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Engraving of ancient Irish skin boat based on a model in the Broyghter hoard, and a drawing in the Pepysian Library
All this talk of curraghs inspired by Jim Van Den Bos’s holiday photos from Ireland has reminded me that I have a lovely old book that includes an engraving of an ancient Irish skin boat that would be well worth hanging on a convenient wall or setting as screensaver – so here it is for your entertainment!
The smaller image provides some explanations, but the mast is made of a tree that has been incompletely trimmed, and the square object near the bows is an early anchor. The author reports that the sail was probably made of skin, but I have difficulty imagining how sailors of the time would have been able to manage with such a heavy sail – particularly if their boat had the same round sections we see in today’s curraghs.
For more posts on curraghs:
Irish curragh skin fishing boats on the Dingle Peninsula
The curraghs of Ireland
Some curragh photos