This article first appeared on Galway Bay FM
A book has been published in America on how to build a currach.
It’s an unlikely source for a manual on the boat which is part of the tradition and life story of Connemara and the Aran Islands.
Michael Ryan from Pittsburg has now written a book entitled “The Irish Currach and Naomhóg Building Manual”.
And he got the knowledge in Baton Rouge, the State Capital of Louisiana in the American Deep South.
Pádraic Ó Cualáin and Micheál Ó Loideáin from an Cheathrú Rua were brought out to Baton Rouge some years ago and their job was to make currachs.
Michael Ryan and a colleague from Harvard University watched, videotaped and noted every move.
It all developed from a link between Connemara currachs and the big Celtic Festival by the lakes of the Ponchartrain.
As they say in Irish: Is fánach an áit a bhfaighfeá gliomach – lobster can turn up in strange places!
