‘Nach I Cuntar Chonroi a choinne beo muid san am crua’
The St Patrick was built by the Casey family in Maoinis, Carna, Connemara. They were shopkeepers and used the St Patrick for their own use, transporting merchandise from Galway to their shop. They also carried turf to the Aran Islands, Kinvara, and Ballyvaughan. After four or five years, they sold her to the Conroy family in Garafin, Rosmuc, she became known throughout Connemara as ‘Bad Chonroi’. The Conroys were substantial merchants who ran a very successful wholesale and retail business, supplying shops and communities throughout Connemara. They also owned a bakery. The St Patrick made regular trips to Galway, collecting general cargo and delivering them back to Garafin. After the conroys sold her, she changed hands several times before Paddy Barry bought her in 1973. She was completely rebuilt in 1988/89. Much of the work was carried out by Colm Mulkerrin, also from Maoinis. She was now given a new lease of life as a cruiser sailor, making numerous trips around Ireland and overseas, including crossing the Atlantic.
The St Patrick was 42 ft long with a 12 ft beam (width). She had a draft of 6 ft. In May 2002 she broke her mooring in Glandore Bay, Cork and was damaged beyond repair. Her year of construction is uncertain. Opinion varies between 1907 and 1911 (possibly mixing up the year the keel was laid with the year she was launched, which is generally accepted as being 1911). In a letter from Michael Conroy to Paddy Barry he records that The St Patrick carried Padhraic Pearse, Thomas McDonagh and Joseph Mary Plunket, three future leaders of the 1916 rising to the Aran Islands in 1912. The purpose of the visit was to recruit volunteers for the 1916 rising.
Extract from a letter from Michael Conroy to Paddy Barry in 1984
about a trip the future leaders of the 1916 rising took on the St Patrick to the Aran Islands in 1912
The St Patrick under sail
…….Lined up in fog to go throuh Droichead an Daingean bridge
Tom ‘Bottle’ Conroy on the deck of bad Chonroi