'Galway Hookers & the Claddagh' with Cóilín Óg Hernon and Ciaran Oliver

'Galway Hookers & the Claddagh' with Cóilín Óg Hernon and Ciaran Oliver

Boatbuilder Cóilín Óg Hernon discusses the various parts of the Galway Hooker boat and boatman Ciaran Oliver follows with a short history of the Claddagh fishing village, which was once home to a large fleet of these distinctive boats.

With their distinctive black hulls and eye-catching rust-red sails, Galway Hookers are the traditional boats of Galway Bay. Having evolved to withstand the rough Atlantic seas, these boats were traditionally used for fishing and for transporting cargo – turf, seaweed, limestone, livestock and general supplies – around the coasts of Galway and North Clare. They consist of four types of boat, known in Irish as Bád Mór, Leathbhád, Gleoiteog and Púcán.

The Claddagh was once home to the largest fishing fleet in Co. Galway. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this village of small thatched houses was occupied by Irish-speaking fishermen and their families, and headed by an elected king.

This Galway City Museum initiative is supported by Creative Ireland through Galway City Council.