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| Old Collegians VIII, heading East, seaward, passing the Samuel Beckett Bridge, River Liffey, Dublin |
The tide and timing needs to be just right do do this. The tide should be higher than usual, filling the lower reach of the Liffey, peaking ideally around 8 or 8.30am. The crew `slip the weir' (portage the VIII) at Islandbridge. Then with the tide still filling we take the familiar route the the mouth of the river. We'll turn after the Tom Clarke Bridge (the East-Link), taking care not to encroach on the harbour master's domain which is generally agreed starts opposite the Alexandra Basin. Then we row back up to Islandbridge. We pass under twenty bridges each way, some new, some old.
The river gods of Ireland, sculpted by Edward Smyth, stare down from Gandon's Custom House. The god of the Liffey is the keystone head on O'Connell Bridge and the O'Donovan Rossa Bridge beside the Four Courts hosts six keystone heads on each side of its three arches "Plenty, Anna Liffey and Industry gaze eastwards to the bay, and Commerce, Hibernia and Peace watch over the city to the west." (link).
On a very high tide the O'Donovan Rossa can be tricky as the river fills toward the top of the arches. Like many of the Liffey's bridges you'll feel like ducking your head. Trust your cox. The centre arch is safest but even so your oars may brush the stone on either side (to get a feel for how tight it can be have a look at Oona Tully's photograph of the bridge at high tide link).
I love the echoing boom when you pass under low arching bridges. The sound like a drumbeat, the splash of the oars, the run of the boat, audio reflections in the confines under the arch. A moment of crisp feedback for the crew before launching into the light on the other side.
