Fifty years ago this weekend, Tim Severin and his crew set off from Brandon Creek in County Kerry on a journey to cross the Atlantic in a currach. He was replicating the voyage of St Brendan which took place somewhere between 500 and 550AD. While many of the accounts of this voyage are clearly full of fables, many historians now believe that his exploits are based on historical fact.
One of these was Tim Severin and his crew, who on May 17th 1976 set out to prove that such a journey was possible. Building a currach in Crosshaven out of timber and skin, he produced a boat remarkably similar to the currachs we row today. Using materials available at the time of the original voyage, the crew made a 36 foot long craft with a twin gunnel made out of oak. It was covered in oxhides stitched together and lathered with wool grease fat. For comparison our own Namhóga are approximately 26 ft long.
Severin’s currach proved remarkably resilient in the North Atlantic surviving high seas and winds. It was rigorously tested in sea trials before the voyage and found to be almost impossible to capsize. The natural materials and flexibility of the currach proved very effective in the Atlantic Ocean. In one incident between Greenland and Newfoundland the boat was holed by ice. George Molony leaned over the side in zero temperatures and with a with a needle and sowed a new patch on the leather skin as the boat sailed on.
Tim Severin and his crew successfully reached North America, and in his own words “she was a true ocean going vessel and there was no longer any practical objection to the idea that Irish monks might have sailed their leather boats to North America before the Norsemen and long before Columbus”
A short film about the construction and testing of the St Brendan is available on YouTube.
Thanks Frank, an shimiúil ar fad
I thought you were announcing a very adventurous epic row Frank 😉
I had a lovely swim at Brandon creek last fortnight. The book is an excellent read.
Small footnote to history - I was at the launch, Crosshaven in 1976, not the earlier one - late home with the meat for the dinner.... 😕 Miriam
@miriamamurphygmail-com I remember you telling us that one morning. Was it to get chops you were sent out and can you remember if it was 1976 or 75. They let for Greenland in 1976.
Chops would be very likely, don't remember the exact year, just the launch from the foreshore across from the boatyard. Saw the crowd from the butcher's and headed over...
