Updates!
FESTIVAL RETURNS FRIDAY MAY 22nd 2026!
We are delighted to announce the dates for this year’s festival.. May 22nd to 24th 2026.
Further details to follow here and on our facebook page. Looking forward to seeing you all there!
Photo credit: Robbie Murphy
Ilen Rally Saturday 23 May 2026
Punts etc under motor, leaving Hegarty’s boatyard at 11.00am.
Heading to Baltimore down the beautiful Ilen River.
Hegarty’s Boatyard, located on the Ilen River
Location (Google Maps): https://maps.app.goo.gl/BzPsqYU4wtFnNmbD7
To Get to Hegarty’s by sea from Baltimore, launch at the slip or the RoRo slip and head out the harbour to Sherkin Sound. Round Quarantine Island to the West and head up the Ilen River. If you are heading on Saturday morning, the trip will take approximately an hour on the rising tide.
Launching Sites, Baltimore
Baltimore Slip:https://maps.app.goo.gl/FDdeM5WAPNstxZr77
RO RO slip: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YdaEMZfPnnAAF28f6
For launching at Hegarty’s, please email baltimorewoodenboatfestival@gmail.com
Hegarty’s Boatyard
Boat Launching Sites, Baltimore
Festival Opening Talk
We open this year’s festival with a talk by Cormac Levis: The St Anthony; her life and times.
Join us at Baltimore Sailing Club at 8pm on Friday 22 May 2026.
The St Anthony; a Contextual History
Cormac Levis
As an early example of a small, motorised fishing boat, the St Anthony represents an important developmental stage in the history of traditional West Cork boatbuilding, marking the transition from sail and oar to engine propulsion. Built on Sherkin Island in 1925 by Simie McCarthy and Danny O’Regan, for Florence Nolan, also of Sherkin, this twenty-eight foot boat was fitted with a 6/7 Kelvin engine and an emergency lug sail. In the 1930s she joined the sand boat fleet landing calcium-rich sea sand as fertiliser for the agriculture industry, before rejoining the fishing fleet in the 1960s. In the 1970s she returned to her native Sherkin Island when she was bought by Richard Collins. She is currently being rebuilt on Sherkin as part of a boatbuilding course given by Nigel Towse and Ronan Collins with technical advice from Liam Hegarty and financial support from Creative Places, West Cork Islands – another milestone in the preservation of our local boatbuilding and maritime heritage.
Baltimore Sailing Club
8pm Friday 22 May 2026
Rowing Event Saturday 23rd May
The Lag Bridge, to Ringarogy. Photo: Jonathan Billinger
Saturday morning’s rowing race is planned to start 10.30 at the Lag Bridge which connects Ringarogy island to the mainland. The boats should launch from the pier in Baltimore harbour giving themselves enough time to row the 3km past the Lifeboat Station up to the bridge. The race will go back down past the Lifeboat station, and around a course in the harbour and then finish at the pier. The total row is about 11km.
While the race is scheduled for the high tide, each boat must take care to avoid rocks and other obstacles, particularly in the channel near the fish factory leading to the bridge.
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