"Connemara hooker" doesn't have quite the same ring to it - but the "Galway" label may soon be a misnomer. King of the Claddagh Michael Lynskey has expressed serious concern about the demise of the city's traditional sailing fleet.
Mr Lynskey of Fairhill, Galway, owns Annie, one of the last two active gleoiteogs sailing out of the Claddagh basin. While he loves his boat, he says it is becoming increasingly hard to maintain.
"They need constant work and attention, they are very expensive to repair and young people don't seem to be interested in that sort of commitment any more," he says. Some half a dozen other wooden vessels resting up near the Claddagh basin require so much maintenance that they can't be launched.
Ironically, there has been a revival in interest in traditional craft around the coastline - in Connemara and in areas like west Cork where Glandore harbour recently held its successful biennial summer school on the theme.
However, Connemara hooker owners can avail of grants issued by Údarás na Gaeltachta which assist them in keeping vessels in a seaworthy condition.
Dr Michael Brogan, vessel owner and organiser of Cruinniú na mBád in Kinvara, Co Galway, said that Galway city owed a lot to the vessels which are depicted in logos and advertising used by companies, hotels and Government departments.
"The old craft played a very significant part in the commerce of the city before the development of road infrastructure and arrival of trucks," he said. "What's really required is some form of financial assistance, extending beyond Gaeltacht areas, to recognise their heritage value."
Drawing on a Dutch design for their distinctive "tumblehome" hulls, hookers ranging from the largest bád mór to the leath-bhád and the gleoiteog were essential trading vessels in the west.
They transported turf and supplies such as porter and "cosey gas" (Kosangas) between Galway, the Aran islands and the Connemara coastline during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Speed was of the essence, as the first boat out to Inis Mór fetched the highest prices; butter was often coated on hulls for streamlining.
Along with boat-building skills, construction and maintenance nurtured expertise in sail-making and stitching calico canvas. The sails were coasted in bark tannin from cashew trees, with butter added to the heated tar mix, giving them their distinctive russet hue.
"Ten years ago, we had seven or eight vessels actively sailing from the Claddagh, but gradually they have declined," Mr Lynskey said. The last trading skipper to continue sailing his vessel, An Capall, was "maistir báid mhóir" and city resident Johnny Bailey, who died two years ago at the age of 72.
Dr Brogan said Kinvara's annual Cruinniú na mBád intended to have its first gathering in Galway's docks on August 17th to highlight the issue. A fleet of craft from Spiddal extending around to Kinvara plans to join the two Claddagh gleoiteogs in the docks that evening.
This weekend, weather permitting, Galway hookers will be racing in Greatman's Bay during the Féile an Dóilín regatta in Carraroe.
