Húicéirí – Galway Hookers

Product Description

The Galway Hooker (húicéir in Irish) is a traditional boat distinctive to Galway Bay and the coast of Connemara. This iconic craft, sturdy, yet elegant and agile, is characterized by a black-coloured hull (the colour was originally due to a tar coating) and rust-red sails.
The Galway hooker has nowadays become an icon in Ireland and abroad; her distinctive silhouette is quite rightly the emblem on the crest of Galway County Council. This revival is actively promoted by Cumann na Húicéirí – the Galway Hooker Association, and by Bádóirí an Chladaigh – the Claddagh Boatmen Association.
These wonderful boats can be admired while competing in the regattas taking place in Summer months. A full size hooker, the Mairtin Oliver, is “moored” in Galway City Museum.

This book captures beautifully the true character of The Galway Hooker

Photography by: Elisabetta Petroni and Guglielmo Dossena

Elisabetta and Guglielmo’s association with Galway Hookers was established in 1978.

The Galway Hooker, once a working craft, owes its revival to its new life as a leisure craft and it can be seen at annual summer festivals from Kinvara to Roundstone.

The images in this book represent the reality of navigation on hookers, from rigging out the boat to performing races in the most beautiful bays in Connemara, from the celebration of historical events up to the projects related to the construction of new crafts and the conservation of existing ones.

This book, with texts in Irish and English, Fulfils the need to spread the pleasure of building and sailing on a boat unique in her kind, which has become an accepted icon in Ireland and abroad.

Click to Share

Additional information