Galway
July 21, 2023
HM 235. Galway Hookers, Harbour Masters and Mass Graves
As we approached Galway harbour, precariously low on diesel, we were met by several beautiful Galway Hooker sailing boats. With their black hulls and dark sails these boats traditionally transported turf (peat) out to the Aran Islands and returned with limestone. Today they are a big racing class in Galway and Mayo.
I met cheerful Deputy HM Kevin Walsh who explained to me that the fast flowing The River Corrib, which cuts in front of Galway's gated harbour, makes driving a ship into the narrow port quite tricky. Large lock gates protect the harbour, behind which commercial ships up to 120m dock. As a yacht we were tucked right into the inner harbour.
He told me about some of the more unusual exports, including RDF - Refuse Derived Fuel. Essentially everyday garbage that cannot be recycled is pelleted up and sent to Denmark, Sweden and Germany. There it is used to produce electricity or replace fossil fuels.... but not in Britain it appears.
Kevin's father was in the Merchant Navy with all four sons following him to sea. Kevin is a true all round mariner with experience in cargo, towing, dredging, fire fighting, surveying and piloting. He is an RNLI assessor and ended up as Master of the Aran Islands ferries. His long career typifies the career of so many Harbour Masters. When I asked him about any 3am phone calls, he immediately recounted the story of a woman very worried about a bright light shining into her bedroom window - "It keeps going on and then off". He gently explained to her what a lighthouse was!
He has loved living in Galway for 33 years, despite being born a Cork man.... something apparently you don't mention in one of the 475 pubs in County Galway! As you can see they were very inviting. On the way to one such establishment, we cut through a graveyard and there we came across someone literally digging up the tomb stones. It turned out he was a very interesting volunteer caretaker and he proudly showed us a grave containing 300 Spaniards. They were Armada sailors who had been washed up on the Galway coast alive and then under the order of Elizabeth I, had been executed. They ended up in a mass grave right here. After that story we needed another
pint of Guiness!
As we approached Galway harbour, precariously low on diesel, we were met by several beautiful Galway Hooker sailing boats. With their black hulls and dark sails these boats traditionally transported turf (peat) out to the Aran Islands and returned with limestone. Today they are a big racing class in Galway and Mayo.
I met cheerful Deputy HM Kevin Walsh who explained to me that the fast flowing The River Corrib, which cuts in front of Galway's gated harbour, makes driving a ship into the narrow port quite tricky. Large lock gates protect the harbour, behind which commercial ships up to 120m dock. As a yacht we were tucked right into the inner harbour.
He told me about some of the more unusual exports, including RDF - Refuse Derived Fuel. Essentially everyday garbage that cannot be recycled is pelleted up and sent to Denmark, Sweden and Germany. There it is used to produce electricity or replace fossil fuels.... but not in Britain it appears.
Kevin's father was in the Merchant Navy with all four sons following him to sea. Kevin is a true all round mariner with experience in cargo, towing, dredging, fire fighting, surveying and piloting. He is an RNLI assessor and ended up as Master of the Aran Islands ferries. His long career typifies the career of so many Harbour Masters. When I asked him about any 3am phone calls, he immediately recounted the story of a woman very worried about a bright light shining into her bedroom window - "It keeps going on and then off". He gently explained to her what a lighthouse was!
He has loved living in Galway for 33 years, despite being born a Cork man.... something apparently you don't mention in one of the 475 pubs in County Galway! As you can see they were very inviting. On the way to one such establishment, we cut through a graveyard and there we came across someone literally digging up the tomb stones. It turned out he was a very interesting volunteer caretaker and he proudly showed us a grave containing 300 Spaniards. They were Armada sailors who had been washed up on the Galway coast alive and then under the order of Elizabeth I, had been executed. They ended up in a mass grave right here. After that story we needed another
pint of Guiness!