Fermoy Rowing Club junior eight 1964 – Back row: Pat Rice R.I.P., Don McCabe, Dick Philips, Jim Lysaght, J Hackett, M Murphy. Front row: N Sargeant, J Barnes R.I.P. and K Hawe.

Don McKay and Tony Walker arrived in Ireland January 1963 as very green New Zealanders on their first OE to work at Moorepark, the research institute of An Foras Taluntais.

We had only been in the country a few months, when, on one of our forays to the "Royal" (Royal Hotel, Fermoy) for a jar or two, (Dick Phillips also from NZ had joined us by then) the Kiwi lads found themselves sharing a pint or three with the rowing club lads, who were probably refreshing themselves after a hard session on the Blackwater. Of course the pressure came on during the evening, we had to promise to present ourselves at the slip the following morning so that coach Doc McGuire could look us over. Dick had previously rowed in NZ, but neither Tony nor I had been anywhere near a boat previously, so there was a quick turn in the trainer seat, slip side, then into an 8 to learn the finer points of rowing.

What followed was many happy experiences and memories, my diary notes that on 3rd June, ‘63 I rowed my first regatta, we travelled to Carlow by minibus, lining up at the start it was announced over public address that there were two Kiwis rowing for Fermoy. That put con¬siderable pressure on yours truly to keep up and make those clean "puddles" that the Doc insisted on as he travelled behind us at the evening practices up and down to Castlehyde, on the River Blackwater.

Fermoy maiden eight was beaten that day by Garda, by one and a half boat lengths. One week later we travelled to Limerick for the head of the river, because there had been a problem with transport, that seemed to happen from time to time, we arrived with little time to assemble the boats. There was Maurice Cleary bent over and fussing over his crafts, and the rest of the crew tightening up and adjusting outriggers, etc. After rowing flat out up the 2 mile course we missed the start by 200 yards, turned around and raced back to finish an unofficial third! I remember I was very close to passing out towards the finish, being part of a machine it was all I could do to keep my blade in and out of the water in some sort of time, there was no energy left for weight application as well.

During that summer of ‘63 there were many trips away to regattas. Heads of river and ‘at homes’, my diary tells of a race on a Saturday, another one the next day in another part of the country and sometimes one mid-week. There are many happy memories, the close race with Garda or UCD, the after match practices in the local, the sing songs, the often late hour of our return to Fermoy, and the odd unfortunate incident. At Cork Head of River due to some unfair handicapping there were some unpleasantries between spectators; then at the end of season regatta in Bantry the steep waves tried to sink the ageing clinker 8, the non swimmers in the crew were not amused.

One of my goals is to once again row on the Blackwater up to Castlehyde, at a pace more suited to those over 60, and to enjoy a jar or two with the lads. And so reliving those golden memories of my days with the Fermoy Rowing Club.

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