There’s rarely a weekend when there isn’t some activity in and around Galway’s Claddagh basin. Earlier last month, the Galway Hooker Sailing Club and Port of Galway Sea Scouts launched the 96-year old gleoiteog, Loveen, which was refurbished during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Late last month, Badóirí an Chladaigh flew a Brazilian flag from bad mór Naomh Cronán in tribute to Paulo Sergio Soares de Paixo, one of their volunteers who died at the age of 52 after taking ill far from home.
One man who knows everything there is to know about the Claddagh is Tommy Holohan. On a recent low tide walk out from Nimmo’s pier, he took Wavelengths to see the remains of a ship named the Nordlyset, a 1,600 ton steel barque carrying a cargo of deal in November 1914 which was wrecked off Mutton island.
(Above and below) Tommy Holohan (front) and Ger Jackson, examining the remains of the Nordlyset , a 1600 ton steel barque carrying a cargo of deal in November 1914 which was wrecked off Mutton island. Both Tommy and Ger believe the anchor, buried somewhere deep in the sand off Galway's Swamp, should be retrieved as part of the city's maritime history. Photos Joe O'Shaughnessy
Holohan and his friend Ger Jackson believe the anchor is buried somewhere nearby deep in the sand, and that it should be retrieved as part of Galway’s maritime history. There’s also a James Joyce connection to shipwrecks and Galway pilots, as Tommy explained to Wavelengths below
