Boyne Currach Heritage Group
Boyne Currach Heritage Group
​Seeking answers to Ireland's
​Ancient Maritime Questions
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Stowaways.....

22/1/2016

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Daisy
A good friend once told me that being an artist should come with a health warning. I think of what he said every day. But this week I truly believe that anyone who adopts a Jack Russell should be given a Honda 50 or a good pair of runners. A russell arrived out here a year ago and wow! what a disruption to the neighbourhood she has become.... 7 years old and as smart as a student in their final year. I knew when I first saw her she was trouble, long legs under a russell's head can only mean one thing! And with a name like Daisy on a revved up wolf, she was destined to become a night mare. Now if I was to name her, I would call her 'Houdini' - our shivering, sulking, pouting big eyed wolf. That's all they are in the country and great company. On putting down the cup of tea after a good friend had arrived I realised the side gate had been left open. What is it? How does she know? Is it the tone in my voice when a friend arrives or how I wag my tail? I didn't even check the kennel, instead I jumped into the car and up the hill to do the usual commando run through the woods and glens to find the bitch before she starts on another devious project. Thorns in my hands from sliding and wet feet crossing wildly streams and flooded fields  I eventually heard her  barking. So off down the hill again only to find myself in the neighbour's garden where she had cornered a cat under the bonnet of the car. Explaining where I had been in search of Daisy, he laughed saying "sure there are no sheep out this time of year". The last time I had a jack russell 20 years ago I also had a Honda 50, but I would never have put the two together until now. So Saturday's boat building class has been postponed to Sunday and we are building a dog pen for our beloved Daisy, so that we can enjoy our cup of tea.   

Stowaways 
Daisy has taken the sulks again and well when the cat is away the mice will play, just when the extra light in the day has woken Bovinda from her long winter slumber. Abandoning the painting of fat on the boat due to the endless rain over the winter, may have been a good thing as with the hungry months now upon us, a mouse has found shelter in the boat. I reckon this is why skin boats disappeared. When clan leaders put two and two together and realised that the larger stowaways were responsible for carrying the plague. They brought the first Black Death in 500AD, around the same time pious monks couldn't leave this place fast enough. I wonder could you put two and two together and come up with seven? When all those monks left here in skin boats and traveled to far off lands like Germany, was this the same time that the first outbreak of the Black Death was recorded there?Just a thought..... 

Back to Business 
Bovinda is once again undergoing surgery, nothing too serious, a tummy tuck,in an effort to move the weight of the life raft forward. Also her leather canopy has been cut so as to give safe and easy access to the rigging for the lee boards. So a bit of sewing up to do, painting, binding, the normal chores on a Stone Age boat. So if you are keen to join in, can hold a brush, don't mind a bit of grease. send us an email or call.....  
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    Claidhbh Ó Gibne

    An artist and currach-maker whose studio and home are located among the remnants of countless monuments in the Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Park.

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