In the year 1962 the world had become infatuated with free
love, psychedelic music, the Vietnam War, The Beatles, and protest marches. The
world was rapidly changing:
·
The first TV signals were
transmitted by satellite across the Atlantic.
·
Shooting began on the movie
“Dr. No”, the first James Bond movie.
·
“The Dubliners” were formed in
O’Donaghues pub in Dublin.
·
Marilyn Monroe was found dead
in her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles following an overdose.
·
Ringo Star replaced Pete Best
as drummer for the Beatles.
·
Nuclear weapons depots in Cuba
forced the US and the Soviet Union into a stand off that threatened the start
of a nuclear war.
·
8 of the 9 planets aligned for
the first time in 400 years;
and
A small group of
enthusiasts from the University College Galway (as it was then known) formed
the UCG sub aqua society, a momentous event that quite frankly was to
overshadow all previous events of that year. This is the story of how this
diving club was formed and how it has developed over the years.
The fact is this
club did not have the greatest of beginnings. In early 1962 Jim Doyle, Peter
O’Beirn, Tom McCarrick, Kerry McConn, George Ryder and Peadar Canavan formed the
university’s first society dedicated to diving and snorkelling. At the time,
societies were subject to greater funding than clubs. However, due to the
growing concerns of the university authorities, the group was quickly
disbanded. But all was not lost. Out of the ashes of the society, our friends
and neighbours, the Galway Sub-Aqua Club was born. The ground had already been
broken , and forever more there would be a diving presence in the university.
From the somewhat shaky beginnings of the society, the new UCG diving club was
established shortly after and has been growing from strength to strength ever
since.
The new University
College Galway Sub-Aqua club was reformed thanks to the efforts of several
staff members of the university. Prof. Paul Ryan from the Dept of Earth and
Ocean Science was heavily involved in the early days of the club and CFT. He
was one of Ireland’s first Mon **** and served as president of CFT a number of
times. He also sat as president of CMAS and was instrumental in the creation of
the CFT training curriculum. The university diving club, since its inception,
has always had a mixed membership including students, graduates and alumni.
Members of the club both young and old have tirelessly helped their fellow
members learn to dive in Galway waters. In the late 80′s, due
to a large number of cadets joining the club, the UCG diving club formed an
alliance with the Renmore army barracks. However this alliance was short lived
as the Irish Defence Forces later formed its own social diving wing.
In the mid 90s the
UCG club extended membership to include staff, alumni and students from the
Regional Technical College, Galway. The new alliance required a change to the
clubs name once more. The UCG /RTC Sub Aqua Club now had members from both
third levels institutes in Galway, an association that gladly still exists to
this day. In 1997 UCG changed its name to NUI, Galway and in the same year the RTC,
Galway became Galway Mayo Institute of Technology. For the third time in the
club’s history, the club would adopt a new title. The club gained the
tongue-twisting name of NUIG/GMIT sub-aqua club. Attendance from GMIT students
began very low but gladly today the numbers have risen. We now have a loyal
bunch of GMIT members present at all club events.
We changed our
logo from a fat little diver man to the octopus in 2000. The orange
multi-limbed critter has proudly emblazoned many a jacket and t-shirt since. In
2003 we were named as the largest training club in the country, responsible for
more trainee certs issued than any other club. In that year we were the second
biggest diving club in the country, Athlone being the largest. That year we
also celebrated our 40th anniversary with a formal black tie ball in the
Westwood house hotel, Galway.
My own experience
with the diving club began in 2001 when I signed up together with my two best
friends. For the princely sum of £1 the three of us signed our name on the
dotted line and promised to turn up the following Wednesday night for the first
meeting. The appeal of learning to dive on a budget was far too great for us to
pass up. We dutifully attended our first diving lecture, which was held in the
NUIG lecture rooms. At the time the pool training was done in Salthill at the
Leisureland pool. I had already completed a diving course the previous summer
but that wasn’t going to stop me joining in the fun in the pool. I kept quiet
about my previous experience and jumped in with all the other novices. After an
hour or so of snorkel and scuba training our first pool session was topped off
with a few well-deserved beverages in PJ’s pub. All the existing members of the
club warmly greeted us into the club and, by the time we were ready to leave
the pub (admittedly in the wee hours of the morning), we had all decided that
this club was special. We would remain members for a long time.
After an enjoyable
winter of training we made our first trip in February to Killary harbour. About
a dozen members filed into the back of a converted transit van and took our
seats on the 2 church benches that lined the back of the van for the 2 hour
drive out to Rossroe pier. Granted, not the most stylish way to arrive at a
dive site. but we are students after all. We spent the day diving from the
pier, using our small inflatable zodiac. The more experienced divers among us passing
on their knowledge to us newbie’s as they guided us amongst the kelp and
crustaceans. Of course no trip to Killary in those days was complete without
our mandatory stop to push the transit up the hill. The poor beast couldn’t
manage the incline with the added weight of our wet dive gear.
Our training
calendar culminates each year with a weekend trip to west Donegal for St.
Patrick’s Day. I must admit my first trip to the infamous Malinbeg with the
club was something of an eye opener. Any member of our club will testify to the
organized chaos involved when 40+ students make their way to the pier each
morning to learn how to dive. However the diving often comes second to the more
infamous nightlife in the small town of Glencolmcille. Whilst most visitors to
Malinbeg will return with memories of great dive sites, our club members return
with even more vivid memories of dance-offs, boat races, “kings’ cup” and the
often cut-throat games of “Spoons”. The weekend has become so legendary that we
have even attracted the company of our friends in UCD and DCU sub-aqua club.
Whilst rivalry between the clubs is often quiet fierce we have also made some
great friendships.
In my 11 years as
a member of the NUIG/GMIT sub-aqua club I have seen the club grow from strength
to strength. Members have travelled from all over the world to study in Galway
and have learned to dive in Irish waters under the guidance of our dive leaders.
We have had members from every corner of Ireland and from around the world even
as far away as Uruguay and the United States. Likewise, many of our members
have continued their diving passion all over the globe. Divers from our club
have worked in dive centres and on dive boats in such exotic locations as
Greece, Australia, New Zealand, Cambodia and even Tahiti. At home our own
members have advanced to become instructors in CFT and many other diver
training agencies including PADI, IANTD and PSAI. We are proud to state that
members from our club have dived in some of the most spectacular dive sites on
our shores and abroad. We have had members cave diving in Palau, Ice diving in
Norway, and wreck diving on some of the most famous wrecks in Irish waters.
Many of our members have been able to use the skills they’ve learned with the
club in their own careers as marine scientists and engineers.
This year marks
the 50th anniversary of our club and we are please to celebrate it
by launching our new dive boat the ‘Alice Perry’. This will allow us to offer
club members the opportunity to dive previously inaccessible dive sites. Our
dive calendar is filling up quickly with trips all over Ireland.
So as you read
this article members of the diving club both past and present are gathering in
Galway, exchanging our wet suits for monkey suits and ball gowns and getting
ready to attend our 50th Anniversary Ball. Invitations have been
sent out across the globe and we are all looking forward to reuniting with old
friends and possibly making a few new ones. To all our colleagues and friends
we would like to extend an invitation to all of you to come and join us on our
night of celebration. For more information please check out our website at www.galwaydiving.com.
I would like to
finish this journey through the history of our club with a message of thanks to
all the people who have volunteered their time and efforts over the past 50
years. The commitment of all our members who have trained new members, led the
dives, helped organize dive trips, helped maintain our equipment, and of course
organized the parties, have made the club as great as it is today. Here’s to
the next 50 years, I personally hope to be around for the 100th
anniversary ball.
