Loop Head Rowing Club - Carrigaholt | Irish Rowing Clubs | Row HQ

Loop Head Rowing Club is based in Carrigaholt, County Clare. Members row on the Shannon Estuary and Atlantic waters, and Rowing Ireland lists the club for coastal sculling and coastal sweep rowing.

The club began in late 2023. Sixteen local people met weekly in Carrigaholt during 2024 to build a St Ayles skiff under shipwright Stephen Morris, with support from Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board.

That first boat, The Five Pilots, was completed in 2024 and named for five local pilots lost at sea in May 1873. The club launched in October 2024 and subsequently reported 55 members.

Membership is open to people over 16, including complete beginners. The club provides training and support, and members may row recreationally without pressure to enter regattas.

Demand led the first AGM to consider another boat. The club acquired a second St Ayles skiff from the UK charity Oarsome Chance; after work by members, An Laoch Beag was unveiled and blessed at Carrigaholt's Maritime Festival on 18 July 2025. The club says this boat is particularly suited to racing.

Rowing Ireland welcomed Loop Head as a new affiliated club in December 2024. Its two-boat fleet now supports recreational rowing, plans for regatta participation and the club's aim of involving local young people.