Charity
Santa Splash to celebrate the beauty of the River Shannon and support Limerick Dragons on December 6
Santa Splash to celebrate the beauty of the River Shannon and support Limerick Dragons on December 6. Picture: Anastasiia Lapko/ilovelimerick
The Limerick Dragons are inviting the public to join them for their Santa Splash to celebrate the beauty of the River Shannon and support the group in securing a permanent home
Limerick Dragons will be making waves in the community this December 6 as they aim to bring some festive cheer and light up the River Shannon with their ‘Santa Splash’.
The ‘Santa Splash’, inspired by a similar event in Copenhagen, will see The Limerick Dragons and other groups join together in a celebration of the River Shannon, with groups meeting at the public slipway beside St Michael’s Rowing Club before leaving on a procession of lights along the river.
Limerick Dragons Chairperson, Vidette Ryan Molyneaux, says the event will celebrate the River Shannon and its importance to the community, while raising support for the rowing club.
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She told I Love Limerick, “The reason we’re doing it is to emphasise the beauty of our river and establish a forever home for ourselves and for all other paddle clubs. We want to highlight what the Shannon means to our community. It’s a beautiful river and we love paddling in it.”
Limerick Dragons is a breast cancer survivors group set up in 2016, with supporters and family members involved in the club also. Dragon boat paddling is recognised worldwide as an extremely helpful sport post-surgery and treatment in helping lymphoma, which is a common side effect of breast cancer treatment. There are currently about 3,600 new cases diagnosed annually. The rates have increased again to 1 in 7 women and 1 in 728 in men.
The Santa Splash is set to be a magical night-light parade with two 40-foot Limerick Dragons boats leading the flotilla, joined by the Shannon Dragons and a number of clubs, including Limerick Kayaking Academy, Treaty Suicide Boat, Narwhals, Athlunkard Rowing Club, UL Rowing Club, Neville Watersports, and individual kayakers.
Participants are asked to wear Santa hats or jumpers and light up their boats, creating a sparkling procession from the jetty beside St. Michael’s to JJ Bowles and back.
Vidette added, “We’re also inviting anybody who has a kayak or would like to come on a boat. You have to wear a Santa hat, Santa jumper and uh, light up your boat, and we’ll be lighting ourselves, and we are going to have a little bit of fun!”
The organisers have noted that thanks to support from Limerick 2030, free parking will be available at the Cleeves Euro Car Park from 4 pm, Vidette concluded, “Everybody is invited to come along. We really do need the support, and I think the city will look beautiful with all the lights flowing up and down. We’re going to go up past Sarsfield Bridge, past Thomond Bridge, and after JJ Bowles, we’ll turn around and we’ll come back down again in a flotilla. So people are excited about it, and it’s going to be great fun. So come along and join us!”
For more information and to sign up, visit the Limerick Dragons website.
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