Limerick Boat Club is a rowing club located in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Limerick and is affiliated to Rowing Ireland. The club colours are black & white

History

At a meeting in the

Limerick Athenaeum The Limerick Athenaeum was a centre of learning, established in Limerick city, Ireland, in 1852. Background "Athenaeum", also Athenæum or Atheneum, is used in the names of institutions or periodicals for literary, scientific, or artistic stu ...

, on 3 February 1870, it was resolved to establish "The Limerick Boat Club". The club was swiftly established and the first annual report stated that the club had a handsome boat-house and a fleet of 10 boats. The club also established Limerick Regatta in the same year. Over the next twenty years "Boat Club" were one of the dominant crews in Irish rowing.

National achievements

In 1927 the club annexed the Senior Eight Championship of Ireland at Cork regatta when they defeated neighbours Athlunkard by 1/2 length. The crew was: J.F.Ewart (bow), J.F.Stearn, W.W.Stokes, J.M.Harkness, K.T.Rea, M.W.McGuire, W.F.Treacy, T.E.O'Donnell, W.L.O'Donnell (cox).

Notable Persons

Sir Alexander William Shaw, founding member and also founder of Limerick Golf Club &

Lahinch Golf Club Lahinch Golf Club is a links golf course in western Ireland, in the town of Lahinch on the northwest coast of County Clare in northern Munster. It is situated approximately northwest of the town of Ennis. In 2016, ''Golf Digest'' ranked the Ol ...

Sir

Thomas Myles Sir Thomas Myles (20 April 1857—14 July 1937) was a prominent Irish home ruler and surgeon, involved in the importation of arms for the Irish Volunteers in 1914. Early life Thomas Myles was born in Limerick in 1857, the third of eleven c ...

, Sportsman, Surgeon & Gun runner Sir Charles Barrington OBE, founding member of Trinity Football Club, Limerick Football Club & the

IRFU The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and ...

Squadron Leader David Tidmarsh, Flying Ace and founder member of Limerick Boat Club Tommy O'Donnell served as President of the Irish Amateur Rowing Union (

Rowing Ireland Rowing Ireland, formerly the Irish Amateur Rowing Union, is the governing body of rowing for Ireland. It is a cross-border organisation administering the sport in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Rowing Ireland is a member of ...

) from 1932–33

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American musician, actor, and author with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his own rad ...

, American singer & actor

Ted Russell (Irish politician) George Edward Russell (1 April 1912 – 28 November 2004) was an Irish politician and company director. Born into a prosperous Limerick merchant family, Russell was educated first at Crescent College in Limerick and for a short time Mount St Be ...

, Mayor, TD & Chairman of Limerick Harbour Commissioners

Bill Whelan Bill Whelan (born 22 May 1950 in Limerick, Ireland) is an Irish composer and musician. He is best known for composing a piece for the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The result, ''Riverdance'', was a seven-minute display of tradi ...

, composer of Riverdance

Brendan Bowyer Brendan Bowyer (12 October 1938 – 28 May 2020) was an Irish singer best known for fronting the Royal Showband and The Big Eight, and who had five number one hits in Ireland. He was also renowned for having The Beatles open for the Royal Showb ...

, Showband singer

Recent Times

Activity in the club declined in the early part of the 21st century and the club eventually became dormant. On 12 February 2014 the Club achieved worldwide notoriety when the roof was peeled off the boat house in a violent storm. A clip of the disaster went viral. In 2016 the club re-affiliated to Rowing Ireland and the doors are open once again and an adult recreational rowing programme is being offered. A fund-raising scheme has been initiated with a view to re-roofing the boathouse.

References

{{reflist, 30em 1870 establishments in Ireland Rowing clubs in Ireland Sports clubs established in 1870