Sailing enthusiasts around Lough Erne in County Fermanagh have a proud record of restoring old boats as well as building new craft in traditional designs.
Some years ago, the late Fred Ternan set up a small organisation called Lough Erne Heritage, whose aims were to promote and preserve the story of boat use on Lough Erne. One of the first dinghies that Fred restored was a Snipe dinghy called Ranger, which he found with another called Teal in the old boat shed at Crom Castle on Upper Lough Erne in County Fermanagh. Johnny Madden of Clones owned both in Co Monaghan, whose family were instrumental in Snipe sailing on Lough Erne in the 1950s and 1960s.
Another one of the original Snipes, Valkyria, had been stored in Enniskillen, the county town of Fermanagh; evidence that boats from Belfast Lough ended up in Lough Erne, as she had been owned by an E Cowan of Holywood and Ranger was from Carrickfergus. Snipes were present on Belfast Lough, Strangford Lough, and bizarrely on tiny Lough Eskragh near Dungannon.
Snipe dinghies at Crom Photo: courtesy Johnny Madden
Johnny Lucas-Clements had owned Valkyria, and now his daughter, Sarah Royle is offering it at no cost for restoration. It has been undercover, and the sails are stored indoors. She has told me that at the relaunch of Ranger in 2021, “Fred said he would also like to restore my father’s Snipe but sadly passed away before he could do that.
Ballyholme Yacht Club Regatta 1949 with Snipe Valkyria listed as an entry on the regatta programme
Currently, the Snipe is still in a shed doing nothing, and ideally, I would like to find a new owner who would be prepared to restore it and sail it again.” She continued, “I just want Valkyria to go to a good home and for someone to enjoy sailing it. I have spoken to Johnny Madden, and he has told me the Snipe was built by George Jointer in the 1930s and in 1954, the Maddens, Lucas Clements and some others acquired them and sailed them on Lough Erne”.
Anyone interested can contact Sarah by email at blakeleyfarm@gmail,com
