Anatomy of shoulder splices of Irish currachs

Shoulder splice of Achill Island currach

Cut out from James Hornell drawing, overdrawn

Shoulder splice of Iniskea Island currach

Cut out from James Hornell drawing, overdrawn

Shoulder splice of Aran Island currach

Cut out from James Hornell drawing, overdrawn

Shoulder splice of Kilkee currach

Cut out from James Hornell drawing, overdrawn

Shoulder splice of Kerry currach, Ballymore

Bernd Unstaedt

Shoulder splice of racing currach, Dingle

Bernd Unstaedt

The following pictures show the schematic anatomy of shoulder splices of Irish currachs from different regions. The joint adds to each boat it’s particular shape.

The first four pictures are drawn into plans of James Hornell’s “The Curraghs Of Ireland, part 3”, which can be viewed here

The last two are drawn into photos from the past.

The last one shows how narrow the angle of that joint is in a racing currach, compared to any of the fishing currachs before. You would think it is hardly necessary at all, but since the bow gunwale section and the main gunwale section are made from different pieces of wood, it makes sense to hang on to it.

The shoulder splices consists of:

– upper main gunwale (blue)
– knee block (red)
– upper bow gunwale (yellow)