Fingal Rowing Club

National Heritage Week 2026 - Updated time

23rd August 2026

2pm - 4pm.

Just a slight update to our event taking place on Sunday 23rd August, we will now be starting our event at 2pm and will run until 4pm.

Fingal Rowing Club are delighted to take part in an event as part of National Heritage Week 2026. Join us as we celebrate the story of Fingal Rowing Club as we mark our 10 year anniversary and the heritage of our east coast skiffs.

East Coast skiffs are traditional wooden boats historically used along Ireland’s east coast, especially around counties like Dublin, Wicklow, and Wexford. They’re typically clinker-built (overlapping planks), light, and well-suited for coastal fishing and inshore work.

As part of heritage week, you can meet the men and women who row and race these boats. Skiff racing has its origins routed in Ringsend, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, hobblers would row these boats out to sea to meet vessels and earn piloting or cargo work. It was dangerous work and required skilled crews.

Over time, the rough-and-tumble hobbling competitions evolved into formal skiff racing and coastal rowing as a sport. Skiff rowing has a long history on the Liffey; there are two clubs already long established on the Liffey, Stella Maris and St. Patrick's.

At this event, you will learn about our clubs beginnings in Rush, and now our permanent home in Balbriggan. Learn about our first east coast skiff, affectionately known as 'old joe', hear of his remarkable story and rediscovery in the pigeon house of Poolbeg.

The event will take pace at the old bath house and boat house, two historic structures that are destined to be our future home along with the 89th Bremore Sea Scouts.
We can't wait to see you all there.

To register for this event email: [email protected]

To learn more about National Heritage Week 2026, visit:

https://www.heritageweek.ie/



Believe Balbriggan Fingal East Media Fingal County Council National Maritime Museum of Ireland East Coast Rowing Council

Collaborative art project for Dublin Canvas 2026.

Inspired by the rich maritime heritage of Balbriggan, this artwork depicts the iconic Martello Tower and the historic bathhouses at King Strand. These buildings hold a significant place in the town’s history, having once served as the home of the RNLI and the station for Balbriggan’s first lifeboat, the Maid of Annan.

As these historic structures enter a new chapter, they are set to serve the local community once again as the future home of Fingal Rowing Club and the 89th Bremore Sea Scouts. The artwork celebrates both Balbriggan’s proud seafaring past and the continued connection between the town, the sea, and the organisations that foster maritime skills and community spirit for future generations.

While the final design was not selected we are delighted with the results and will find a home in our new boathouse when construction has been completed.

STOP THE SLOP

At Fingal Rowing Club we are committed to collaborating with local artist, photographers, film makers and other creatives to produce engaging content to promote our club, our community and rowing on the east coast of Ireland.

Today we are launching a campaign called ‘stop the slop’, the aim is to discourage clubs and community groups from using AI to produce promotional artwork or graphics in place of human creators. The Fingal area is awash with talented artists and designers who could be contacted to produce materials for your club.

We are calling on all clubs and community group to reach out to graphic designers and artists to collaborate and produce unique materials to promote your events. We all know AI posters when we see them and we can spot them a mile away. We also know many people studying to be creatives in college or trying to make a living as such. Lets not devalue their craft, time spent committed to their craft and skill required to produce these materials.

Choosing AI may appear to be the quick and easy option but public perception dictates otherwise. AI cheapens your brand and most AI produced content looks the same. Even a simple poster created on Canva shows more individuality to stand you out amongst other groups.

Earlier in the year Fingal Rowing Club collaborated on a piece of artwork with local artist Allison O’Grady, the brief was to produce artwork for Dublin Canvas. While the Fingal submission was not selected we were delighted with the final design out come. We will post the artwork in the coming days for you all to see, the main thematic of the artwork was our rich maritime heritage in Balbriggan. This design only came to life through the collaborative process between two people, not acomputer.

https://www.instagram.com/alisonogrady_visualartist/

Let’s work together, value the craft and skill of our Irish artist before the profession is dissolved completely. So reach out, put a call out and help keep Irish artist, graphic designers, photographers and videographers involved in your clubs creative promotions. If you are a local artist in the Fingal area, comment below, let us know your background and link in your professional profile or website.

Finally to show your support, please like and share this post as far and wide as you can!

National Heritage Week 2026

23rd August 2026

11:30am - 3pm.

Fingal Rowing Club are delighted to take part in an event as part of National Heritage Week 2026. Join us as we celebrate the story of Fingal Rowing Club as we mark our 10 year anniversary and the heritage of our east coast skiffs.

East Coast skiffs are traditional wooden boats historically used along Ireland’s east coast, especially around counties like Dublin, Wicklow, and Wexford. They’re typically clinker-built (overlapping planks), light, and well-suited for coastal fishing and inshore work.

As part of heritage week, you can meet the men and women who row and race these boats. Skiff racing has its origins routed in Ringsend, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, hobblers would row these boats out to sea to meet vessels and earn piloting or cargo work. It was dangerous work and required skilled crews.

Over time, the rough-and-tumble hobbling competitions evolved into formal skiff racing and coastal rowing as a sport. Skiff rowing has a long history on the Liffey; there are two clubs already long established on the Liffey, Stella Maris and St. Patrick's.

At this event, you will learn about our clubs beginnings in Rush, and now our permanent home in Balbriggan. Learn about our first east coast skiff, affectionately known as 'old joe', hear of his remarkable story and rediscovery in the pigeon house of Poolbeg.

The event will take pace at the old bath house and boat house, two historic structures that are destined to be our future home along with the 89th Bremore Sea Scouts.

We can't wait to see you all there.

To register for this event email: [email protected]

To learn more about National Heritage Week 2026, visit:

https://www.heritageweek.ie/

Believe Balbriggan Fingal East Media Fingal County Council East Coast Rowing Council National Maritime Museum of Ireland

Unfortunately the sea conditions didn’t allow us to bring people out on the water but we had a fantastic evening hosting so many people at our Her Outdoors event.

A very special thank you to Anthony Murphy for opening the event meeting more of our club members.

Fingal Sports Office Fingal County Council

All hands on deck setting up for her outdoors.

Her Outdoors Week 2026

We can't wait to see you all later today for our 'Her Outdoors Week' showcasing East Coast skiff rowing with some of our female club members.

We’re incredibly proud to be taking part in Her Outdoors Week on Tuesday, 11th August, celebrating the brilliant women in sport here on the East Coast! Kicking off at 18:30 to 20:30 at the Martello Tower, Balbriggan.

Come along and meet some of our fabulous female rowers, hear about what makes skiff rowing so special to them, and see the sport they’ve poured so much time, passion and dedication into. And who knows… you might even be tempted to give rowing a go yourself!

We will also have our support rib out on the water if people want to take to the water and see our crews training. Or you simply want to see Balbriggan from a different angle and see what training involves.

And if you find yourself with a Grá for skiff rowing, our Membership Officer will be there on the day to chat with you about how you can become part of our rowing community.

Come along, meet the crew, have a chat and give it a go; we’d absolutely love to see you there!

There's still time to sign up; email your interest to [email protected]

Balbriggan Chain of Survival Believe Balbriggan Fingal East Media Fingal County Council Fingal County Council Sports Office Rowing Ireland Sport Ireland Cllr Tom O'Leary - Skerries, Balbriggan & Loughshinny Councillor Tony Murphy Cllr. Grainne Maguire Grace Boland FG East Coast Rowing Council

Our Club PRO has been busy putting the finishing touches to the final batch of photographs from Wicklow Rowing Club. The full gallery is now available on our website at www.fingalrowingclub.ie, and you can also relive the highlights of the entire 2026 season by visiting our Flickr account.

The final regatta of the year took place on Sunday, 2 August, with Wicklow Rowing Club hosting a superb day's racing. Crews from clubs across the East Coast came together to compete in a wide range of age categories, with every race counting towards those all-important final points in the battle for the East Coast Shields. Congratulations to everyone who competed throughout the season and helped make this year's regattas such a success.

A heartfelt thank you to the East Coast Rowing Council for their dedication in overseeing the organisation and governance of another outstanding regatta season. Their commitment and hard work ensure these events continue to thrive and provide fantastic opportunities for rowers of all ages.

A very special thank you goes to our PRO, Stephen Comiskey, who has dedicated countless hours throughout the season to documenting regattas across the East Coast calendar. While it's impossible to capture every athlete on the water, his photographs beautifully reflect the determination, excitement and spirit that make our rowing community so special. We are incredibly grateful for everything he does for Fingal Rowing Club, both behind the camera and beyond.

And as if photographing regattas, rowing, coxing and managing our social media wasn't enough, Stephen is now taking on the 2026 Dublin City Marathon in aid of MS Ireland. We know he'll give it everything he's got, and we'd love to help him reach his fundraising goal.

If you'd like to support Stephen and this wonderful cause, please consider making a donation using the link below. Every contribution, no matter the size, is greatly appreciated.

https://eventmaster.ie/fundraising/pages/SC25548623

Thank you to everyone who made the 2026 regatta season one to remember. Here's to another fantastic year on the water!

East Coast Rowing Council Fingal East Media Multiple Sclerosis Ireland

Skerries Rowing Club Dalkey Rowing Club Bray Rowing Club Stella Maris Rowing Club St.Patricks Rowing Club St.Michael's Rowing Club - Dún Laoghaire Wicklow Rowing Club Greystones Rowing Club Arklow Rowing Club Vartry Rowing Club, Wicklow Cllr. Grainne Maguire Grace Boland FG

Her Outdoors Week 2026

Don't forget to register your interest for our Her Outdoors week show casing East Coast skiff rowing with some of our female club members.

We’re incredibly proud to be taking part in Her Outdoors Week on Tuesday, 11th August, celebrating the brilliant women in sport here on the East Coast! Kicking off at 18:30 until 20:30 at the Martello Tower, Balbriggan.

Come along and meet some of our fabulous female rowers, hear about what makes skiff rowing so special to them, and see the sport they’ve poured so much time, passion and dedication into. And who knows… you might even be tempted to give rowing a go yourself!

We will also have our support rib out on the water if people want to take to the water and see our crews training. Or you simply want to see Balbriggan from a different angle and see what training involves.

And if you find yourself with a Grá for skiff rowing, our Membership Officer will be there on the day to chat with you about how you can become part of our rowing community.

Come along, meet the crew, have a chat and give it a go; we’d absolutely love to see you there!

Fingal East Media Fingal County Council Councillor Tony Murphy Grace Boland FG
Cllr. Grainne Maguire Fingal County Council Believe Balbriggan East Coast Rowing Council

What a spectacular day of racing to end the 2026 East Coast Regatta Season. Clubs from all over the East Coast took to the water today for one last chance to grasp those final few points for the ECRC 2026 shield.

A big thank you to the host club, Wicklow Rowing Club, for putting on a fantastic event today.

A big congratulations to all our athletes who fought hard and gave it their all. Well done to all coxes, rowers, helpers, and supporters for being there for each other this season.

Well done to our Masters Men who claimed 3rd place, Interwomen also 3rd place, Masters Women taking second, and Junior Ladies for taking 2nd place. A special mention to our Mixed Crew, Novice Women and Novice Men who gave it everything and left nothing in the boat.

Our Public Relations Officer will have photos covering the day's events very soon. He has been a busy man; this season alone, he has taken just over 10, 000 photographs at the regattas.

His dedication to documenting our races is greatly appreciated by everyone in Fingal Rowing Club.

Now, we enter the phase of endurance races, with Rockabill, Cunningham Cup, Lambay Challenge and Hope Row to name just a few.

Some more great rowing events to close out the 2026 season.

Skerries Rowing Club St.Patricks Rowing Club Stella Maris Rowing Club Bray Rowing Club Dalkey Rowing Club Greystones Rowing Club Wicklow Rowing Club East Coast Rowing Council Fingal County Council Sports Office Her Sport fans