 

Around 400 Irish and International rowers will compete in a diverse range of vessels including dragon boats, kayaks, currachs, Celtic long boats, Cornish pilot gigs and Irish coastal rowing boats. 

Sunday 5 June will see a special 10km kayak race through the city centre. The Irish Naval Service flagship LE Orla will also offer free public tours, while Meitheal Mara will host a guided voyage around the island of Cork by a variety of small craft.

To mark the Cork Harbour School and Heritage Trails Weekend from from 9-11 June, a series of events highlighting the attractions of Cork Harbour, both water and land based, will take place.

Activities include a summer school on the theme of 'recreation in a working port', which will be held in the Port of Cork on Friday 10 June and opened by Minister for the Marine Simon Coveney. 

For more details visit www.oceantocity.com.