Galway’s firefighters are by their nature a hardy crew – so when Storm Ernesto threatened to derail their plans for a charity row from Inis Oirr to Galway, they simply moved from sea to river and rowed up and down the Corrib instead. Not just that – they did it in a currach they built themselves!

It all began – according to firefighter and fundraiser Eoin Davy – at the start of the year when he and his colleagues from Galway Fire and Rescue service came together to discuss plans for a fundraising event.

“Cancer Care West was our chosen charity. It is a charity that is close to many hearts within the station, especially as a colleague and close friend of ours, Simon, had lost his wife Gina to cancer two years previous,” he says.

An idea was pitched to build and row a traditional Connemara currach from Inis Oirr to Galway – with Simon Boote himself as part of the crew.

But then the firefighters sat down one evening and watched a documentary aired on TG4, showing Johnny Jimmy na nOileann building a traditional canvas currach from scratch with basic tools.

“He made it look fairly straight forward by constructing this lovely boat with barely the use of a measuring tape! Little did we know!” says Eoin.

And so the construction of the currach began.

“We used materials such as rough sawn timber, oak lats and copper nails. We then covered it with a canvas sheet and coated it in tar. Timber oars were cut and planed into shape. Within a few months, the currach was complete,” he says.

They trialled it in the Claddagh in early June and were delighted with its performance – and they then pencilled in Auhust 23 for the row from Inis Oirr to Galway.

Unfortunately, tropical Storm Ernesto threw a spanner in the works – so with the safety of the crew paramount, it was decided to row the 46km in a section of the Corrib behind Dangan.

Thanks to the Gráinne Mhaol Rowing Club, they were able to launch the currach from their slipway and used this as their base for the day.

“It was a special moment to see Simon along with his children Joe and Molly sitting in the Currach that had been constructed with them in our thoughts,” says Eoin.

The new stretch was 4km and the teams of both Galway City full-time and retained firefighters began rowing at 8.15am.

“By 3.30pm we were well on the way to completing the 46km equivalent to rowing from Inis Oirr,” says Eoin.

“It was a great moment when Simon and his crew rowed into the pontoon after completing the final 6km; 46.9kms were completed with Gina in our hearts .

Pictured: Firefighters from Galway Fire and Rescue service and volunteers after their successful Connemara currach fund raising rowing event in aid of Cancer Care West on the river Corrib.