Abstract
There are no sailing boats seen on the coast of Donegal any more,with the exception of modern visiting yachts. The outboard engine has replaced rowing; oars are carried for emergencies only. When I asked an acquaintance, a Gabhla-born fisherman, to explain a rowing term he was at a loss and not a little embarrassed. He explained that that the outboard motor was making its first appearance along the coast when he first started fishing in his youth and he never found it necessary to use the oars. He advised me to approach the older, retired fishermen if I wished to learn about the old arts of sailing and rowing. I took his advice and hence this work.As with all crafts, seamanship has its own nexus of words and terms, but unlike those other crafts its language is not so readily accessible to the casual outsider. A long sea faring tradition behind me has made me very conscious of the importance of this terminology, how a wrong word can mean catastrophe in dire situations.
Most of my informants are or were fishermen and are proficient at rowing and sailing. AOD spent his life carrying mail by sailing yawl across the treacherous sound between Mín Lárach and Toraigh. MCh. ran a shop boat from Bun Beag to Gabhla. EBh. piloted vessels ln and out of Burtonport and was coxswain of the Árainn Mhór lifeboat for many years; his wife Maggie could handle a boat under sail. AOB. first went to sea at the age of sixteen aboard a large 'Zulu ' class sailing lugger. Many of my contacts are the last representatives of the, now deserted, island communities of Gabhla, Inis Meáin, Inis Oirthear and Inis Bó Finne. These were once thriving communities with economies based on herring, salmon and lobster fishing. Their craft were the sailing yawl and curragh.
The Yawl was used where there were piers to lay alongside. Skiffs were specially built for hauling up on the beach at Inis Bo Finne. Most of these boats are based on the Inishowen 'Dronthin ' , a clinker-built double ender which looks not unlike its forebear, the Viking Longship. The 'Dronthin ' was first introduced from Norway as deck cargo on ships carrying ice for the Port of Derry. They arrived in kit form and were assembled along Lough Foyle, especially by Beatty of Greencastle and McDonald of Moville.
Under the auspices of the Congested Districts Board the Zulu built lugger was introduced along the West coast. Along with these were sent Scottish skippers, English speakers. Consequently some of the old sailing terms were replaced by English words or influenced by them. Modern fishing gear on the large new trawlers is generally known by its English name.
The curragh, probably one of the world ' s oldest boat types, is still very much in use along the North-West coast of Donegal. They are very much ln evidence in Machaire Uí Rabhartaigh where they are mainly used to bring crews of larger vessels out to the anchorage off the pier. The curragh was rarely, if ever, used south of Uaigh Island. There are three main types of curragh, the small paddling curragh, the four-oared Bun Beag curragh and the high prowed six-oared Port Na Bláiche type. The paddling curragh was used mainly where landing places were rough and rocky . The Port na Blaíche in the surf.
The curragh with its unlque construction and handling qualities has retained about it, I suspect, an older terminology deserving of further enquiry.
| Date of Award | Jul 1992 |
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| Original language | English |
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