Lough Erne cots will be raced on Lough Erne for the first time in over 100 years next month.
The traditional Lough Erne cot was one of the popular modes of transport for goods around Upper and Lower Lough Erne and some versions are still used today by farmers moving livestock between the mainland and islands on Lough Erne.
The traditional wooden Lough Erne cot has been revived by Lough Erne Heritage, a charitable group encouraging local heritage research about Lough Erne, its traditional boats and the people who built and used them.
They have already held exhibitions and meetings to publicise this research into the local heritage of Lough Erne and its shoreline as well as creating a website with a virtual heritage trail.
Their aims are to encourage and preserve the skills involved in building the traditional wooden boats of Lough Erne, to encourage and promote the use of traditional Lough Erne wooden boats, to build an archive accessible to the membership and interested members of the public and to attract new members with a similar passion from Counties Longford, Cavan, Fermanagh and Donegal.
The newly built Lough Erne cotds will be launched on August 20 at Crom where they will be raced and the public will be given an opportunity to try their hand at rowing them.
Fred Ternan of Lough Erne Heritage says they believe this will be the first time in over 100 years that cots will be raced on the lough. 
If it is successful many more regattas will be arranged around the lough.
Before that, however, Lough Erne Heritage will be organising a summer exhibition at Enniskillen Library on Friday, July 29 from 10am to 5pm involving art and photography and on Saturday, July 30 with the art and photography exhibition as well as a display of traditional wooden boats. 
These will be displayed outside the library and will include a number of full size original clinker built rowing boats from the wooden boat era on Lough Erne as well as recently built clinker boats.
The organisers said: 
“On these you will see the craftsmanship and detail that went into making one of these boats which were an essential part of life on and around the lough.
“The two types of craft displayed are two of the three traditional wooden boats of Lough Erne. The third and earliest boat in Ireland is the logboat or dugout canoe (coité).
“Information will be displayed with the boats and some of the owners will be on hand who may be able to describe the use the boat had.
“With the clinker boats will be one of the new Lough Erne cots recently built to re-introduce the ancient sport of Cot Racing. Two of the craft will be completed by August when practice will begin for those people who wish to take part in this sport. A team of three is required to race the cot.
“For more information, find us on Facebook – www.facebook.com/lougherneheritage,” the organisers concluded.
The theme of the innovative exhibition is called “A celebration of the Lough, the islands and life on the water and by the shore in the past or present.”