Generally a wooden frame covered with tarred canvas. Before canvas animal hides were used. The construction and design of the curragh are unique to the west coasts of Ireland and Scotland, with variations in size and shape by region. The Connemara curragh is also distinguished by a double gunwale and by a particular form of pivoting block or bull attached to one side of the squared region of the loom of the oar. Curragh races remain popular with some of the beast racing to be seen at the Roundstone regatta. In the mid-1950s and early 1960s the Seoighe (Joyce) cousins excelled by winning many county and All Ireland championships, including three in a row of the latter.
