Anne Driscoll is a member of the Boston Irish Currach Rowing Club, which will compete in a North American regatta set for Sept. 5 at Carson Beach in South Boston. Kristina Carroll photo
Regatta set for Sept. 5 at Carson Beach

The Boston Irish Currach Rowing Club, one of seven teams in the North American Currach Association, has brought a centuries-old Irish tradition to the waters of Hough’s Neck in Quincy.

While the club has had a shaky history, its founder, Joe McDonagh, says the club is doing better than ever. “I’ve been involved since I came over here about 15 years ago, and the club has been up and down over the years,” he said in an interview. “It died out there for a while, and we didn’t have a good boat, so I ended up building one myself three years ago.”

That was seven or so years after Anne Driscoll first heard about the club. “I had read a story in the Boston Globe in like 2003, and had it in mind that I wanted to do this. And then when I called, it was probably 2005 or 2006, when I really had time to devote to it, I found out that the team had disbanded,” she said. “Everybody had headed back to Ireland because the Celtic Tiger was going on.”

Driscoll decided to give it another try in 2013, and was pleased to find out that not only had the club started up again, but it was also in desperate need of women rowers. “So it’s like a fever, it keeps coming back,” she said. “I thought I was all done with it, but some young kids came over and they were very interested in it, so that’s how I ended up building the boat.”

Currach rowing is a form of sculling, but the boats are very different from the many crew boats that can be seen moving along the Charles River. The currach type is much wider, and seats only four people. The oars also lack paddles, and instead are made up of long thin poles.

Because the oars are so thin, Driscoll says teamwork is integral to making the boat move. “That’s where you get your power from, that’s how you keep your boat straight,” she said. “So it’s different from me just going out in my rowboat.”

The team accepts rowers of all ages and levels of experience, with the youngest rower being 17 years old. “But what I like about this is it’s very egalitarian,” said Driscoll. “There are races that have men and women both, and then there are men’s races and women’s races. And it’s not that important how old you are. It’s really age blind. So I can start a sport at my age and be on a national championship team.”

And the notion of a national championship is not something new to the Boston team, which has maintained the national title for several years while competing in cities like Pittsburgh, New London, and Philadelphia. Now in first place, the club expects to remain the champion this year.

Joe Keegan, who has been with the club for a year, has noticed a difference between Boston and the other competing teams. “We have some people that are outstanding rowers, and it makes it so they can teach someone like me, which is a huge advantage to being on this team compared to any other teams,” he said. “Even the best people on those other teams wouldn’t be the best on this team, because these guys are really good. And these guys can really train you. If they can teach me, they’re pretty good.”

Competition in the Currach Association involves holding regattas in the hometowns of each competing team. Points are awarded after every event, and at the end of the season the team with the most points is the champion.

Boston’s regatta is next up, set for Sept. 5, at Carson Beach during the Labor Day weekend. It will be open to the public, and the club is encouraging people to come down and watch teams from all over the country compete.

“It’s an annual event that we have, and we always have a really great turnout,” said Driscoll. “It’s a lot of fun; lots of friends, and just people who are curious about currach racing, show up. She thinks clubs like these have a positive impact on Irish-American culture.

“This is a sport that’s really popular in western Ireland and it’s like our baseball games – people come out and it’s a big community event,” she said. “People get really into it, and I think this is also a kind of boat that goes back thousands of years, and it’s a really important tradition. I think it’s great that there are people here that are dedicated to keeping it alive.”

There is no fee to join the club, which is welcoming new members. Practice is Hough’s Neck on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and on Sunday afternoons.