Mike Lynskey

Mike Lynskey, born c. 1935, King of the Claddagh.

biography

Although he has never been professionally involved in sailing, Lynskey has always taken an active interest in the traditions and lifestyle of the Claddagh, and, as King of the Claddagh, has worked hard to try and keep them alive. An avid sailor, he owns a traditional Claddagh hooker, known as a gleoteog.

Lynskey emigrated to London in the 1950s but returned home ten years later with his wife Anne and four young children. His decision to return to Galway with his wife and young children was made, he said, one July evening as he was working in an overheated London. "I was driving down Oxford Street on a hot July day, with traffic jams and fumes, and as I sat there leaning on the steering wheel I thought, 'What am I doing in this environment when I could be sailing a Claddagh boat in the fresh breeze of Galway Bay?'"

When sailing around Galway Bay, he is usually accompanied by his crew, a diverse group French and Japanese students. While, he says, these are hard workers, he laments the fact that he has no Irish crew.

His son, Mike Jr., died at sea in 2007.

The tradition of King of the Claddagh was revived in 1998 after a gap of about fifteen years, following the death of Patrick Ladeen Curran.

Reference

• Galway - A Maritine Tradition:Ships, boats and people, Brendan O'Donnell, Galway, 2001.

External links

• http://www.galwayindependent.com/making-waves/making-waves/me-and-the-sea-%11-mike-lynskey/

Preceded by Patrick Ladeen Curran

King of the Claddagh 1998–present

Succeeded by incumbent

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Name	Lynskey, Mike
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