Flesk Valley Rowing Club

Where to start?! Sunday was the final day of the All-Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships in Bantry, Co. Cork and it was another fantastic day on the water.

The weather was ideal for coastal rowing, with lots of wind and rain, and some crews thought about taking up surfing instead of rowing!!

With over 50 crews across categories from under 12 to Masters, the Valley took a trip to Bantry for the weekend. The beach at times was like Main Street in Killarney on a Saturday night, and there was a fantastic atmosphere around the Valley gazebo across the whole weekend. Thank you sincerely to all the families and friends who made the trip to support the club and cheered home all our crews with such fervour! 💙

We are very proud of everyone who rowed their hearts out in the Valley colours at the weekend, especially our medal winners and those rowing in their very first All-Irelands. The standard of rowing was exceptional across the weekend and our junior members acquitted themselves brilliantly. More important than the rowing, was the fun and laughter across the weekend.

This weekend was the culmination of a long year of training on the Valley shore, and many thanks are due to our coaches and coxes for their time and encouragement throughout the year. Thanks to Donal Kelly, Tadhg Kelly, Paul Burke, Kieran Counihan, Jillian O’Neill, Colm Ó’Súillebháin, Breeda Burke, Caoimhe Kelly, John Fleming and Saoirse Sweeney. Thanks also to everyone who helped launch and catch boats all day, no one would have made it out to row over the weekend without them!

AICRC 2026 FVRC Results

U16 Girls 🥇
Under 12 Beginners 🥈
Under 12 Girls 🥈
Under 14 Boys 🥈
Under 16 Girls 🥈
Intermediate Ladies 🥈
Masters Men 🥈
Under 14 Mixed 🥉
Under 16 Mixed 🥉
Under 16 Boys 🥉
Under 18 Mixed 🥉
Under 21 Ladies 🥉

We are very grateful to Fossa Rowing Club who loaned us a boat for some of our races, it wouldn’t have been possible to have had such a great weekend without the support of other clubs.

Thanks to Tadgh Kelly, Karol Kelly, and Richie Leane for towing boats, and Donal Kelly and Kieran Counihan for bringing all the extra parts of boats and all of the webbing a life jackets (and Mr Sheen of course!). Thanks also to Richie for the loan of a boat trailer!

Finally, Flesk Valley would like to thank the indomitable Mary B and the Irish Coastal Rowing Federation for all their hard work in organising and hosting such a fantastic event. The atmosphere and organisation of the championships was top class from start to finish, from the on-the-water commentary and superb drone footage on the big screen, and the fantastic live stream that let many people tune in at home (and in Bantry!). We would also like to very sincerely thank the safety and medical personnel for looking after everyone so well this weekend!

C’mon the Valley💙🤍

Flesk Valley had a great day today at the All-Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships in beautiful Bantry. The weather was stunning and conditions were just perfect for rowing, as well as a bit of wind that we are well used to down at the Valley shore!

Well done to our medal winners, with our u12 beginners with silver (showing us how it’s done!), and with our u21 ladies, u18 mixed, u14 mixed, and u16 mixed claiming bronze in their races. 👏 🥈🥉

Well done to everyone who rowed for the Valley today, and thanks to all the parents and supporters who roared home the Valley crews all day long.

A special word of thanks to all the younger members who really entered in to the spirit of the day and had a ball, it’s great to see the future of our club thriving!!

We can’t wait to see everyone bright and early in the morning to do it all again💙🤍

💫 Best of luck to all the Flesk Valley crews heading to Bantry, County Cork this weekend, for the 2026 All-Ireland Coastal Rowing championships.

Thanks to everyone who helped prepare and load the boats this evening.

We're looking forward to a great weekend of rowing in beautiful Bantry Bay.

💙💙💙

A livestream of this years All Irelands will be live streamed from Bantry!

For anyone that would like to follow along that won’t be making the journey this year.

For those of you who sadly won't be able to make Bantry this weekend, we share your disappointment, it promises to be a fabulous weekend of Great Colour, Great Sounds, Great Spectacle, Great Rowing, Great Rivalries and Renwed Camaraderie.
But not to worry, we have your back.

We are pleased to announce that the All-Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships will be broadcast Live across the three days of rowing at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVydfmCO9p6U
So not being able to be in Bantry is no longer an excuse for missing all the action and spectacle of the All-Ireland Championships.

✨️KCRA County Championship on Valentia Island August 8th 2026✨️

Although racing was cut a bit short today, the club had a fantastic day at the county championship regatta held in Knightstown, Valentia Island.

While conditions unfortunately meant that our determined underage rowers could not row, our senior rowers got their time to shine.

Well done to all of our rowers, who showed us that all of the training in the wind and rain had payed off (😅), for their great skill and enthusiasm on the water today and thanks to all the parents and rowers who made the trip to South Kerry to support the Valley. Well done to all those who won medals too. 👏💙

Thanks to our coxes Tadgh, John, Colm, and Saoirse, who braved the difficult conditions, coaches Jillian, Breeda and Caoimhe who kept everything running on land, and everyone who helped with the boats, gear, those who helped getting our crews to the start line, and especially Tadhg Kelly for towing the boats today.

Next up for the Valley is the All-Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships in Bantry, County Cork, on August 14-16.

Best of luck to all the Flesk Valley crews heading to Valentia Island tomorrow for the Kerry Coastal Rowing Association county championship regatta. 💙💙💙

Only 8 sleeps to go....

Build Up to Bantry On the build up to this years All Ireland Costal Rowing we spoke to...

Soft day thank God.... two weeks to the All-Irelands in Bantry, and the preprations continue at Flesk Valley Rowing Club

Our chairman's prayers were finally answered this morning and the monsoon came to the Valley! 🌧🌧🌧🌧😁