Rowing team complete incredible voyage from Down to Scotland in Mayo Currach

Meath man Shane Holland recently embarked on a six-hour odyssey to Scotland from Down, as he and his Currachaí na Sceirí crew took the only ‘sea-ready’ Currach on an incredible row.

Dedicating the ‘Voyage of Your Ancestors’ row to his late father, JJ Holland, former principal of Dunshaughlin Community College, Shane described the experience as ‘euphoric’.

With a Mayo background through his father, the Dunshaughlin native was on a team with Teddy Otto Cox, Séamus McRoarty, Finbarr O’Connor, Anca Mairgrean, John McGahn, Conor Dodd and Tony Moran.

Growing up in Meath, before moving to Skerries, Shane said that his experiences in the water came from kayaking in the Boyne and at Clogherhead, largely thanks to influence from his father. Despite being ‘reluctant’ as a teenager, he is now in at the deep end when it comes to rowing.

The voyage took place on Sunday 23 August, and it took six hours and 15 minutes, from Donaghadee, County Down to Portpatrick, Scotland.

“Part of the idea to do it was that most people who came to Ireland in the first place came from skin-boat Currachs, 5,000 years ago,” Shane said. “It was an ancient journey to replicate that, and the fact that we had a unique North Atlantic fishing boat from Balderrig in County Mayo made it more special.”

The boat was built for productions such as Game of Thrones and King Arthur.

“It was completely rare that we got it. It was built by a guy called David Nolan. He did a good deal on it and reskinned it. We were all thinking: ‘We better do something big with this boat’, and then the idea came.”

Having never done an international row before, Shane said that preparation for the expedition was intense. “Some of the training rows were actually harder than going to Scotland, in terms of less crew and more tides.”

There were five at a time in the boat, and three ‘substitutes’.

“We decided that if somebody pulled a muscle or had cramps or something like that, then it'd be a bit stupid to not bring a sub. So we did it with three subs in the boat, and then you could change over. So that was good, that worked out very well.”

Ahead of the trip, Shane said there were “feelings of worry and trepidation".

"You're nervous because, for me, as an organiser, people's wives are saying: 'You're going to take my husband across one of the most dangerous pieces of water between Ireland and Scotland’. It’s much harder than the English Channel to cross.

“We really had to work for eight months planning the thing out, and it took a lot of talking to people.”

Although the stakes were high during the row, Shane said that once things got going, there wasn’t much concern on board. “You’re in a zen moment where you don’t actually think too much, when you’re on the water. All you have to think about is putting in one hour at a time with everyone.

“There’s chitchat going on, but sometimes it’s quite meditative. You just get into the rhythm and keep doing it. You just make sure you don’t do any sudden or jerky movements that might pull a muscle, or put you out of action.”

“The teamwork was really the result that we were so happy with. It’s about thinking about the team, making sure that you’re on course, talking to the support boat on the radio.

“You have to just concentrate. If you're the person at the back who's steering the boat, and I was in that position for a while, if you take your mind off it, you could be going completely in the wrong direction and you have ferries and other marine traffic there. So, you can't be too zoned out, especially if you're steering the thing.”

As a pod of dolphins welcomed them to Scotland a few kilometres out from shore, Shane and team were able to relax, before a fantastic arrival.

“It was great to get over there. Nobody really knew what we were doing in the harbour, they were stunned that we’d just rowed over from Ireland. They were going, ‘God, that’s a crazy thing you just did!’ We were delighted to have done it, and everyone’s relieved. We have a big sense of achievement in what we've done.”

They arrived in Scotland well before their anticipated time. “It was a bit bumpy but the wind fell according to the forecast, there were no crazy waves or anything so we were delighted.

"The pod of dolphins then appeared beside the boat, it felt like everything was working out… I was saying it might even take us eight hours, we were prepared to be out there for 10. The crew pushed really hard.”

To celebrate their, Shane said they enjoyed some Boann Whiskey from Meath.

No further adventures have been planned yet.

“It just seemed totally daunting to do that row, you'd think this is a crazy idea. But, the more planning you put into it, the less crazy it seemed.

"Now people are talking, ‘Oh, you're going to go to the Isle of Man, or are you going to go to Iceland?’ It's an easy thing to say you're going to do something, but to actually do it is a bigger thing.

"We’re going to have to think about it for a while.”

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Slí ár Sinsear - Voyage of our Ancestors, from the National Museum