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HISTORY
The
Beginning
The curragh
is a wood frame, skin (canvas) covered rowboat with 3 (standard
curragh) or 4 (Naomhaig) seats. The basic design is well over
1000 years old, and little has changed over that time. What
are considered to be the “modern” curragh designs,
using canvas rather than skins dates back several hundred
years. The sport of modern curragh racing has been documented
as far back as the 1800’s in Ireland. However, curragh
racing was virtually unheard of in the U.S. before 1980 outside
of Boston, MA. Even the events in Boston consisted entirely
of Irish-born crews.
Things
changed in the early 1980’s, and Pittsburgh was at
the forefront of this movement. Many of the Irish-born citizens
of Pittsburgh were from Connacht, particularly co. Galway.
Curraghs were a tradition for them back home, but this was
temporarily forgotten while chasing the American dream.
A
major breakthrough came in 1983 when Ms. Elaine Manning,
owner of the St. Brendan’s Gift Shop in Station Square,
imported two curraghs from Ireland. Her intention was to
hang them from the ceiling as a decoration, keeping with
the theme of her store. She found, however, the curraghs
were too large to be practically hung. Stuck with two curraghs,
she was determined to find somebody who could use them.
Through
some contacts Ms. Manning was directed to several of the
clubs founders. The Mulkerrin brothers (Joe, Mike, and Pete),
Marcus Flaherty, Jimmy McDonough, Pete Shovlin, and several
others became the founding fathers of the Pittsburgh Irish
Rowing Club. By 1984 the Pittsburgh Irish Rowing Club (then
called the Pittsburgh Curragh Club) was officially established
on the south side and held its first regatta at the Pittsburgh
Three Rivers Regatta. Pittsburgh also became one of the
first members of the North American Curragh Association
(NACA)
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The
Yanks are Coming
Once
the club was established and its reputation spread, the
American born Pittsburghers became interested. The first
few years of the club saw many influential “Yank”
rowers including: (L.J. Manning, Dave Price, Pat Folan,
Mark Flaherty, Jr., Pat Folan, Bruce Foley, Frank Yesko,
among others). Women’s racing also became more popular
and many joined (Maggie Folan, Brigid Minnock, Mary Mulkerrin,
Brigid Mulkerrin, Patty Mulkerrin, Annie O’Donnell,
among others) although there were very few positions available
for them at the time.
After several years in the south side location (where Hooter’s
currently stands today!) the club moved to its new home
on 43rd Street in Lawrenceville. The club would stay there
for over 10 years, winning several NACA championships and
changing its name to the Pittsburgh Irish Rowing Club (changing
club colors from black & gold to the maroon & white
of Co. Galway). It was during this time as well that the
original Irish-born members began to retire, placing more
responsibility on the American-born protégés.
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Recent History
In 1996
a new home was found at the C&E Marina (now the Midway Marine
& Storage), 600 Dawson, Glenfield, PA. This meant the PIRC
has made all three rivers of Pittsburgh home during its history!
With this move came even more retirements by our founders (although
nobody is ever REALLY retired) and even more responsibility
taken on by our American-born members. We have continued to
be a force in NACA, winning several more NACA Championships
even sending a crew to Ireland to compete in 2000.
The Future
The future
of the PIRC is bright, featuring one of the youngest and most
talented clubs on the North American circuit. This however,
will be short lived without a continuous supply of new members
to wear the maroon & white. The only prerequisites are
determination, persistence, and the ability to have a good
time.
Author’s Note:
I personally have been a member of the PIRC since 1991. Please
forgive any omissions I may have made from the early years
(or from my foggy memory). Drop me an e-mail if you have anything
to add! Pat Clark
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