I found my interest in the sea through salmon fishing with my dad, the late Jack Garrihy, in the west of Ireland. It eventually grew into commercial fishing and trawling on boats with my brothers and then into ferry boats with my siblings running out of Doolin, County Clare beside the famous Cliffs of Moher. We now run five ships from Doolin Harbour, taking in the Doolin2Aran Ferries, Cliffs of Moher Cruises and trips to the three Irish-speaking Aran Islands of Inis Mór, Inis Meáin and Inis Oirr.
I used to captain a tugboat in Dublin Bay and along the River Liffey in the 1980s and that gave me knowledge of the workings of Dublin bay, Dublin Port and the docklands. Back in 2013 nobody was connecting the suburban coastal resort of Dún Laoghaire, the city and the scenic fishing village of Howth. So I acquired a ship, the St Bridget, which is licenced for 100 passengers, and got going with Dublin Bay Cruises.
Dún Laoghaire, where our cruises start from, is a beautiful place and it has a worldwide reputation for yachting and yacht racing. It is usually bustling with boats and is full of people from all over the world. Now, it’s as quiet as can be. All of the moorings within the harbour are vacant, which is a very, very unusual sight at this time of year.
Dublin Bay is a fantastic C-shaped bay on the edge of the city with beautiful islands to the north and south and loads of wildlife, including seals and dolphins. During voyages our passengers discover aspects of Dublin that are just not possible from the land. The bay is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, which is an area where humans and industry work in harmony with nature. It's a very pleasurable place to be on a summer’s day, so we are privileged to work, live and operate in that area and to represent the local culture and heritage, which is there in abundance.