This guest blog is brought to us by Tomás Sullivan. It is a glimpse into the days of sail in the harbour. It is also a tragic tale so common in seafaring communities. The story is of Captain Daniel Sullivan of Coolbunnia, Cheekpoint and his vessel the schooner Chase. Daniel was married to Rose nee McCarthy and they had six children.Bridget, Edward, Charles, Maria, Daniel and Thomas.
Sullivan Family
Daniel was born and raised in Cheekpoint. Like many others in the village, he probably started his working life fishing in the river. His earliest sailing record places him aboard the Waterford-owned Mary Jane. Daniel is listed as Mate. It’s a role he would not have attained without lots of experience. He is serving under Captain John Phelan of Mary Street in the City. Waterford coal merchant and ship broker John E Angle, Hanover Street, Waterford owned this ship.
A pencil sketch of the likely layout of the schooner Chase by marine artist KB Cleare
Schooner Chase
According to Lloyds Register of Shipping the sailing schooner Chase was built for Daniel Sullivan in 1876/7 by Hodges Boat Yard Cardiff. The details listed are as follows:
Sailing ships such as the Chase were competing at the time with larger and more reliable steam-powered vessels. Many of the cargos that she could hope for were bulky goods that were not considered time-sensitive. Cargos such as coal were typical for which there was a significant Irish market. The return trips could carry various goods such as pit props for the Welsh mines. Agriculturalproducts also such as barrels of oats and barley and sometimes ballast.
Chase ports of call
The Chase took cargo from where she could and was a regular into the ports of Waterford and New Ross. The vessel called to Cheekpoint, Passage East, Arthurstown and Dungarvan. Other destinations recorded in the ship logs are Cork, Wexford Wicklow, Dublin, Derry, Liverpool, Milford, Bristol and Portsmouth.
Pilots Licence
Daniel applied to the Waterford Harbour Commissioners pilot committee to be examined for a pilot’s licence in 1878. This application would allow him to bring his ship into port without the cost of a river pilot. The move was understandable given that he had known the harbour since childhood. An exemption would allow him the freedom to sail when he decided. It was also a crucial factor in reducing the costs of his vessel. Not paying pilotage, gave him a better margin on his cargo and reduced his outgoings. His application was referred to the Board of Trade. The following March 1879, following an examination before the Board, Daniel was awarded a pilot exemption for the entire harbour.
Crew of the Chase
The following is a list of those recorded as shipping out on the Chase as crewmen.[ii]
According to family lore the Chase departed Waterford for Cardiff in Wales on the 28th of August 1884. Aboard was a cargo of pit wood. Fatefully, Daniel decided to stop at Cheekpoint, perhaps to wait for favourably wind and/or tide. His two sons came to see their father off, Daniel jnr and Thomas. Their older brother Charles, aged 20, was already serving as Mate on the family vessel. Another Cheekpoint man, Michael Nugent was serving as an able seaman. Michael was aged 22.
Image and text of last recorded returned Ships log in December 1883. Accessed from the National Archives.
Schooners at anchor off Cheekpoint circa 1899. Photo AH Poole Collection – NLI
Daniel managed to talk his father into taking him on board. As he was then 14 he probably argued that it was high time for him to “learn the ropes”. Thomas, aged 12, must have been sorely disappointed not to have been aboard when the Chase headed away downriver.
Some days later Rose Sullivan was out in the yard of their family home in Coolbunnia, overlooking the estuary. Suddenly she started screaming and crying saying she could see her husband and son Daniel Sr and Junior. She claimed that they had just passed through the yard. Not long after official word reached the family that the Chase was overdue.[iii]
Source: UK REGISTER OF DEATHS AT SEA 1884
Overdue in a storm
What was officially known was little. The schooner had made good time on passage over and departed Cardiff on September 5th 1884. Aboard was a cargo of coal, their destination was Passage East. Although they left in favourable conditions, the weather was changing. Soon the ship was sailing into a westerly gale as it headed out of the Bristol Channel. It is speculation but it seems that the Chase ran for shelter, steering a course for the protection of Milford Haven. Many other ships were in difficulty, including the Triumph which saw two crewmen washed overboard. The pilot cutter Blue Eyed Maid was lost. Further north on the Welsh coast the St Dogmael’s lifeboat rescued three crew and the captain’s wife of the wrecked smack Ellen.[iv]
Nothing was ever heard from the Chase again. A coastguard man later reported finding “…a head-board with CHASE painted on it, and a female figurehead”. The information provided to the Receiver of Wrecks for the area included the siting of other wreckage. This was seen between Sheep Island and Linney Head on the Pembrokeshire coast. This included “…a mainboom jaws upwards, with a piece of mast and some heavy weight, probably sails, under water which rendered it unmanageable [to retrieve] by small boats”.[v]
What efforts the crew of the Chase employed is unknown. Whether the ship’s boat was launched, or any tried to swim for it is unknown. Given the location, it was thought likely the ship had overturned in the gale. In the circumstances, those aboard would have had little time to consider their predicament. Or for Daniel to think of his family on board or at home in Cheekpoint.
Conclusion
Chase, most likely foundered sometime on the 6th or 7th of September 1884. She was finally listed as missing in February 1885. Prior to this she was considered by authorities as overdue.[vi]. But long before then, Rose Sullivan knew she had lost the main breadwinner of her home, two of her sons and the family’s investment.
Like many other families in the area, the sea was one of the main forms of employment. But it came at a cost, such as with the Chase and the Sullivan and Nugent families. Edward, Sullivan was lost while crossing the Atlantic on another sailing ship. Bridget Sullivan would later lose her husband James Clawson on the SS Formby in 1917. Michael Nugent’s brother William died while serving aboard the schooner Elizabeth Cowman while sailing down the Suir. A later Nugent descendant, Edmund, was lost at sea in 1941.
There are no flowers on a sailor’s grave No lilies on an ocean wave The only tribute is the seagulls sweep And the tears upon a loved one’s cheek Fear not for those who go down to the sea in ships For as sunset draws near and dawn breaks afar We remember those who have crossed the bar
PAUL HOLLAND
I want to thank Pat O’Gorman for his generous assistance with this piece and his endless hours chatting with my late father Tom Sullivan, discussing Cheekpoint’s seafaring history. Thanks also to P.J O’Shea for all the information on the Nugent family. Finally to acknowledge the assistance of Alan Jones from Shipwrecks UK. Tomás Sullivan 2024
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[ii] Accessed from NLI Records of the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen, 1860 – 1921
[iii] These apparitions were very common in seafaring communities. A“Fetch“ appears regularly in Irish folklore. See for example Michael Fortune’s post at Folklore.ie https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1175277146956289
[iv] Western Mail – Monday 08 September 1884; page 3
[v] Bridgend Chronicle – Friday 19 September 1884; page 4
[vi] Liverpool Weekly Courier – Saturday 07 February 1885; page 5
Today, March 8th is International Women’s Day. To celebrate it, we have a guest blog from David Carroll to recallthe life and times of Daphne French, a yachtswoman who lived in Dunmore East during David’s childhood inthe 1950s and 60s.David was the son of the Harbour Master, Captain Desmond Carroll, and his mother Freda, and had a front-row seat to much of the seafaring activities of the village.
When I was growing up in Dunmore East, people arriving at the village along the Ballymabin Road would have been familiar with a sign outside a bungalow called ‘Pamir Cottage.’ Many may have wondered what ‘Pamir’ meant and pondered the background of this name. However, I knew all about the famous barque called Pamir, thanks to my father’s seafaring knowledge.
Pamir was a four-masted barque, built in Hamburg in 1905 and owned during the 1930s by the famous Finnish shipping line of Gustaf Erikson for use in the Australian wheat trade. In 1949, Pamir was the last commercial sailing ship to round Cape Horn. The ship would play a significant role in Daphne’s world of sailing and significantly she named her house in Dunmore East after it.
Daphne French was born in Co. Roscommon in 1905. The French family were Anglo-Irish whose home was Cloonyquin House near Strokestown. It is said that they were decent landlords, their estate was never subject to land agitation. Daphne’s father was Arthur John St George French, born in 1853. He married Pauline Anna Haddock in 1898 and they lived at Lichfield in Staffordshire, where he served in the Army. Arthur’s younger brother, born in 1854, was the popular, well-loved, and yet sometimes neglected of Irish geniuses – William Percy French or as he was more popularly known, Percy French, songwriter, humourist, entertainer, and painter.
Cloonyquin House near Strokestown, Co Roscommon. Image courtesy of Percy French Society.
The 1911 Census shows Daphne living in Meath Terrace, Bray with her family. Her father is described as a retired military officer. Daphne’s age is given as four years, which surely is an error. Her older sister, Maeve, is noted as being born in Lichfield, Staffordshire. Interestingly, the family’s governess is named Frances Alcock, who was born in Co Waterford. Edward H Alcock was the harbour master of Dunmore East in 1884 and one wonders if there is any connection?
It may have been living close to the sea that gave Daphne her lifelong love of sailing and the sea. Journalist Lorna Siggins has said that her life revolved around sailing and boats, since, as she said herself, “she read nothing but sailing and adventure books in her childhood.”
In 1935, Daphne French was the owner of a 30-foot ketch Embla. While sailing back into Dublin Bay after a cruising holiday with her friend Betty Parsons, she saw the Pamirentering Dublin Port with a cargo of wheat.
Ketch Embla, built in Southampton in 1908. Drawing courtesy of Irish Cruising Club
On reaching the shore, Daphne and Betty caught a bus to the South Wall, boarded the Pamirand requested to see the master. They asked to be taken on the ship’s books for the ship’s next voyage – to Australia. They were signed on as stewardesses at one shilling per month. The voyage to Port Lincoln in South Australia took a record seventy-seven days to complete. “The irresistible silent march of the great ship, under 50,000 square feet of canvas, was a fine sensation,” Daphne wrote in her log.
Pamir berthed at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin, 1935. Photo: Courtesy of Cormac Lowth.
The arrival of the Pamirand subsequent stay in Dublin Port gave rise to much coverage in newspapers. An overly descriptive report of her departure on October 10th, 1935, appeared in the Irish Independent on the following Monday and was written by a journalist who was titled ‘J.A.P.’ The article began with a transcription of Masefield’s Sea Fever. Near the conclusion of the report, the two female sailors are mentioned:
The Ship’s Ladies
The ladies on this trip are Miss DA French, a member of a well-known West of Ireland family, and an English friend, Miss E Parsons. Both are keen yachtswomen.
Miss French’s yacht, in which she was cruising off the coast of Scotland this year, is at present laid up in Dublin. Both ladies are undertaking the voyage for health and pleasure and hope to come back with the Pamir despite the homeward route being around the dreaded Cape Horn.
The outward journey will be via the Cape of Good Hope. But as the First Mate explained to me, the ship will be following the sun on both the outward and homeward journey, and so may escape really bad weather. The ladies should be very comfortable aboard. There is even a bathroom, though salt water will have to be substituted for the precious fresh water while at sea. And she is a fine seaworthy ship, fully meriting Captain Mattsson’s deep pride in her.
Irish Independent October 10th, 1935
On arrival in Australia, the 12,000 miles voyage voyage made by the two female sailors was reported in the newspapers.
Daphne and Betty did circumnavigate the world, but their homeward voyage was on another Erikson four-masted steel barque, the L’Avenir. The following year, (1938) while sailing from Australia to Hamburg, with a cargo of wheat, the vessel radioed her position as 51˚ S and 172˚ E on March 1st, stating ” All well.” She was never heard from again.
Daphne’s arrival home to Ireland was noted in the ‘Irishman’s Diary’ columns of the Irish Times on June 16th, 1937. It noted that she had arrived back in Liverpool on June 5th and had left for a two-week holiday in Roscommon while her yacht was being fitted out in a Ringsend boatyard for a planned cruise.
In 1939, as clouds of war gathered over Europe, Daphne with one crew member and a paid hand embarked on a 2,500-mile cruise, through the Forth and Clyde canal in Scotland, across the North Sea and as far as the Aland Islands, north of Stockholm. Many of the crew members of the Pamir were natives of the Aland Islands so maybe that was the attraction in venturing that far. This cruise took forty-four days and seventeen nights at sea with twenty-two days spent in port, starting on July 5th, and safely returning to Dún Laoghaire on September 8th. Nazi Germany invaded Poland on September 1st, and Britain had declared war on September 3rd. In recognition of this epic voyage, the prestigious Faulkner Cup presented by the Irish Cruising Club, was awarded to Daphne.
Interestingly, Daphne was not the first female sailor to win this prestigious award with that honour falling to Elizabeth Crimmins of East Ferry in Cork in 1934. In more recent times, the award has gone to Co Waterford sailor, Máire Breathnach of Dungarvan, who made a rounding of Cape Horn in 2004.
Map of Embla’s voyage to the Aland Islands, Baltic Sea, July – September 1939. Courtesy of the Irish Cruising Club.
During the war, Daphne was a trainer of women trainees who were drafted to work aboard canal boats, as part of a Ministry of War Transport scheme, on the Grand Union Canal, delivering coal by barge from coalfields around Coventry to the factories along the Birmingham and Fazely canal and down to the docks in London.
Daphne French on board the barge Cleopatra. Photo: Courtesy of Cormac Lowth.
After the war, Daphne came back to Ireland and moved to Dunmore East, setting up home in Pamir Cottage with its beautifully maintained garden.
I can remember Daphne French well during my childhood in Dunmore. With my father as Harbour Master, she was a regular and courteous visitor to our house discussing seafaring matters and seeking my father’s advice or opinion on a myriad of nautical issues. She was a distinctive dresser, always wearing blue or navy sailing clothes, denim trousers, a reefer jacket, a knitted hat and sailing shoes. She drove a small ‘bubble car,’ a Messerschmitt. I can remember the distinctive sound of the two-stroke engine as it went up and down the village.
In Dunmore, Daphne sailed Dara, a small 4-ton yacht that was moored near the RNLI lifeboat, Annie Blanche Smith, close to where the Island was in the harbour. She had a circle of friends that crewed with her on short cruises from Dunmore or ones further afield. Paddy Billy Power, the well-respected coxswain of the Dunmore East lifeboat was a great confidant to Daphne, assisting her with the care and maintenance of Dara.
Dunmore East Harbour 1950s. Dara is moored close to RNLB Annie Blanch Smith. Photo: Courtesy of Brendan Dunne, enhanced by Brendan Grogan.
The 1956 Irish Cruising Club Annual details an account of a cruise made by Daphne and her crew on Darato the Scillies off Cornwall and back to Dunmore East.
I can remember on one occasion, Daphne invited my mother to afternoon tea in Pamir Cottage and being an only child, I also went along. It was like a scene from a sea captain’s house in an Enid Blyton Famous Five novel. There were numerous books, ships in bottles, paintings of ships and all sorts of nautical memorabilia decorating the lovely bungalow.
During her time living in Dunmore, Daphne French was the Port Representative for the Irish Cruising Club. This entailed meeting and greeting the visiting yachts of club members and attending to their needs. Each year, she compiled a list of visiting yachts to Dunmore, and this was published in the Irish Cruising Club Annual. Her report in the Annual from 1962 makes interesting reading:
“In spite of gales of wind and rain, sixty-two yachts, sail, and power, visited Dunmore East between May and September. The pier as it was, is hard to recognise. The removal of the stone houses by blasting began in August. They have buttressed the outer wall against the most furious storms for 150 years, and it is difficult to imagine that their destruction could be justified in order to provide a double lane for fish lorries for a limited period- architecturally it is a tragedy.”
D. French.
The sailing activity was much curtailed during the harbour development for a period from the mid-1960s. It was not until the sailing club premises were completed and sailing activity moved to the Stony Cove area, that it flourished again. Unsurprisingly, during this period Daphne sold her yacht. Her active sailing time was ending and in 1966, Pamir Cottage was put up for sale and sold by Palmers from Waterford.
Daphne spent the last years of her life living in Greystones, Co. Wicklow. She lived a life close to nature, tending her garden and learning to paint watercolours after the style of her Uncle Percy. She fascinated many of her sailing friends with her tales of the sea.
Daphne French died on July 20th, 1995, aged 90 years, and is buried at Redford Cemetery, Greystones. A fitting epitaph from the RL Stevenson poem is written on her grave – “Home is the sailor, home from the sea.”
The assistance of Brendan Grogan who enhanced the Dunmore East 1950s photograph is appreciated. I also wish to thank Cormac Lowth, Brendan Dunne, John Aylward, Captain Alex Blackwell of the Irish Cruising Club, Mr Berrie O’Neill of the Percy French Society and Karen Poff and June Bow of www.youwho.ie. All assistance for this article is very much appreciated. Previous related writing by Marine Correspondents Lorna Siggins and WM Nixon were a source of information.
Occasionally a blog falls literally into my lap. So it was with this account when a partial and very faded 19th-century sailing ship log was handed to me recently. But what would the tattered pages of the document reveal? An incredible amount as it happens including the ship, the owner, the crew, an astonishing account of a storm-tossed journey, and ultimately the story of the destruction of the Waterford ship on the Wexford shore
Walter and Evelyn Byrne presented me with the document on a recent visit to their pub in Ballyhack, where I was presenting the story of the paddle steamer era. The ship’s log was found in the attic of their pub, and although only a few tattered pages remained, the very faded writing allowed me to at least identify the ship and master. The puzzle was under what circumstances did the log end up in the attic of the pub, why was it placed there, and by who, and what exactly could I find about this old sailing vessel from the 19th Century. As it happens, a heck of a lot, thanks to the help of a number of friends.
An entry in the faded and damaged log for the brig Glide, laying at Passage Monday Dec 23rd 1867
Brig Glide
The brig Glide was a Waterford-owned vessel. According to Lloyds register of shipping in 1863[i] the ship was built of timber in Halifax Novia Scotia in 1837. The ship was just over 80 feet long, 20 wide, and 12 deep and her stated tonnage was 154 Tons. The ship was only listed in Lloyds in 1863 and 1864. Then under the command of Captain T Black, the owner was listed as an L Freeman and her port of registry is Waterford.
The Log
Interpreting the remaining pages of the log is a bigger challenge. A ship’s log is a record kept by a ship’s captain in which the vessel’s daily progress is recorded, the wind, weather, currents encountered, and anything of interest that occurs aboard during a voyage.[ii] Unfortunately the partial log is a very challenging read and I can only decipher parts of it due to the handwriting, the damage, and that it is written in very abridged writing to capture wind, weather, seas, and any incidents. Admittedly I am also curtailed by a lack of experience with reading these, this is my first. Reading historical fiction or biographies can’t quite compare.
On one page the following crew names are recorded; William Walsh, Thomas Riley, Thomas Deveraux, ? Bird, Charles Bird, Pat Furlong, Peter Regan, and John Colfer. There is also a Patrick Furlong, perhaps the already-mentioned Pat? A couple of other names were illegible. (see the end for post-publication information that confirms that some of the crew were from the Slade area of Hook)
Journey to St Andrews
We can make out two full journeys of the vessel and a few partial details of others and the crew. The first entry deals with a trip from Cardiff to St Andrew’s (I think this is Saint-Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada) under Captain Thomas Black (Thomas was born in Waterford in 1807). The log commences on July 13th, 1866 when the weather is fair and the Light of Lundy has been sighted. The journey was uneventful finally arriving at their destination on Sept 1st. I can’t work out what the outgoing cargo was, but they had difficulties loading deals (timber boards) for the return trip, finally departing on Thurs 27th Sept. Again the trip home seems uneventful but on Mon October 29th, 1886 the Coningbeg lightship was spotted. This was rounded at noon and at 3.30 pm a pilot was picked up at Creaden Head, anchoring at Passage at 7 pm
Note a 30-day uneventful passage across the Atlantic, but look at the issue faced by the brig Form on more or less the same journey.
After this some pages are missing and the handwriting and style of the recording change and the name John Commins appears. There’s mention of a trip to Cardiff and Waterford, but the next full account is a trip from Waterford to Boulogne, France. This trip was anything but routine or uneventful.
A stormy passage
The Glide was fully loaded (again no mention of the cargo) and was prepared for sailing on Friday, Dec 20th, 1867. On Sat 21st they departed downriver coming to an anchor at Passage East awaiting favourable winds. On Sunday 22nd they sailed, rounded the Hook, and ran into a strong SE wind. On Monday the weather was worsening, the Mine Head light was sighted, and they made the best of the wind to make it back to Passage East where they anchored at 5 pm that evening. Christmas was spent at anchor, but apart from the weather, the log records nothing of the holiday, any gifts, special meal, or religious observation. I hope they enjoyed it, cause the drama was only beginning.
On Sat Dec 28th they again sailed from Passage East but thereafter the log is empty of any entries until January 6th when they are sheltering off Falmouth and seem to be busy repairing their masts, rigging, and sails suggesting they have weathered a bad storm. They remain there until Sat 11th Jan 1868 before getting underway, sighting the Eddystone Light. On Sunday the 12th the Portland Light is sighted but the winds are increasing, the sail is taken in and there is mention of standing by the pumps if I am interpreting the writing correctly.
On Tuesday 14th a strong gale is continuing and their second anchor is let go giving 60 fathoms of slack. The crew is employed at “Sundrey jobs”. No mention is made of the first anchor. I can’t work out if that suggests the first one was lost in the events between the 28th Dec and the 6th Jan or that they were deploying the second one to assist the first. On Wednesday 15th Jan 1868 they haul up the anchor and continued to the Downs where they again dropped anchor and remained until Monday 20th (They tried to move on 18th but had to drop anchor again. The log ends with a simple entry on Monday, January 20th, 1868 – “Light winds from eastward at 4 am, got up one anchor and got the other short and at 8 am got underway. At noon pilot came onboard” Presumably they had arrived at Boulogne…almost a month after first departing Waterford.
The end of the Glide
So what happened to the Brig Glide after the French trip? Well, I’m not sure, as there was only one record of her in local papers, sailing in ballast for Cardiff in Nov 1870. ( I found the following after publication which lists the journeys for the first few months of 1871 which included Waterford, Welsh ports, Boulogne and Gursnesy. Also a crew list in this link.) However, I can tell you for sure about her last journey…which ended in disaster on the SW Wexford coast – a familiar refrain here on the blog. The Waterford Chronicle of Wednesday 25th Feb 1874 recorded that the ship had left Cardiff laden with coal the previous week and on Friday 20th had run into fog just after sunset. The fog was so dense nothing could be seen within a cable length of the vessel. At some point the vessel grounded close to Kilmore Quay and broke up on rocks, the crew getting away safely. Another article states the location as Ballygrangans Bay to the east of Kilmore.
John Power records that the Glide had 141 tons of coal aboard and had left Cardiff on the 15th Feb but put into Milford to shelter from a storm. She sailed again on the morning of the 20th, meeting the fog off the Wexford shoreline later that night. Having grounded, the stern post was damaged and the ship made water, rising to about three feet in the hold. The master tried to set more sail to run the ship ashore, but she remained fast and they eventually lowered the ship’s boat and rowed ashore. The piece which was drawn from a local newspaper report concludes that the master was at fault for not casting the lead, to determine the closeness to shore, a practice which would save many a ship in the area![iii]
As May approaches so does the annual May Day Mile fundraiser for the Dunmore East RNLI. This year my brother Robert and I plan to row from Carrick On Suir to Cheekpoint in a two-day adventure in the punt. We reckon it’s about 25 miles and if you would like to support us, you can donate to this worthy cause here. Watch out for lots of updates, photos, videos,and blogs to capture the month here on T&T
Loughlin Freeman
The owner of the vessel was Loughlin Freeman. He was a merchant and businessman who as early as 1845 had written to the Freemans Journal and described his operations as being extensive including shipping and carrying river freight along both the Suir as far as Clonmel and the Barrow to Dublin. At the time of the loss of the Glide, several reports mentioned that he was based in Barronstrand Street in Waterford and was also a Town Councillor. In other accounts, he was described as “an honest and upright liberal in the customs house ward”. In his obituary (1887) he was described as one of the longest-serving TC’s – over 32 years and had also served on the Harbour Board.
Keyzer St and sometimes spelled Keiser St now. Photo via Michael O’Sullivan on the WHG facebook page. Cian Manning previously wrote of the Viking origins of the name
However, Slaters Commercial Directory of 1870 has his business address as Keyzer St, Waterford where he is listed under several entries including an agent for Ale and Porter, a ginger beer and soda manufacturer and a corn merchant. No mention of shipping interests, timber imports or indeed coal. More about h
Orientating our readers from outside Waterford of the location of Keyzer St from the OSI Historic map series. Cian Manning has guest blogged on the street name for us previously.
Now for Freeman to lose one ship in 1874 must have been tragic, but worse was to come. For in August a sister vessel, the brigantine Alcedo, left Waterford for Cardiff, where she was impounded by inspectors as she was found to be rotten.
The reason was a politician named Samuel Plimsoll who first entered the House of Commons as a Liberal in 1868. In 1873 he published Our Seamen, which attacked old and decrepit vessels or “coffin ships,” unseaworthy and overloaded vessels, which were often heavily insured, in which owners risked their crews’ lives. Plimsoll initiated an investigation by a royal commission in 1873, and in 1876 the Merchant Shipping Act gave stringent powers of inspection to the Board of Trade and fixed the loading line (Plimsoll mark) for ships.
Alcedo incident
Unfortunately for Freeman, the Alcedo became a cause celebre and what followed was a series of court cases, newspaper reports, and even statements in the UK parliament where Plimsoll had helped to ensure that the matter of seafarers and their well-being was a topic of concern. And although the wheels of justice turned slowly, turn they did. In Waterford, in 1875 one of Freeman’s sons was escorted from the court after an outburst while his father was sentenced to prison for two months and fined £300. Paradoxically, Freeman failed to live up to his name.
The story of the Alcedo is an interesting one and probably deserves its own blog, perhaps in the future.
The present Byrnes of Ballyhack and an image from he early 20th C probably looking from off one of the paddle steamers fully laden on deck with sheep
Byrnes attic
And why was there a partial ships log in an attic in Byrnes of Ballyhack? My first thought was that it was left behind by some foreign ship’s master following a shipwreck or death. Then I wondered if it had been part of the wreck sale, found in an item purchased from the ship at the time, however unlikely that the captain would have left it behind. But when I shared the information with Walter Byrne, particularly the name of the ship’s master, John Commins, Walter was able to tell me that the family took over the pub in 1929 and that one of the previous owners was the Commins family.
Thanks to Maria Doyle nee White I now know that John, listed as a Master Mariner, died at his home in Ballyhack on January 26th 1894 aged 73. He died after an illness of five days of pneumonia. His death was witnessed by his son John. Most likely John Commins left the log behind as part of his personal possessions. That’s our working theory – perhaps someone can let us know more.
I’m indebted to Walter and Evelyn Byrne for the loan of the partial ships log for this piece and to the assistance of Cian Manning, marine artist Brian Cleare, Liam Ryan, Maria Doyle and Andy Kelly.
This story, and the research of it has brought me past the 200th ship I have found that was built or registered in Waterford. I also have a separate list of ships sunk in the harbour or coast of Waterford as well as Waterford ships lost elsewhere…the list now stands at 652.
Post Publication Gillian Finn supplied me with the following details and images on the Historical Wexford facebook page – Two of the crew Charles & brother Christopher Bird were from “Slade” Charles in particular sailed around globe. I work a Hook Peninsula Tree on Ancestry tracking all past inhabitants, I came across a crew record for the Glide. I enclose it here, lists all the men who sailed on that voyage.
Courtesy of Gillian FinnCourtesy of Gillian Finn
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For this years Imagine Arts festival I am doing two talks – both in Jordans on the Quay and both on the theme of Waterford Maritime History.
The first is “In the Great Westerns Wake” – a reminisce of the ship that traded from the early 1930s to the mid-1960s from the Adelphi Wharf and which is synonymous with the city, trade, and emigration. This informal talk is delivered without any visual aids and is based on excerpts of stories I was told and some historical snippets. It takes place on Tuesday 25th October at 1 pm. Free entry. More details here
An appropriate view of the ship given the title of my talk I think
The second is my welcome return (speaking for myself here obviously) to the Booze Blaas and Banter on Saturday 29th October. The early morning hootenanny is described as a homage to the bonhomie and craic that were the early hours Dockers Taverns of yore where dockers gathered to ” clear the wrinkles outa their nuts” Sponsored by Waterford Council of Trade Unions, this year has another great lineup of speakers, poets, and songsters, always a magical morning. More details are here.
And these are just two events that feature yours truly, there’s also a fantastic lineup of other heritage events to choose from, have a browse.
David Carroll, author of Dauntless Courage, and a regular and ever-popular guest blogger with the page, brings us the story of Waterford sea Captain Tom Donohue who died on this day in 1949.
When Captain Tom Donohue, a fifty-nine-year-old native of Dungarvan, and the most renowned member of its maritime community, took command of the MV Kerlogue of Wexford in late 1943, he was no stranger to the shocking violence encountered at sea in World War ΙΙ and very much aware that neutrality was no safeguard for Irish seafarers.
Captain Tom Donohue. Courtesy of Waterford County Museum
The MV Kerlogue (335 tons) was built in Rotterdam in 1939, just prior to the outbreak of World War II for the Wexford Steamship Company. By late 1943, the neutral Kerlogue had been attacked by both sides as well as saving the crew of a Liverpool collier. As we shall read, she would go on to take part in one of most amazing and dramatic rescue operations of World War ΙΙ.
MV Kerlogue off Tuskar Rock, painted by maritime artist, Brian Cleare.
Back in 1941, Captain Donohue was in command of the Lady Belle of Dungarvan. Built in 1900, by J Fullerton & Co. at Paisley in Scotland, the Lady Belle was 140 ft in length, 24 ft beam, and had a cargo capacity of about 330 tons. She had been purchased by the Moloney Steamship Company of Dungarvan in 1925.
On March 26th, 1941, the Lady Belle was attacked from the air by the Luftwaffe while on a voyage from Dungarvan to Cardiff to collect a cargo of coal for her owners, A Moloney & Sons Ltd., Dungarvan. Ten miles SE of the Smalls, at the entrance to the Bristol Channel, she became the target of one of the many marauding German planes that pillaged the British coast. Although severely damaged, she made it to Milford Haven, under her own steam in a crippled condition. The crew was uninjured. She was sold soon after to Sheehan and Sullivan of Cork.
SS Lady Belle of Dungarvan.
The Lady Belle is still fondly remembered in the folklore and maritime heritage of Dungarvan. It also gives it name to a well-known pub, located in Grattan Square, Dungarvan.
On October 7th 1941, while sailing from Port Talbot in Wales to Rosslare, MV Kerlogue was damaged by a mine but survived. Earlier in that same year, on April 2nd, a British convoy was attacked by German bombers. Distress signals were seen by the Kerlogue, which altered course and went to aid of the disabled Wild Rose, a collier from Liverpool. The crew members were rescued and the Kerlogue managed to tow the Wild Rose and beach her on the strand at Rosslare.
In May 1943, Tom Donohue was serving on the SS Irish Oak, homeward bound from Tampa, Florida to Dublin with a cargo of 8,000 tons of phosphate fertiliser. At 08.19hrs on May 15th, when 700 miles west of Ireland, she was torpedoed and sunk without warning by a then-unknown German submarine. Later it transpired that the identity of the submarine was U-608. Another submarine U-650 had encountered the Irish Oak on the previous day. The Irish Plane, the Irish Rose, and the Irish Ash responded to the SOS. The full crew of survivors was located by the Irish Plane, having spent eight hours in lifeboats and were landed at Cobh on May 19th.
May 1943 saw the greatest losses suffered by U-boats up to that time, with 41 being destroyed during the month- 25% of the operational U-boats. On May 24th, the German Naval Commander Karl Dönitz ordered a temporary halt to the U-boat campaign. Sadly, for the Irish Oak, this withdrawal had come too late.
Artistic impression of the sinking of the SS Irish Oak, May 15th,1943, 700 miles west of Ireland. Kenneth King Image courtesy of Cormac Lowth
Later that year, on October 23rd, 1943, 130 miles south of Ireland, on passage to Lisbon with a cargo of coal, MV Kerlogue was circled by a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Sunderland flying boat. Three hours later, she was attacked by two unidentified aircraft for over twenty minutes. Another RAAF Sunderland came on the scene and the Kerlogue signaled, requesting an escort and medical assistance. The Sunderland replied that help could not be given. The severely damaged Kerlogue limped back to Cobh, where it was found that the cargo of coal had saved her; without it, the shells would have penetrated the hull. The ammunition fragments were found to be of British origin. The identity of the attackers remained a secret until the thirty-year rule released Air Ministry documents into the Public Records Office at Kew, London.1 The aircraft were found to have been Mosquito fighters of No 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron.
The Master of the Kerlogue on that voyage, Captain Desmond Fortune had both his legs fractured. The attack left Captain Fortune relying on crutches and suffering from wounds he received for the rest of his life. Second Officer Samuel Owens had shrapnel fragments in his chest and John Boyce of Rosslare and Jim Carty of Wexford were also injured.
The Kerlogue was repaired in Cork and on December 27th, 1943, with Captain Tom Donohue now in command, departed from Lisbon homeward bound to Dublin with a cargo of oranges.
All hopes that the Captain and crew had of having a trouble-free voyage were soon dashed. At first light on December 29th, the Irish vessel was in a position some 360 miles equidistant south of Fastnet and west of Brest, was repeatedly circled by a German aircraft signaling an SOS, and that help was required in a south-easterly direction. Kerlogue altered course and after two hours steaming came upon the most appalling aftermath of naval warfare from the previous day.
The German Narvik-class destroyer Z27 and two Elbing class torpedo boats, T25 and T26, had been sunk. More than seven hundred men, most of them dead, were in the water. The sea all around the Kerlogue was covered with men floating on rafts, on the wreckage, and in lifejackets.
These sailors had intended to escort Alsterufer, a German blockade runner, which was on a voyage from Kobe, Japan to occupied France with a cargo of rubber and other strategic war materials. The Admiralty in London had mounted ‘Operation Stonewall’ to intercept blockade runners and the cruisers HMS Glasgow and HMS Enterprise sailed from Plymouth to intercept her. An intense naval battle took place in the Bay of Biscay and in the action the two British cruisers, despite being outnumbered, sank the German ships with their 6-inch guns. Unknown to them, Alsterufer had been set on fire by a Liberator aircraft of 311 Squadron, RAF, and sunk on the previous day, December 27th.
Bay of Biscay where a fierce naval battle took place on December 28th, 1943.
“As rafts rose into view on the crests of the giant waves, we could see men on them and others clinging to their sides. At first, we did not know whether they were Allied or Axis until somebody noticed the long ribbons trailing downwards from behind a seaman’s cap which denoted that they were German Navy men.” 2
Captain Frank Forde in his excellent book, ‘The Long Watch: World War ΙΙ and the Irish Mercantile Marine’, graphically describes the action:
“For ten hours the rescue work continued, Kerlogue moving from group to group, dragging exhausted men, many ill-clad and suffering from exposure, on board. Cabins, storerooms, and alleyways were soon packed with shivering, soaked and sodden men; others were placed in the engine-room where it became so crowded that Chief Engineer Eric Giggins could not move around to tend his machinery, and so by signs – as none spoke English- he got the survivors to move the instruments he could not reach. Fourteen men were packed into the tiny wheelhouse, leaving the helmsman, Able Seaman Thomas Grannell of Wexford, barely room to steer. Captain Donohue had the most seriously injured placed in his cabin, and assisted by Third Officer, Garret Roche, began first-aid treatment. It was a hopeless task; there was no doctor on board, or amongst the Germans, and medical supplies were totally inadequate for the numerous injured. One man was burned from head to foot and though conscious when taken on board, died a few hours later. Another two died during the night. It began to grow dark about 4pm, but the rescue work continued by floodlight until 9pm when, with 168 survivors on board, Captain Donohue turned north for Ireland.”
Lieutenant-Commander Joachim Quedenfelt was the senior German Officer that was rescued. He was in command of the 1,300-ton torpedo destroyer T26. Out of a crew of 206, Kerlogue picked up 93 from this vessel. The German Officer described how after a night on a raft, he watched the next morning “the little ship bravely moving through enormous waves to pick up more and more of my comrades.” 3.
Lieutenant-Commander Quedenfelt requested that the ship sail to La Rochelle or Brest in France to land his men. Captain Donohue steadfastly refused, which was a very brave act when you consider the Germans outnumbered the Irish crew.
A roll call and inspection of the survivors after their first night aboard Kerlogue disclosed that three sailors had died. During the afternoon of December 30th, the Kerlogue stopped and the sailors were buried at sea. Subsequently, another wounded sailor died but it was decided to retain his body on board for burial in Ireland.
Under the terms of the navicert issued to Captain Donohue by the British Naval Authorities at the beginning of the voyage, he should have headed to Fishguard for examination and clearance before proceeding to Dublin. (The navicert was a permit given to neutral ships by the British Authorities that required them to call at a designated UK port for examination and clearance on both outward and homeward legs of their voyages from Ireland.) Because of the condition of the survivors and shortage of supplies, Captain Donohue headed for Cork, the nearest Irish port.
The Kerlogue maintained radio silence for fear of drawing attention to its destination. As luck would have it, the cargo of oranges proved to be valuable in sustaining the German sailors on the voyage and preventing dehydration. To avoid being spotted by Allied planes, the sailors were kept out of sight below decks during daylight hours, only coming on deck for fresh air at night.
At 22.00hrs on December 31st, when about 30 miles south of Fastnet, Kerlogue, broke radio silence and advised Valentia radio of their position and that they had 164 survivors on board, seven of them seriously wounded and one dead body. They requested medical aid on arrival. Valentia acknowledged the message and signed off with ’Well done, Kerlogue’. Fifteen minutes later, Land’s End Radio in Cornwall broadcast a message, which was repeated every fifteen minutes, instructing Kerlogue to proceed to Fishguard as required by the conditions of her navicert. This order was ignored by Captain Donohue, who acted in the tradition of Admiral Nelson’s ‘blind eye’ and switched off his radio receiver.
MV Kerlogue is met by the Irish Marine Service patrol vessel Muirchú and Motor Torpedo Boat, M1 at Roche’s Point at the entrance to Cork Harbour, January 1st, 1944. Painting by Brian Cleare and by kind permission of Mr Eoghan Allan of Cobh.
Captain Donohue described the homecoming as follows: “At 10 am on Saturday, New Year’s Day 1944, we stopped off at Roche’s Point. Doctors boarded the vessel and sent some of the survivors ashore. I then proceeded into the harbour and docked at the deep-water quay in Cobh. I was boarded by the ship’s owners together with Naval, Military, and Red Cross people as well as some people of Cobh. The wounded men were removed ashore together with all other survivors. The crew and me went to the hotel for a good wash, food, and, needless to say, sleep. I had all the beds and bedding removed from the Kerlogue. Crew’s quarters cleaned, washed, and fumigated by shore people. We left Cobh on Sunday, January 2, shortly after 4 pm bound for Fishguard for examination.” 4.
The German sailors were taken to Collins Barracks, Cork, where one of the wounded, Petty Officer Helmut Weiss, died from burns. Along with Lieut. Braatz, who had died at sea, the two sailors were buried in Cobh but re-interred later in the German War Cemetery at Glencree, Co Wicklow. Once the other sailors were declared fit, they were transferred to the Curragh Internment Camp for the duration of the war.
When Kerlogue reached Fishguard, to obtain her clearance, Captain Donohue underwent what he described in the newspaper article by Tom Tobin, as ‘his most trying experience of all’. The senior British naval officer raged at Captain Donohue for not bringing the Germans to the Welsh port and threatened to withdraw the ship’s navicert. It was described as an ugly scene as the irate Dungarvan man, flushed with anger, reminded the shouting bully that his only concern was to save life. It was to the credit of the other Royal Navy officers listening, that they apologised for this ill-mannered outburst. 5
The Kerlogue eventually docked in Dublin on January 5th, 1944. A letter from Dr. Eduard Hempel, German Minister to Ireland, was delivered to Captain Donohue. In it, he expressed, ‘To you and your crew my profound gratitude as well as my high appreciation of the unhesitating valiant spirit which has prompted you to perform this exemplary deed, worthy of the great tradition of Irish gallantry and humanity. I hope to make your personal acquaintance soon.’ 6 Later, Dr. Hempel presented a solid silver cup to Captain Donohue with smaller replicas for each of the other members of the crew on behalf of the German Government.
Captain Tom Donohue died on December 2nd, 1949, and is buried on the grounds of Abbeyside Church near Dungarvan. John Young, the recently deceased Dungarvan maritime historian, previously remarked on how poignant it is that he was buried in a site that is only fifty yards from the sea.
In 1994, a Commemorative Service was held in Abbeyside Church to mark the 50th anniversary of the rescue. A wreath was laid on the grave of Captain Donohue and the ceremony was attended by members and relatives of his family, survivors, Naval and Diplomatic personnel, and Public Representatives.
Commemorative Service held in Abbeyside Church, May 29th, 1994. Photos: Waterford Co MuseumKerlogue memorial on the Crescent, Wexford Quay. Image courtesy of Leo Coy
In 2015, a memorial was unveiled at Crescent Quay, Wexford to honour the ten men who risked their own lives in December 1943 to save the lives of others, responding to the age-long code of the sea- help a fellow seaman in distress.
David recently gave a public lecture on his book Dauntless Courage, which is now available to be viewed.
Bibliography: The Long Watch by Captain Frank Forde, Gill, and Macmillan, 1981 ‘The Kerlogue Incident’ by Patrick Sweeney, Maritime Journal of Ireland, Spring 1994, No. 31 A Maritime and General History of Dungarvan 1690-1978 by John Young ‘Why oranges were scarce that 1943 Christmas’. Newspaper article by Tom Tobin. Kindly made available by Waterford County Museum.
References:
1 The Long Watch, page 118.
2 The Long Watch, pages 119 /120. Words spoken by Chief Officer, Denis Valencie
3 The Long Watch, page 121.
4 ‘Why oranges were scarce that 1943 Christmas’. By Tom Tobin
5 The Long Watch, page 123.
6 Ibid.
Many thanks to Brian Ellis, Honorary Librarian, National Maritime Museum, and Willie Fraher and staff of Waterford County Museum for their assistance with this article.
A model of MV Kerlogue and other interesting information is on display at the National Maritime Museum, Haigh Terrace, Dún Laoghaire.
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