GHOST SHIP’S WARNING

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 7 January 1928, Page 9

GHOST SHIP’S WARNING

* WEIRD story of a phantom ship is being told by villagers along the Connemara coast in connection with the disaster which overtook three nshins: fleets in the recent gale, and resuited in more than 50 .Irish fishermen being drowned. ~ , . The crew of a fishing boat which set out from Boffin Island stated that they had been followed throughout the night by a Spectre barque which would not answer to any hail. Accepting this as an omen ot evil tno fishermen rowed with all haste back to the island ,beached their boat and have not since ventured forth to. the fishing. A tragic circumstance is that the owners of wireless sets along the coast received a gale warning before the fleets set out. Had this been conveyed to the men, many lives might have been saved. . , There were three distinct disasteis, at Lackan Bay, Inishkea and Cleggan Buy, off the Mayo and Galway coast. in Cleggan Bay practically every fishing boat was wrecked and 31 fishermen perished. Sixteen of the men came from the little village of Rossadilislc, which lias been robbed of practically every oreadwinner. Fifteen farmer fishers who are missing belong to the island of Innishboffin. , , , . Eight bodies were washed ashore at Cieo-o-an, one of them being lashed to his'boat, which was .found smashed to bits on the beach. Another body was enmeshed in the fishing net.

FIFTY FISHERMEN PERISH

A remarkable feature of the tragedv is that there is not a single survivor of the crews that have been xost. The full story of the disaster, therefore, will probably never be told..

All that is certain is that most of the men perished Ln the darkness within sight of the little farmhouses they had left a few hours before.

A story of great heroism is told of Patrick Concannon, of Innisboffim, the owner of a frail tar and canvas eurragh, who set out with a crew of four. They were struck by the storm, before which their craft scudded like a eoeklosholl.

For nearly seven hours they were tossed about by the waves in the inky darkness and washed by the heavy seas.

During all those terrible hours Concannon remained on the bow of the curra«h shouting words of encouragement to°his men above the thunder of the gale. His crew had their clothes tortl and their faces and hands swollen, About three o’clock in the morning they wore hurled on the shore at Letter in. a state of exhaustion. They lay on. the beach in the scudding rain arid storm quite worn out.

Thev remained until' they were discovered by a search party with lanterns. Among' those who, perished was Thomas Golderiek, an ex-naval seaman, who fougnt at Zeebrugge and was recommended for the Y.C.