It has taken a while for regular success in ocean rowing to come Ireland’s way, but 2022 saw a massive leap forward with Galway Bay’s Karen Weekes and Damien Browne each completing the crossing, Karen east-west in April, and Damien west-east from New York to Galway in October.
However, 2023 was barely two weeks old when another remarkable achievement was added to the tally with Wicklow’s five-strong “Row Hard Or Go Home” team crossing the finish line in Antigua on January 14th, after setting an east-west record from the Canaries of 33 days 12 hours and 38 minutes.
Wicklow is already a noted port for coastal and cross-channel oarsmen, but now a new dimension has been convincingly added by the RHOGH crew of Tom Nolan, Shane Culleton , Derek McMullen, and brothers Diarmuid and Gearoid O Briain, whose success is raising funds for the RNLI and Laura Lynn Children’s Hospice. Buoyed by their achievement, they were well able to give a full-throated rendition of their voyage anthem “The Irish Rover” as they berthed in Nelson’s Dockyard.
