Commercial Rowing Club Dublin 3.84

Commercial Rowing Club is a sports club located in Dublin, affiliated with Rowing Ireland. Commercial Rowing Club facilitates competitive rowing for Juniors (under 18 years of age)and Adults (including Novices, Intermediates, Seniors and Veterans). The Club is open to male and female athletes. The club colours are Myrtle Green, White & Azure Blue.The Commercial Rowing Club Boathouse is located at Islandbridge, where the calm protected waters of the upper Liffey enable rowing year-round. Commercial also has access to the shared boathouse on Blessington Lake in Wicklow.HistoryCommercial Rowing Club was founded in Ringsend in 1856. It is the second oldest rowing club in Ireland. The name dates an era when all non-university clubs were designated ‘commercial’. The original membership was drawn from the Commercial heart of Dublin, tailors, bankers and other shopkeepers of Henry Street and Grafton Street and the boat house was originally located in Ringsend. To avoid the inconvenience and dangers of the Tides and the port traffic, Commercial moved upstream from Ringsend to the peaceful waters of Islandbridge in 1942 to take over the premises of Dublin Rowing Club, which had become insolvent.In the sixties recruitment was predominantly among young working men who rowed mainly in Novice grades. With the boathouse locked up for the 1969 season the club decided to go in an entirely different direction and bring in juniors in Big Numbers in the seventies. Oarswomen had to be secretly introduced and trained to a standard where they would win at their first regatta. The site of a Commercial “ladies” crew in front on the winning straight was too much for even the most hardened misogynist and the girls were finally accepted in the club. In no time at all the membership went from 3 to 50 or 60 of all ages and both sexes.