Great rowing club ethos of excellence almost led to Olympic qualification for Offaly woman

THE 1990s into the 2000s was a great time for rowing in Offaly and it almost led to Olympic qualification with a Tullamore woman agonisingly close to making it.

There were several outstanding female and male rowers in the Offaly Rowing Club. They regularly won medals at national championships and big regattas all over the country while a long list of them achieved international recognition.

It was a golden era for the club, which has remained very active since then, providing a great sporting outlet for the many who are not drawn to the big field sports or other individuals one.

The Rowing Club developed under the guidance of a passionate rowing man, well known Tullamore surgeon, Frank Durkin and one of their best was Niamh Ni Cheilleachair. A brilliantly competitive rower, Ni Cheilleachair reached a high international standard in the lightweight double where she was partnered by Donegal woman, Sinead Jennings.

They were a serious force of nature in the 2000s and in 2006, they made history when they won the first ever medal for Ireland in a womens' Olympic class event, taking bronze in the second leg of the Rowing World Cup in Poland. This achievement resulted in Ni Cheilleachair and Jennings winning the Irish Times/VHHealthcare sports woman award for June 2006.

Ni Cheilleachair also represented Ireland in singles, competing in the lightweight singles scull in the 2005 World Championships in Japan.

Her and Jennings chased qualification for the 2008 Beijing Olympics but came up just short when they didn't make the semi-finals at the 2007 World Championships in Munich. Ni Cheilleachair also rowed with Castleconnell in Limerick and she won a water sports award in the Offaly Sports Partnership 10th anniversary sports awards of the decade in 2016.

She had been at her best in 2006 as her and Jennings reached seventh in the world as well as winning a World Cup medal that year. She represented Ireland eight times from 2005 to 2008 in World events and also placed fourth in the World University Games on two occasions.

The 1990s and 2000s were a tremendous era for rowing in Tullamore and Offaly, while the club has continued to work very hard since then.

They have produced a huge array of national champions at various levels and several have gone onto compete internationally. A handful have competed at the top, rowing in World Championships, including Niamh Ni Cheilleachair, her sister Ciara Ni Cheilleachair, Debbie Stack, Niamh Dempsey, Mary Hussey, and Eimear Moran.

They are now working hard to reach the top again with one of their internationals, Ciara Ni Cheilleachair in as club captain and many others putting their shoulder to the wheel – the club has an impressive boathouse near Cappincur, between Digby Bridge and Ballycommon and the Grand Canal is their main training venue. New members are welcome to join and contact details are available on the Offaly Rowing Club social media outlets.

The full list of international competitors from Offaly Rowing Club is (* denotes World Championships):

Cailiosa Hickland

Ciara Ni Cheilleachair*

Pamela Spollen

Miriam Conway

Anita Owens

Mandez Ní Chéilleachair

Debbie Stack*

Niamh Dempsey*

Mary Hussey*

Sheila Dempsey

Sheila Clavin

Aisling Durkin

Julie Cummins

Anne Marie Jennings

Niamh Ní Chéilleachair*

Joanne Moran

Siobhan Bermingham

Eimear Moran*

Catherine Graham

Ciara Grogan.