One of the heroes of Galway rowing

Date Published: 04-Dec-2008

AS Galway Rowing Club head into their centenary year, Club President Paddy Lally outlines that a year of fun and celebrations lie ahead, beginning with the launch of a new book – ‘A History of Galway Rowing Club’ – in their clubhouse on Woodquay at 7:30pm on Friday evening.

These are exciting time for Lally and Galway Rowing Club. One hundred years of memories are about to be unleashed this weekend, when past and present members converge on Woodquay to celebrate the rich history of one of Galway’s proudest and oldest sporting fraternities.

“The club was founded in 1910 – their base was and still is in Woodquay. It was called the Hibernian Rowing Club in the beginning,” says Lally. “Then, 10 or 12 years later, they got permission to be called Galway Rowing Club. They picked the same colours as the Vatican, purple and amber. They are very distinctive jerseys.”

Just speaking to Lally, one can immediately sense his passion and enthusiasm for Galway RC. “The club had to wait until 1948 before it won its first Irish championship, which is now called the Novice Eights. It was called the Maiden Eights in those days, but they have changed the terminology now.

“The same crew, with one change in it, then won the Intermediate Eights the following year. However, the club had to wait until 1974 for the next big win when we won the Intermediate Eights. I was in that crew myself.”

Lally, himself, joined the club in ’68, having just returned from England,where he had worked for five years. “We, then, refurbished the club in the late ’60s. It was …