Limerick Boat Club is a rowing club located in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. 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, 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 Sir Thomas Myles, Sportsman, Surgeon & Gun runner Sir Charles Barrington OBE, founding member of Trinity Football Club, Limerick Football Club & the IRFU 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) from 1932–33

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

, American singer & actor Ted Russell (Irish politician), Mayor, TD & Chairman of Limerick Harbour Commissioners Bill Whelan, 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 Show ...

, 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 opened once again with an adult recreational rowing programme being offered. Following a successful fund-raising scheme, a new roof was installed on the boathouse in February 2020.

References

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