Bruce Crawford relates the story of his Curragh Project

The Curragh Project
The Curragh Project received a Millennium Award in May 1998. The aims of the project are to preserve, develop and pass on the traditional skill of Curragh making by giving public demonstrations, illustrated talks and building display boats to order. The project also emphasises the importance of our local hazel woodlands to our ancestors and will encourage people today to take an interest in the products which can be made from wood harvested in a sustainable manner, thereby saving and regenerating our small native woodlands.

Public demonstration days at venues including Down County Museum, stimulate interest and have proved to be very popular with all age groups.

Bruce Crawford shows his curragh at Down County Museum

The Boyne Curragh
Coracles, or CURRAGHS as they are known in Ireland, are believed to have been in use on waterways and rivers across the country since neolithic times. It was only in the Boyne valley, however, that they survived as working craft
until the 1930s.

The Boyne Curragh was built using locally grown coppiced hazel rods forming a framework which was then covered with the hide of a cow. This type of boat differed from English and Welsh patterns in being built upside down. The
Curragh maker pushed hazel rods vertically into the ground at regular intervals in the shape of an oval. The gunwhale of the craft was then woven at ground level using slightly thinner rods. Above the gunwhale were woven 7-10 lines
of plain " in-and-out" weave to provide additional support for the covering. When the weaving around the perimeter was complete, the vertical members were bent over from side to side and from end to end. A clumsy move at this
stage could break a rod leaving the maker with the awkward task of levering out the stump and coaxing a new rod into place.

Several heavy stones were placed on the frame and left there for a week or so until the rods had settled into their final shape. After tying all the intersections of the rods, the frame was gently levered out of the ground and prepared for
covering. Traditionally a tanned cowhide was used but in more recent times canvas treated with bitumen became popular. The much reduced weight was probably one of the main benefits of a canvas covering. The hide or canvas
was attached to the frame by leather thongs or a rope of plaited horsehair.

The final job for the Curragh maker was to fit a seat, made from a roughly hewn plank, which provided additional stiffness to the frame.

Paddling A Curragh
Forwards, backwards or round in circles.....

A small Curragh needs its own special paddling technique to avoid it spinning uncontrollably. The user sits facing the direction in which he hopes to go, unlike an oarsman.

The paddle is held roughly vertically at arm's length with one hand on the top and the other halfway down. Power and direction (if you're lucky) are produced by a figure-of-eight motion. The paddle is made of a single piece of timber, with a maximum width of about 12cms. The side facing the user is flat while the other has a convex face. AT-piece is shaped into the paddle at the top end for two purposes - to provide a firm grip and to give a way of hooking on to the bank when getting in or out.

Paddles are hand made with most of the shaping being done with a hatchet or hand-axe.