On Sunday, 15 Feb 2026 the good folk of Stradbally, Co Waterford, unveiled an information board to commemorate the events of 100 years previous when a Spanish registered ship steamed onto the rocks at Ballyvooney Cove. The events of that day were relived in words, song and images. And even some cake.

Image of Cirilo Amorós, AH Poole collection, courtesy of NLI

The story of Cirilo Amorós is an all too familiar story of ships from centuries of seafaring. Whilst on a voyage from Barcelona to Liverpool carrying general cargo, it encountered a storm and sustained a damaged rudder. In very poor visibility, and unable to confirm its position, it seems that her master, Captain Joaquín Herrera believed he was steaming up the Irish Sea but was many miles to the west. 

Over the night of 14/15 Feb 1926, the ship crashed onto the rocks to the east of Ballyvooney Cove. The jagged rocks tore through the hull, and, realising their hopeless situation, they signalled to the shore by flare and ship’s horn.

A local farmer named William O’Brien heard the racket and in the darkness, proceeded down the road with some of his family to discover the hapless ship and its 30-strong crew appealing for help. Another local man Jack O’Keeffe spotted the flares and went to the village to inform the Gardai. 

The captain and crew managed to communicate with O’Brien and a rope was thrown with a lifering attached. He rushed into the waves to retrieve the ring, causing a panic amongst his children as his head disappeared beneath a wave. This being brought ashore, more people joined him and, dragging the rope up upon the cliff a lifeline was established which brought the men ashore using a breeches buoy.

Locals took in all the crew, and they shared part of their cargo of wine, most liberally, with their saviours. Oranges (part of the cargo) was to be had for miles along the coast for days to come. The crew were later returned to home but the ship was broken up for scrap and part of the cargo was salvaged. 

An expectant crowd gathering for the event

As I strolled down to the scene to enjoy the unveiling, I got chatting to a a local man who had some stories of the time. One I really enjoyed was that the rice cargo was destroyed by saltwater and was fed to local pigs. “The bacon was cured before the swine was ever slaughtered”, he quipped. Another was repeated at the event. On landing, the Spanish captain asked where he was. Ballyvooney, came the reply…(He may have known Waterford, but the cove was a reach!)

Another yarn shared on the day was of a local sailor who was renowned for telling tall tales. His name was Tom Horseman and he claimed to have learned Spanish in South America. No one believed him, it seems – until, that is, the arrival of the Spanish crew in Feb 1926! 

I would have missed the event entirely if David Carroll hadn’t spotted an article in the previous week’s Irish Times by another man who keeps the history of the Deise alive – Stradbally native, Cian Flaharty. From what I later heard Cian was one of the organisers along with Christine King and Garvan Cummins. But from what I saw on the day, a lot of people must have rallied to their assistance.  Some months back, a public subscription was organised to fundraise to commemorate the event. It was quickly filled and with Cian’s writing, the Whelan brothers of Deise Design were asked to assist in the design of the information board seen below. 

It might have been a bit of a drive, but I was delighted to have gone to the effort. There was music, words, paintings, photos and mementoes of the incident. These explained the history of the ship, the crew and the rescue, and it was wonderful to see some of Captain Herrera’s descendants in attendance on the day. I did say there was cake – but that was later, back in the village, and after Martin Whelan had kindly dropped me back to the car, I decided to head away, content with what I had come to see. A great day out, a wonderful community initiative, and an important part of our Deise maritime story. Congratulations to everyone involved. 

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