Roscommon boatbuilder's papers to go on permanent display in county library

The remarkable boatbuilding skills of Roscommon's Jimmy Furey are to be commemorated with a permanent display of his boatbuilding papers in the county library to mark the centenary of his birth in March 2026.

To ensure the success of this initiative, Mr. Furey’s estate has now issued a call for individuals or the various yacht clubs and sailing/modelmaking associations with which the late boatbuilder was affiliated to come forward with any relevant material they may have.

Jimmy Furey was born in Mount Plunkett, Roscommon in March 1926, and his estate is currently in the process of commemorating the landmark centenary of his birth by establishing a permanent home for his boatbuilding papers at Roscommon County Library.

All relevant materials which remained in the gifted boatbuilder's cottage following his June 2020 death are now being permanently lodged with the library for cataloguing. The ultimate objective of this exercise is to provide an easily accessible resource where young talents wishing to follow in the late Jimmy Furey's footsteps can learn from and be inspired by his life’s work.

“While Jimmy was opposed to the idea of any kind of formal museum display, he would have been delighted to see his expertise being used to energize future generations of craftsmen and women”, said a spokesperson for the estate.

Given the high regard the late Jimmy Furey was held by all who knew him, particularly in the boatbuilding community, his estate is hoping that those in possession of suitable additional materials will consider either permanently donating or loaning their items to the library for scanning.

Interested parties eager to learn more, or who have ideas that could help put still more wind in this meaningful project’s sails, should email: JimmyFureyCentenary@gmail.com or call/text: 089 200 4349