There is a long list of ships lost in Tramore Bay, Co Waterford. One of the more recent was the three masted sailing iron barque Monmouthshire (1863), which came to her untimely end on Thursday 11th January 1894. 

The vessel was built by H M Lawrence, Liverpool, in 1863, registered as ON47449, at 1162 tons and owned by Ferney and Sons, of Liverpool. The vessel was on a voyage from Cardiff to Santos, Brazil. According to contemporary reports, the vessel had sailed on the Sunday evening under Captain Bradford with a crew of twenty hardy sailors before the mast. On Monday they encountered a gale and the cargo of 1,500 tons of coal shifted, creating a dangerous list in the circumstances. One source stated that a steam trawler of Hull managed to get a line aboard to assist the ship, but it parted. They struggled on to Wednesday, at which point it seems Captain Bradford took the decision to head for Waterford harbour to try to alleviate the situation. 

Monmouthshire in Tramore Bay, courtesy of Dr Eddie Bourke

At approximately 04.00 hours members of the Tramore Coastguard station spotted lights burning in the bay, and concluded that they came from a ship in distress. At daybreak they saw that it was a barque, and the English ensign being turned upside down as a flag of distress.  Given her location and that she was embayed on a leeward shore, they decided to direct the captain (using a flag signalling system) to run her ashore at a point where a rescue could be effected. 

The Coastguard men with support of the Naval Reserve, immediately dragged out the rocket apparatus and headed down to the coast at an area called the Lady’s Cove. 

The first rocket reached the barque, but was apparently not reached by the men on board. A second attempt was made and was secured by the sailors. The men were then brought on shore one at a time, and the whole crew, consisting of 21 men were saved.

According to local historian Paul Brent, the cargo was salvaged and sold, the wreck becoming a tourist attraction for a time as local boatmen rowed tourists out to view of the wreck. Eventually, like so many others she sank into the sands of Tramore Bay. 

I’ve used a capstan winch, apparently salvaged from the wreck and placed on the pier there in Lady’s Cove, with some of the children from Glor Na Mara as part of my Heritage in Schools work. I explained how the capstan operated and we sang a sea shanty as we relived the workings. I also explained the work of the apparatus and tried to explain the scene from 1894. Another disaster for the bay, but at least it had a happy outcome for the crew. 

References used: 

Cork Examiner – Friday 12 January 1894

https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?331816

Waterford News. Saturday, 13 January 1894

http://www.irishwrecksonline.net/details/Monmouthshire631-ImagePage.htm 

The Capstan of the Monmouthshire

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