This article is from page 64 of the 2008-08-12 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 64 JPG
THE ANCIENT art of calico sail making will be celebrated at this year’s Cruinniu na mBad (Gather- ing of the Boats) festival in Kinvara, County Galway.
There is just one family left who hold the secrets of making the beau- tiful sails. The late Johnny Bailey from Galway had the skill and passed it on to his children, who now make the sails and tar and bark them.
Marking the festival’s 30th birth-
day, the organisers have ordered a set of the calico sails which will be presented to one of the 100 Galway hooker’s taking part.
“We will have a set made every year and down the line, every hooker will have the traditional sails,’ said Dr Michael Brogan, Cruinnia na mBad organiser.
“This year we will have two dif- ferent races, one for boats which al- ready have the calico sails and one for those using modern sails.”
Every year the festival poster cel-
ebrates someone involved with the event and this year, it features the late Tony Moylan from Kinvara, who started the festival in 1978.
The races will be for the four types of Galway hookers. They include the Bad Mor, which is the largest vessel measuring between 35 to 44 feet in length; the second largest, the Leath Bhad , has a hull length of roughly 32 feet; the Gleoiteog; and the diminu- tive Pucan. The fun starts this year on Thursday, August 14, when the boats will gather from 3pm at The
Docks in Galway near Sheridan’s Bar. They will be joined by the visit- ing Jeannie Johnson before a night of traditional music and the boats will take part in the Claddagh race across to Kinvara.
The Turf Race will arrive at the pier in Kinvara on Saturday at around Spm and the Climin (seaweed raft race) will be held on Sunday.
There will be sean-nos singing and dancing as well as trad and other mu- sic sessions all over the town for the weekend.