Meet the Coaches and Crews
The Coaches
The success of Jes rowing over the years owes an enormous amount to the coaches who put in hours of work with the crews, winter and summer. The club has a great tradition of ex-Jes rowers coming back to coach or staying in touch with the club in other ways. To all past and present coaches, we say THANK YOU for your hard work and dedication. And a special thank you to Ciaran Glynn who collected all the information about the coaches.
Seán Carolan (Centre), Head Coach a with coaches Fiona Lawless and Ciaran Glynn
Head Coach, Seán Carolan, is known in every clubhouse in Ireland and we are delighted and privileged that Seán is willing to coach in the Jes. He is a member of the most successful rowing club in Irish history, Neptune. Seán’s success as a coach speaks for itself. He was involved in the glory years of NUIG rowing. During the early to mid 2000’s, when Seán was coaching the novice, intermediate and senior men with Tom Tuohy and Mike Gaffney, NUIG won no less than 12 Irish championships. Seán and John Lawless coached the Jes Junior Men between 1998 and 2001. During this period, Seán and John coached oarsmen who eventually went to the Olympics (Cormac Folan), the Under 23 World Championships (Mike Ryder and Bryan O’Carroll) and the Home Internationals (Dara Bracken). We are delighted to have a coach of Seán’s experience and talent in our club.
Favourite Jes Memory: “Winning Anderson in 1999 and 2001”
Fiona Lawless, like all our coaches, has a proven track record, having won Irish Championships and coached Irish Champions. We are delighted that she has chosen CIRC to continue coaching women who wish to row. Fiona rowed for the Jes between 1985 and 1990 as part of the first female crew to take to the water. They were also the first ever women’s crew to win the Junior Women’s 8 title! After making history with CIRC, Fiona moved to UCGBC, where she and her crew excelled, winning the Women’s Senior 8 Championship of Ireland. Fiona travelled to the Mecca of World Rowing, Henley, as part of the 8 which progressed to the final. They had what is referred to as a “gut-wrenching” end to the event, being beaten on the line by 2 feet! Fiona coached in the Jes during the 90’s and her crews won Junior 8’s and Junior 4’s, as well as finishing with a silver medal at the Coupe De La Juenesse (the European junior rowing championships).
Favourite Jes Memory: “Very many, two particular favourites, coaching the 1994 crew to win both VIII’s and IV’s at the Champs and arriving in Enniskillen in time to see the last 250m of the race and when the same IV medalled at the Coupe… ”
Ciarán Glynn coaches the senior boys along with Shane Cawley. Ciaran coxed in the Jes from 1996 to 2001. During this time he coxed two Anderson winning crews, one in 1999 and the other in 2001. Ciarán then began coxing in NUIG where he was part of a Men’s intermediate coxed four, intermediate eight and senior coxed four that all won Irish Championships. Along with Shane Cawley and John Lawless, he coached the first men’s championship in 8 years when the Jes captured the Novice fours championship in 2006. The following year, he and Shane coached the Men’s Junior Pair that won the Irish Championships.
Favourite Jes Memory: “Watching our first championship win in 2006”
Mairtin Phelan, coach of the Men's junior team
Mairtin began coaching in CIRC three seasons ago. He began rowing in the Jes in 1970 and continued until 1973. He then moved to the then UCG Boat club between the years 1974 and 1978. He completed a hat-trick of Galway rowing clubs when he rowed two years with neighbours Galway Rowing Club. Mairtin’s first coaching venture involved coaching a sculler out of UCG, three-time Henely champion Serryth Colbert. Mairtin coached Serryth to the novice single scull and the intermediate single scull title, two of the most fiercely contested events in the National championships. In this time Serryth also won two gold medals at the Home Internationals. Mairtin has a proven track record coaching, and the club are delighted that he has chosen to coach in CIRC.
Favourite Jes Memory: “Watching the under 15 quad winning Fermoy regatta in my first year coaching. They beat a crew who were far bigger but the Jes lads came through to win a great race”
Shane Cawley coaches the senior boys along with Ciarán Glynn
Shane has been involved with CIRC for the past 14 years. He rowed during his six years of school and began coaching in his first year of college while also rowing for NUIG. Shane, along with John Lawless and Ciarán Glynn coached the Men’s Novice Four Championship in 2007. This was the first Men’s championship since 1999 and was only the second Men’s championship since the 1970’s. The following year Shane coached current Irish lightweight Niall Kenny and CIRC coach Edward Fitzgerald to the Junior Men’s pair championship of Ireland. More than 10 athletes have represented Ireland while coached by Shane.
Favourite Jes Memory: “When our junior four was down by 2 lengths with 500m to go in Ghent junior four finals, they pulled off a great finish and won by a canvas”
Evan Molloy
Evan first entered the Jes Rowing Club in 1967 and we are delighted he is still here after 43 years! Evan’s role in the club can best be described as Coach/ Logistics manager/Engineer /Mechanic/Driver/Committee member/Builder…. the list goes on. Evan has been coaching the beginners for the past number of years and all the successful CIRC oarsmen and woman in the past ten years have been coached by him during their years in Coláiste Iognáid. More recently, Evan has been juggling coaching with building the second storey in the club. It is because of this dedication that it is joked that Evan spends more time in the club than any of the rowers who train there every day!
Favourite Jes Memory: “Watching beginners perform well”
Eamonn Colclough: A welcome return to Galway
Eamonn hails from Dublin where he rowed with Commercial and Neptune. He joined the army in 1972, and was posted to Galway where he became one of the founding members of Tribesmen Rowing Club.
All five of his children rowed for the Jes and he has coached here since the 1990's when not on overseas peacekeeping tours with the Irish army. As well as coaching in the Jes he rows with the Tribesmen veterans and he is a committee member of Tribesmen Rowing Club, The Defence Forces Rowing Association, The Connaught Branch and The National Executive of Rowing Ireland.
Favourite Jes memory: Jes ladies winning the VIII's and IV's Championships in 2006.
 and Edward Fitzgerald (R).jpg)
Charles Doyle (Left) and Edward Fitzgerald
Charles Doyle, Edward Fitzgerald and Martin Cassidy (not in photo) are trying their hands at coaching this year with the first-year boys. Charles was club captain of CIRC and is the current club captain of NUIG. We are unsure where Charles has found time to give to CIRC with his own rowing, studies and captaincy in NUIG, but we are delighted to have him with us. Charles rowed Junior up to 2008. He is the only person in the club’s history to have won Ghent international Regatta twice - both times in coxed fours. Edward Fitzgerald is arguably one of the most successful oarsmen in CIRC history. He joined Charles in the coxed four in Gent in 2007, won the novice fours pot in 2006 from a field of 22 boats and romped home with Niall Kenny in Junior Pairs in 2007 by three lengths. He won a silver in the Coupe De La Jeunnesse in the Netherlands in 2006 in the coxless four and Gold at the Home internationals in 2007 with a CIRC/GRC crew. Not a bad hall for a rower who was blighted with Glandular Fever in his final year rowing! The “brains” behind the operation is Martin Cassidy! He is known as, pound for pound, the toughest rower to come through the club in recent years. Martin is an accomplished weight lifter and has won various Connaught titles and holds many records for his lifts. We are very proud that these accomplished young men are willing to spend their university years coaching in CIRC.
Laura Barry
Laura moved to Galway in 2006 and took up rowing after hearing a friend talk endlessly about how great the sport was! Then she got hooked. She rowed with NUIG for 5 years and stroked both the women’s novice 4 and novice 8 to win 2 Irish Championship titles in 2009. She has competed at many other Irish and International events such as Henley Women’s Regatta and London Metropolitan Regatta and currently rows at master’s level with NUIG/Grainne Mhaol Alumni Club. When she started teaching in the Jes in September 2011 there was no doubt that coaching was on the cards. She coaches the beginner’s girls in the school gym during week and at weekends in the club and is looking forward to winning many pots for the Junior girls in the future!
Favourite Jes memory: Rowing camp August 2011, my first week coaching at the Jes, overhearing the beginners chatting and giggling about how much they “love rowing, and how cool it is”
The Crews 2011-2012
For previous crews, see Archives.
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