Episode 2 Ar Bhealach na Gaeltachta

SHUTTER CLICKS

So, Paul, what is a currach?

Well, a currach, I suppose, is a boat made from wood and canvas,

it's got a canvas skin. It's a very light boat.

As you can see, it sits on top of the water. It's almost like a canoe.

Over the years it's been used for fishing

and transporting people to and from the island,

but more recently it's been used for generally racing, I suppose.

And nobody really uses them any more for working purposes.

Very safe boat when used correctly, but also a very dangerous one

if not used correctly, I suppose.

You're telling me they're an easy boat to manage,

but I really haven't got that part of it yet, so I haven't!

Yeah, you're constantly aware of the wind

and what the wind's doing to you, aware of the movement of the boat.

You feel the wind on your head,

you realise which way the wind's coming and then you react

accordingly with your oars to hold the boat where you want to put it.

-You really direct it with your senses.

-Yes, yes, definitely.

How many people are there here based in the Kincasslagh area

that are active in currach racing today?

We had two men's teams this year

and we had two ladies' teams at some of the races also,

and for the first time we had a junior team this year,

an under-18 team, and they did very well this year,

and it's good to see them coming into it.

And you yourself, all-Ireland champion?

Yes, I won the all-Ireland single man race in Roundstone this year.

Must've been nice to go down

and beat the boys in Connemara on their own doorstep, yeah?

Ah, it was unreal. I was delighted.

It was something that you only maybe dreamed of before, and you

dreamed of it happening but you never thought it would come true.

We sit here with... HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

-But you've a great connection to that island as well, don't you?

-Aye.

When I was younger I would go there on holidays.

My grandmother, of course, lived there at that time

and my uncle, and his family,

his wife and family, his family were all brought up there.

So that house is still there and my cousins now have done it up

and my wife and myself, we bought a wee house there last year,

so we're in the process of doing that up.

It's lovely because there's no electricity

and the people that are there don't want the electricity,

because they feel that it's almost, again,

a world away from the remoteness and the peace that even we have here.

There's no computers, no outside interest at all, and it really is...

It is all about people in there.

MARCH DRUMMING

MARCH BAND PLAYS

FRAINC:

THEY SING IN IRISH

GIRL SINGS IN IRISH

# One moment with you

# Come on, baby, with me, we're gonna fly away... #