Nicholas English left the rich pasture land in the shadow of the Galtee Mountains to seek his fortune in the bustling seaport of Queenstown (Cobh) over 150 years ago. He did very well in his new home and got involved in many areas including seafaring. Five generations later the English family are still very much involved in seafaring in Cobh and Cork Harbour.
Eddie English has been running SailCork since 1974 years but is not the only member of his family who enjoys sailing. Eddie's father, the late Eamonn English, was a well respected member of the sailing community in Ireland. In his youth he sailed dinghies with East Beach Corinthians and Cove Sailing Club. He crewed cruisers in the Royal Cork Yacht Club and the Royal Munster Yacht Club including the Cork Harbour One Design “Cygnet” and the famous 12 metre “Flica”. He was very involved in the organisation of the sport and was Commodore of Cove Sailing Club. Above all he passed a love of the sport on to his family – he introduced them to rowing and sailing at an early age and trained them in seamanship skills aboard his motor boat “Conflor”.
Eddie's mum, the late Mary English, still sailed into her mid eighties. She was a fundraiser for the Irish Lifeboats for over 70 years and was Commodore of Cove Sailing Club. Eddie's brothers – Joe, Denis and JP all sail. Joe, a sailmaker, was Irish Youth Champion and has competed in most of the worlds major regattas including sailing aboard “South Australia” in the Australian Americas Cup defence. Joe skippered Ireland's first challenger in the Round the World Yacht Race – NCB Ireland. Denis sails on a regular basis in Dun Laoghaire in Dublin and has competed in races such as the Fastnet, Round Ireland and Dublin to Dingle. JP has worked in the super yacht business for over 25 years – he has circumnavigated the globe and sailed in the Artic and the Antartic. He is currently skippering a 72 footer in the USA.
Eddies neices and nephews, Emma, Aoife, Denis and Robbie English all teach sailing whilst Conor English is a major cruising enthusiast. Many more uncles, aunts, cousins and relations are involved in the sport of sailing – in fact the name English is synonymous with the sport .
