Dublin - Event Notice
Thursday January 01 1970
Thursday January 01 1970
29 years underwater : Christmas morning swim !
dublin |
history and heritage |
event notice 
Thursday December 22, 2005 09:48
by Sharon - Individual
A Chara ,
On Christmas morning next , a group of (mostly!) young people will be celebrating 29 years under water ....
In Clondalkin , Dublin , in 1976 , a group of supporters of the CABHAIR organisation (which raises funds for the dependants of Irish Republican prisoners) decided to seek sponsorship from their community for a Christmas morning swim in the Grand Canal : the swim has been held every 25 December since then , with all monies raised going to CABHAIR .
This years swim will be held in the Grand Canal , in Inchicore , Dublin 8 , opposite Kellys Pub (the Blackhorse Inn) at 12 noon . Approximately 15 swimmers will take part , and members of CABHAIR will supply , as usual , the turf fire , rebel music , lemonade for the kids and 'soup' (!) for the adults !
Your readers are welcome to attend , to ensure that the sponsored swimmers 'earn' their few bob !
Go raibh maith agat ,
Slan go foill anois ,
Sharon.
Comments (1 of 1)
Jump To Comment: 1Hi all !
We had a fantastic day out yesterday on the banks of the Grand Canal in Inchicore - and the weather was unbelievable : it was like a summers day !
The actual 'build-up' for the swim started at 11AM , with the National Flag and three RSF/CABHAIR banners being put in place (facing the Naas Road) , the 'turf' fire being set-up , the music put on (The Pogues!) and the food and drink being laid out for anyone that wanted it .
Six or seven swimmers (can't be sure - was fairly busy making sure my own kids did'nt 'join' them!) took it in turns over about a 90-minute time span to variously swim the width or a (short-ish!) length of the canal , with a crowd of between 50 and 100 on-lookers cheering them on ! Each swimmer was offered a hot whiskey once they had decided not to swim again , and they stood around the blazing fire reviving themselves as best they could - it was a warm-ish day , weather wise , but still too cold to be standing on grass , in the open , wearing just your swimming togs ! It was around 3PM when the last of the (merry!) stragglers left the site , having dampened-down the fire and cleaned up whatever litter was left on the ground .
It broke-up the day nicely , enabled old friends to meet up again and raised , I am told , a couple of thousand Euro's for the families of Irish Republican prisoners . Time well spent !
Next year (on Christmas day again) the 30th such swim will take place - and , hopefully , I'll be there once more . Now - did I take to the water myself ... ?
Sharon.
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