1. Preparing the ribs
Twenty-nine ribs cross under the seats from one side of the frame to the other and with the laths, they create a shell that gives shape and support to the currach’s skin. Mikey used oak ribs which he first pared the ends of and then planed the whole rib.
Planing ribs
Fitting ribs on to frame
2. Fitting the ribs
Once planed, the ribs were placed in a wooden trough and covered with straw and then a sack placed over the straw. Boiling water was then added to the trough and the ribs left to soak. Soaking in boiling water made the wooden ribs flexible and easily bent into arches to be fitted into the lower gunwale and lower shoulder.
3. Fitting the laths
Mikey then measured half the distance of a seat and marked it on the rib above. This marking would direct Mikey when placing the centre lath onto the ribs. Laths are thin strips of wood that run lengthwise along the currach. Mikey used twenty deal laths on this particular currach, each one nailed to the ribs above it. If the currach was to be fitted with a sail, Mikey would bore a hole in the upper transom for a pin to hold the rudder.
Fitting centre lath
Cutting centre strip of canvas
4. Measuring and cutting the canvas skin
With all the laths fitted to the ribs, the frame was complete. Mikey’s next task was to measure and cut strips of canvas to cover the outside of the boat.
5. Made-to-measure skin
Where the canvas strips met each other, they were marked for sewing. The sewn canvas was a made-to-measure fit for the currach. Canvas itself is not waterproof, so to achieve that essential quality, Mikey had to coat the canvas inside and out with tar.
Sewing canvas strips together
Tarring inside of canvas
6. Reinforcing the canvas
Before the full tarring began, a tarred, reinforcing strip of canvas was stuck to the bottom frame along the upward curve at the front of the currach. The inside of the canvas was then tarred.
7. Applying the tar
The canvas skin was pulled tight to cover the entire outside of the frame and held in place by nailing it to the stem, upper gunwale and transoms. The outside of the canvas then received its boiling tar and the currach was complete save for the oars, mast and sail.
Tarring canvas on outside
Nailing glamba to an oar
8. Fitting a glamba
Mikey fitted a glamba to each oar. A glamba is a triangular piece of wood with a hole drilled in its centre. The thole pin fits through the centre hole and holds the oar in place during rowing. To finish an oar, Mikey pared the handle to make it round and easier on the hand.
9. Getting a sail
Though Mikey disclosed that the people of the islands ‘don’t get the sail’, the National Museum of Ireland wisely asked that a mast and sail be included in the build. Their production would add a day’s labour to the eight days required to build the body of the currach. Mikey ordered ten yards of calico to make the sail. Calico is made from unbleached cotton and is a lighter fabric than canvas. The timber mast was secured in place by fitting it through a cut piece of wood known as a seas crainn, which resembled a seat with a hole cut in its centre.
The finished currach
Currach (NMI Collection - F:1968.233a)
10. Mikey Conneely's currach
Mikey Conneelly’s currach is on permanent display in the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life, Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co. Mayo.