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80 years ago this week
communities in Newry, Crossmaglen and
Rostrevor were among those plunged into mourning after the
worst shipping disaster in local history.
Newry and Mourne Council will commemmorate the tragedy at
a special ecumenical service on Sunday, but today The
Examiner recalls the fateful events of Friday November 3rd
1916, when over 90 people lost their lives in a stormy
Carlingford Lough following a collision between the
passenger steamer Connemara and the Newry coal boat, the
Retriever.
Both ships sank quickly after impact, and even thought
the collision occurred just a few hundred yards from
Cranfield Point only one person managed to reach the shore
in safety, Retriever crewman James Boyle, from Warrenpoint,
who incredibly was unable to swim. All 51 passengers and 31
crew on the Connemara were killed, along with eight of the
nine man Retriever crew. It is a bizarre fact that a number
of cattle on board the Connemara managed to escape the
sinking ship and were found on the shores of the Lough.
The Connemara sailed daily between Greenore and Holyhead,
with several of its passengers taking the train connection
from Newry to Greenore first. It had just left the County
Louth port at 8.05pm on November 3rd before the collision
occurred. The Retriever was carrying a cargo of coal from
Garston to Newry, with the sole survivor later recalling how
it had listed slightly during the trip, made in rough
weather. He maintained however, that it was under proper
control, but at the place where the collision occurred the
cut was only about 300 feet wide and there were "mysterious
currents" to navigate.
The collision and subsequent discharge of danger signals
and rockets were witnessed by Mr John Wright, the keeper in
charge of lights at Haulbowline Lighthouse off Cranfield.
His fog signals alerted those living along the shore that
the vessels were in distress and Cranfield men Peter Morgan
and William Hanna were among the first on the scene. After
walking for a time along the shore they spotted first bits
of wreckage and then animal carcases being washed up. The
boilers of the Connemara were heard to explode after the
collision and it was also reported that neither vessel
stayed afloat for more than 15 minutes.
For a time there was no sign of human life until Mr Boyle
alone was spotted struggling towards the shore. Soon, crowds
of local people were acting as search parties, while the
lighting station at Greencastle had alerted the coastguards
at Kilkeel, who also hastened to the scene.
Some of the victims' bodies were recovered later on
Friday night and the grim task continued throughout the
weekend. Local farmers lent their horses and carts for the
removal of bodies and, in some cases, the remains were
temporarily placed in houses beside the shore. By Sunday
night almost 60 bodies had been recovered and with just
three exceptions they were deposited in a large shed at
Derryogue near Cranfield belonging to Mr James Nicholson.
Crowds of people came to see if they could identify
friends or relatives. Local newspaper reports were full of
harrowing accounts of the terrible business, such as the
tales of women visiting the shed and becoming hysterical
when they saw their loved ones. One story recalled an
unnamed Crossmaglen man who passed along the row of corpses
and recognised his daughter among the upturned faces. He was
unable to control his grief and fell down beside her, crying
out and covering her face with kisses before being led away.
Many of the bodies were unrecognisable after being
mutilated by the waves and rocks. Some had heads and limbs
missing, while others were found naked after their clothing
was torn off. It was thought many may have succeeded in
swimming close to the shore but were forced back by the
heavy waves and battered remorselessly against the rocks. By
low tide on Sunday the two vessels were lying only a stone's
throw from the shore and 50 yards apart from each other.
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THE VICTIMS
Most of the crew of the
Connemara including its captain, George Doeg, were from
England and Wales. Among its passenger list however were
several from counties Down, Armagh and Monaghan, many
identified as their remains lay side by side in Nicholson's
shed.
They included 17 young women who were travelling on to
Canada via Liverpool where they intended to enter domestic
service or farm work, several soldiers on leave from the
Great War raging in Europe, young children including a baby
found still clinging to its mother's arms as their bodies
were washed ashore.
Identified from Crossmaglen were Annie and Mary McArdle,
from Rockcorry in Co Monaghan were Rose and Therese
O'Gorman, from Ballybay were Lizzie and Annie McEntee and
Miss Nolan and from Castleblayney Mary McCartan. Mr Patrick
Kearney and Miss Kathleen Kearney, son and daughter of
Charles Kearney, the principal of Drumilly National School,
South Armagh were also killed.
They were en route to meet their sister in Liverpool and
while waiting at Edward Street Railway Station in Newry they
spoke to RIC Sergeant Fitzpatrick who later recalled the
conversation. He told them that in all probability the
Greenore boat would not sail because the weather was so wild
and they should go by Dublin instead. Mr Kearney said he
would abide by the spin of a coin, the result of which
decided they went on their fateful journey to Greenore.
Among other local victims was Sapper Phillip Goodfellow
of the Royal Engineers who came from Carnagat in Newry and
was home on leave to attend his sister's funeral. The three
cattlemen on board the Connemara were all from the
Greenore/Carlingford area while other passengers came from
Rostrevor, Warrenpoint, Belfast, Cavan and England.
The Retriever was owned by the Clanrye Steamship Company
of Newry and its eight victims were all local. The captain,
Patrick O'Neill, was a native of Kilkeel but lived at
Merchants Quay in Newry. His son Joseph was the second mate
and his wife's brother, Joseph Donnan, was a crewman. Also
killed were William Clugston of Chapel Street, Newry who had
five children, John Stuart of Bridge Street who had six
children, Henry Tumelty of High Street, Samuel McComb, Queen
Street and Edward Mullen, Castle Street. On the night the
Retriever sailed for Garston Henry Tumelty had arrived too
late to board at Newry. He cycled three miles along the
canal and jumped aboard as it sailed past the locks at
Fathom.
It wasn't just families of the dead who visited
Nicholson's shed to look at the bodies. A morbid stream of
curiosity seekers made the trip with reports that
motor-owners in Newry did "big business" by carrying
hundreds to Derryogue at a fleet rate of 3/6 per head. The
Newry Reporter observed that "the stream of motors, to and
fro, on the road did not suggest a scarcity of petrol."
The crowds also turned out in force to attend the
funerals of the local victims including a joint service held
for five of the crewmen from the Retriever who were buried
at St Mary's. Amongst the spectators, it was reported, was
the sole survivor James Boyle. Full military honours were
accorded to the unknown soldier laid to rest in St Patrick's
Church, Newry while "impressive" scenes were reported at
funerals in Dundalk and elsewhere.
The old churchyard in Kilkeel was the resting place for
several other unidentified victims, with practically all the
townspeople joing in the procession as it arrived from the
improvised morgue at Derryogue. The arrangements for the
funerals had been carried out by local undertakers on behalf
of the London and North Western Railway Company whose
representatives attended several of the services. The
unidentified bodies had first been photographed to help
future attempts at identification.
Rumours persisted for years that the Retriever may not
have been properly lit on the night of the tragedy. This has
largely been rejected but the Board of Inquiry did find the
Newry boat was primarily to blame for the collision and
resultant loss of life.
The Retriever should have avoided collision on the
approach of the other vessel, the Inquiry said, but was not
able, on account of the severe weather conditions, to comply
with Article 23 of the shipping regulations. However there
were no specific regulations for two steamers entering
Carlingford Lough. The decision not to take the Retriever
into shelter during the storm was also questioned.
The price to pay was heavy in terms of the loss of life,
while in less than ten years the Clanrye Steamship Company
had gone bankrupt. The final chapter had closed on the
disaster.
The Connemara
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