For close on sixty years St. Patrick’s Rowing Club has remained at the heart of our community. Since 1936 the club has become entwined into the fabric of the area and on a fresh spring morning in late April the club gazed to the future with the opening of their new extension at their clubhouse on York Road.

It wasn’t only a day for the future though, as the club unveiled a beautiful tribute to the past with a memorial to all the hobblers, seafarers, fisherman and dockers that passed by the Point on their way to work.

Over the years, hundreds of men would have passed the Point on their way to etch out a living on the river or the sea, to catch the old Liffey ferry to bring them to the North Wall in the days before the East Link Bridge.

Eoin Ryan MEP, a long-time supporter of both the club and coastal rowing, did the honours (right) by snipping the ribbon as ‘the Paddies’ celebrated other great day. It was also a chance for the club to thank their many sponsors. MEP Ryan was accompanied by fellow elected representatives Kevin Humphries and Daithi Doolin.

Their lives and stories inspired John Hawkins into action and the ‘Hawk’, along with others like Noel Murphy and Brian Maher, created a wonderful and beautiful tribute to the generations of men that earned a hard living from the waters around our area.

Eoin Ryan then snipped the ribbon on the new extension to the club to ensure that the St. Patrick’s Rowing Club’s future will be a proud one, just like the glory days over the past six decades.

The clubhouse was originally built back in the early eighties as the club went from changing at the side of the slipway at the river to the lap of luxury. Since then the clubhouse has housed and helped many oarsmen and women as St. Patrick’s went on to dominate the East Coast Rowing Championship.

The extension comes at a critical time in the history of both the club and rowing in general. As trends change in our community, the age-old art of rowing has had to adapt to survive.

The St Patrick’s Rowing Club has not only adapted and survived but the club has flourished and today remains a vibrant part of the area.

With top quality facilities to match their passion for the sport, the club will no doubt remain at the very top of the coastal rowing heap