A 40-year-old currach restored by inmates at Mountjoy Prison has been gifted to Catholic social services charity Crosscare, for use in its work with marginalised young people.
The currach, first built in west Clare by Carraignaholt native Derry Hedderman in 1984, was launched on the river Liffey at the Garda Boat Club in a ceremony on Saturday morning. In a previous life, the traditional vessel was raced by Co Clare man Martin Keating in the 1980s.
Brian Cahill, chief officer at Mountjoy’s Training Unit, said that the project was undertaken by inmates in the prison’s Men’s Shed.
“We’re very proud of this,” Mr Cahill said. “It involved quite a lot of the men.”
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He said that the name of the boat, Spleodar, was fitting. “It’s Irish for exubrernace, or joy. And we felt that it was fitting for the boat, because it really took on that, people really got involved in it.”
Shane Holland, a Skerries-based sculptor and boatbuilder who led the project at Mountjoy, said that the prisoners “got a lot out of” the restoration process.
“We spent the last eight months working in Mountjoy Training Unit, working with six or eight of the Men’s Shed prisoners to restore this boat from a wreck, to a boat – that used to race in west Clare and in Wexford – and is now back on the river today,” Mr Holland said.
“It will be used by kids in Dublin, in the community,” he added.
In a statement, Chris Killeen, of Crosscare’s Outdoor Learning team said that the currach will be activity-based programmes with their service users. “We are very grateful to have this currach as a unique addition to our work,” he said.
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