ROSSCARBERY ROWING CLUB
About the club
A volunteer-run rowing club in West Cork since 1987, rowing on the Lagoon in Rosscarbery and the open water at Glandore.
The club exists to give people the opportunity to row, recreationally and competitively, while developing crews, supporting members and promoting rowing in Rosscarbery and the wider rowing community.
Members train all year round: on the Lagoon through the winter, out at Glandore in late spring and summer, and at our training centre in Reenascreena, with crews racing at regattas and championships in West Cork and beyond.
Why we row
Our mission and vision
Our mission
What we do, week in, week out
We give people of every age and ability in Rosscarbery and the surrounding area the chance to row, safely and well. We coach juniors and adults from their very first stroke, enter crews in regattas and championships across West Cork, Ireland and beyond, and look after our boats, our training centre and our members. The club is run entirely by volunteers, and we work alongside schools, local businesses and neighbouring clubs to keep rowing open to everyone.
Our vision
What we are working towards
We want Rosscarbery to be known as a place where rowing belongs to everyone. We see a club where every child in the area gets the chance to try rowing; where members stay with the sport for life, as rowers, coxes, coaches and volunteers; where our best athletes are proud to represent the club and their country; and where the club is at the heart of village life for the next forty years and beyond.
Our values
What we stand for
Open to everyone
Juniors from age 10, adults starting from scratch, competitive crews and people who just love being on the water. Days like Give Rowing a Try make it easy to take the first stroke.
Give Rowing a Try →Part of the community
We don't row in isolation. The Rosscarbery Family Festival, the schools regatta on the Lagoon and our work with local businesses and neighbouring clubs connect the club with the people of Rosscarbery and beyond.
Giving back
Fundraising keeps our boats on the water, and we like to share it: some of what we raise at events goes to local charities and causes that matter to our members and neighbours.
Safe and well run
Safety, safeguarding and good coaching come first, so that parents can trust us with their children and every member can enjoy their rowing.
Safeguarding →Ambition at every level
From first regatta medals to national titles and rowers in Ireland kit, we help every member go as far as they want to go.
Roll of Honour →
Our home water
The Lagoon, Rosscarbery
Few rowing clubs can say their home water was made by a road. The Lagoon sits on the inland side of the causeway that carries the main road through Rosscarbery: sheltered and calm with very little tide, which makes it a safe place for beginners and a great course for racing.
Before the causeway, this was a working estuary with a fishing village and quays. Today it is one of the best-loved spots in the village, and the place where generations of Rosscarbery rowers have taken their first strokes.
1796
A French fleet sails into Bantry Bay, but storms stop it landing. The scare shows the authorities in Cork how slow it is to move troops west through rough country with poor roads, so they plan a proper road from Cork westwards.
1814 to 1820
That road reaches Rosscarbery as a raised causeway, about 400 yards long, built straight across the estuary. Known as the Post Office Causeway, it carries the new road between Cork and Skibbereen. A bridge at its western end still lets the tide flow in and out of the inner bay.
1970s
Cork County Council dams the bridge, so the water on the inland side can no longer drain away at low tide. The inner bay stays flooded all year round, and the Lagoon is born: calm, sheltered water with very little tide.
1987
Rosscarbery Rowing Club is founded, with the Lagoon as its home water.
Today
The Lagoon is shared by the club and the Lagoon Activity Centre. Our crews train here through the winter, and it hosts our regattas and the schools regatta each May.
On the water
Through the winter our crews train on the sheltered Lagoon in Rosscarbery. In late spring and summer we move out to the open water at Glandore, another beautiful spot we are lucky to have, and race at regattas right along the coast. The Lagoon also hosts the schools regatta: in May 2026 around 200 children from over 30 national schools raced here.
Reenascreena: our base
Reenascreena is the club's base. Our training centre there is where crews work on fitness with the rowing machines and bikes, and where members, coaches and parents come together off the water.
Lagoon history from The Southern Star and the Rosscarbery Estuary heritage booklet. Know more about the club's early days? Share your story.
Run by volunteers
The people behind the club
Everything the club does, from coaching and coxing to fundraising and towing boats to regattas, is done by volunteers. Meet the officers and committee who keep it all going.
