ANAM CARA

Anam Cara was built as a bád iomartha (row boat) around 1900. The Casey brothers on Mweenish Island, Carna who had also built Bád Churraoín, built the boat for Marcus Colm from Inis Fhínse and it is said to have cost £5 at the time. It was named Naomh Ciarán and was 22ft long.

In 1961 John Tom O Niaidh purchased the Naomh Ciarán and he put a Diesel inboard engine on her for working seaweed in Cill Chiaráin Bay for Arramara factory. It was Colm Casey, a relation of the boatbuilder who put in the engine.

John worked and looked after the Naomh Ciarán for nearly 30 years.

In 1990 Patrick Madden from Coil Sáile bought her from John Tom O Niaidh with the intentions of using her as a pleasure vessel however this never happened and she stayed dry for the next 18 years or so.

Then in 2008 Joe John William Joyce bought her and brought the Naomh Ciarán back to his home in West Barna. In 2009 he rebuilt and renamed her. He called her Anam Cara (loosely translates as ‘soulmate’) after the book of the same title by his friend John O Donoghue and had her blessed by the local parish priest. Joe was the first one to rebuild her as a gaff rigged sailing boat. The overall shape and size of the boat were kept to the original design, however to improve sailing the boat was slightly deepened and given a bit more freeboard aft. Joe ensured that a few of the original top frames remained.

On September 11th 2010 Anam Cara was launched from Old Spideal Pier and was sailed for the next 9 years by the Joyce family.

In September 2019 Anam Cara joined GHSC when 6 crew purchased her. Collette Furey, Aideen Kilkelly, Marty Concannon, Harald Schlindwein, John Gregory and Keith Lyne had joined Galway Hooker Sailing Club during the Lovely Anne restoration and through a mutual love for the boats and an interest in developing the club and their sailing skills brought another Hooker, Anam Cara, to the club.

Anam Cara is now being used within the club as a training vessel and you will often see the Galway Hooker Sailing Crew out sailing her and learning how she handles in her new home port of the Claddagh.

If anyone was involved in the project or has any stories or memories of Anam Cara we’d love to know.