‘It’s not just a boat’ - Calls grow to secure UNESCO status for iconic Galway Hooker
The Galway Hooker remains one of the defining symbols of Galway city - a reminder of the vessel’s historic purpose and the lifeline it once provided for generations along the west coast. Its distinctive sails appear on postcards in tourist shops and feature prominently at the beginning of city walking tours.
Because of this the Galway Hooker could be a prime candidate for a place on the UNESCO heritage list.
The Irish Independent visited the headquarters of the Galway Hooker Sailing Club at Galway Docks, a former fish factory now transformed into a hub of restoration, education and community activity.
Speaking there, Ciaran Oliver, whose family were prominent maritime figures in the original Claddagh community centuries ago, described the Galway Hooker as the “real” heart of Galway.
“The hookers are the symbol - they’re on hats, they’re on t-shirts. When you’re driving out to Connemara, and any road leaving the city, they have all this metal signage and there’s a hooker symbol cut out of it,” Mr Oliver told the Irish Independent.
Qualifying for UNESCO cultural heritage status is a lengthy process involving nomination and selection, with particular emphasis placed on cultural relevance and community engagement. Much of that significance depends on how embedded the tradition is in everyday life.
Mr Oliver said the Galway Hooker remains accessible to everyone and hopes interest in preserving and repairing the boats will continue to grow.
Community support is central to any UNESCO bid, particularly whether a tradition is considered an irreplaceable part of local life.
“We especially have community buy-in from the Claddagh people themselves,” Mr Oliver said.
Ciaran comes from a long line of Claddagh boatmen. His distant uncle, Máirtín Oliver, was the last King of the Claddagh.
“A lot of Galway families have roots in Claddagh,” he added.
Although the Galway Hooker’s origins lie just across the water from the Latin Quarter and Spanish Arch, exposure to the tradition is open to everyone. Mr Oliver maintains an open-door policy at the sailing club, reflected in the mix of people working together in the workshop on a Wednesday afternoon.
The Galway Hooker Sailing Club was founded in 2019 and experienced significant growth during the Covid-19 pandemic, when communal activities were limited. According to Mr Oliver, as many as 30 to 40 nationalities were represented among those volunteering to work on the boats.
Story cards on each boat and the history of the Oliver family lay displayed throughout the sailing club hangar.
People from all over the world come to Galway to learn the trade of boat building.
Hooker sailing courses are offered throughout the year at the Galway Hooker Sailing Club.
“They do it because they like it. We have the buy-in,” he said.
“I think with most of these people that have joined or come through our doors over the last five or six years, they found love in Galway, they fell in love with Galway, they stopped off for a holiday, and the ‘graveyard of ambition’ caught them.”
“They see these boats everywhere and, as we’re sailing them, they’re seeing them more and then they’re like, ‘What’s that about? Maybe I’d like to be involved in that’. Now we have the advantage of social media, and we have a new website built and launched kind of late last year.”
Fáilte Ireland has become one of the sailing club’s strongest supporters in preserving the Galway Hooker tradition.
“If you ask me, [Failte Ireland] is the best run government agency, or nationally funded body in the country because of how much they value us,” Mr Oliver said.
Last August, the sailing club published a five-year development plan commissioned by Fáilte Ireland.
The development plan outlines goals around restoration, education, cultural heritage and tourism.
“The next big one for us now is to try and [get] national education status as a Further Education Training Course Hub (FETCH) for the work that we do,” Mr Oliver said.
The designation would allow students to earn formal certification through hands-on training courses.
“We have the workshop now, it’s all fully functional, and we have some teachers. We can do it, but we’d like to have a little bit more support nationally if we could,” he added. “I haven’t a clue where to start.”
The sailing club is also building international connections. Mr Oliver referenced an upcoming call with the Centre for Wooden Boats in Seattle, Washington.
“They have programs where they build a boat in two weeks, a small boat, and they have kids in building it.”
Recently, newly elected Galway West TD Seán Kyne called for the Government to give the Galway Hooker national heritage status under UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage framework.
“The vessel is part of who we are and deserves to be formally part of our national heritage,” Deputy Kyne said. “We have a duty to protect what makes this part of Ireland unique. The Galway Hooker is not just a boat, it is a story of ingenuity, community, and resilience.”
In efforts to support that duty, the centre of the sailing club’s mission is what Mr Oliver describes as a “come one, come all” attitude, giving people a front-row seat to preserving Galway’s maritime history while equipping future generations with practical skills.
“They are crying out all over the world for tradesmen and women because young people are leaving the country. If we don’t pass on this skill to the next generation, we’re just going to become a story in a book, so it’s living heritage. There’s no reason that anybody can’t be part of it.”
“It’s team building, it’s building skills, it’s building boats, and it’s building communities,” Mr Oliver added.