The Story Of The Dolphin

The O Malley’s of Curraun (Boat Wrights)

The O Malleys of Curraun were one of the main boats wright in Clew Bay from the late 1800’s to the late 1990’s after which demand for timber boats fell considerably. Since that time the trade of boat right in Curraun and indeed Ireland in general has slowly eroded. The old hands of John and his brother Tom O Malley have started to tire and their craft with them as lack of demand prevents John’s son, John Darragh, from carrying on the trade.

John Tom O’Malley, John and Tom’s father learned the trade from his father who learned the trade from a travelling boat right who was operating in their area for a time on commission for a number of new builds. It was common of its time that crafted boat wright would travel around the country building boats rather than building boats in a boat yard. One can imagine that this was due to difficulty in transportation of materials and the boat themselves at the time or indeed it was better for business having a bigger customer base. Either way, John’s grandfather spent a period of time working with the travelling boat wright and learned his trade before setting up himself in Curraun.

In 1968, intent on improving the ferry service to the island allowing for increased passenger and cargo capacity, Chris O’Grady placed an order with John Tom O’Malley of Currane and sons for the largest ferry yet to service Clare Island, the 36 foot “Dolphin”

John O’Malley tells of her building:
“She was the largest boat we built at that time which was exciting for my father, Tom and I. The boat house was barley long enough to hold her. It took us 3 months to build the oak frames which gave an indication of her beautiful lines. It was difficult at the time to source the oak keel beam as it needed to be 4 inch wide by 9 inch high and straight as a die. It took another 3 months to plank her out with larch. Some planks were up to 9 inches wide. We knew while building her that she was going to be something special. It was a proud day when she rolled down the slip out of the boat house in 1969.”

The Dolphin to this day holds a special place in the hearts and minds of the local community old enough who remember her at work. She carried houses brick by brick and plank by plant, she carried the sick at all hours of the night in all kinds of weather, she carried people away from the island knowing that that was the last time that they would call Clare Island their home, she went to sea in heavy conditions in order to save lives of fellow seamen in difficulty and she carried people home after many years and long journeys away to call Clare Island home once more.

The Dolphin operated as the main ferry service for over 25 years before being decommissioned in 1994, replaced by much larger and advanced steel hull vessels. She was then laid up and later sold on to a fisherman in Belmullet where she worked for some years. In 2008, the Dolphin sank at a pier in Belmullet and remained there for a number of years before the O’Grady family had her refloated with the help of some local fisherman from Belmullet and brought her home to Clare Island.

Nearly 50 years on since the Dolphin left O’Malleys boat yard in Currane, John Darragh O’Malley under the guidance of his father John (one of the original builders), was part of the team tasked with bringing the Dolphin back to life for her new role as cask barer for Clare Island Whiskey “Matured at Sea”.

Visit our Facebook Page to see some imagery and footage of the reclamation of The Dolphin
https://www.facebook.com/reel/811034944017128