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MEMORIAL TO THE IRISH
SEAMEN WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES DURING THE 2nd.WORLD WAR.
LIST
OF IRISH MERCHANT SHIPS LOST DURING 2nd.WORLD WAR:
NAMES
OF IRISH MERCHANT SEAMEN LOST DURING 2nd.WORLD WAR:
REPORT
OF THE KERRY HEAD SINKING IN 1940
FOR PHOTOS OF THE SEAMEN'S MEMORIAL
COMMEMORATION
ON THE 24 NOVEMBER 2002 AND VIDEO OF THE 2006 COMMEMORATION CLICK HERE: CITY QUAY
Irish Seamen's Memorial Committee
A Chairde,
On behalf of the Committee I welcome you all on this historic
and unique occasion,
the official unveiling ceremony by An tUachtaran na hEireann Dr. P. Hillery of
the
National Memorial honouring our dead seamen of the 1939/45 war period we extend
a special welcome to the dependents and relatives present and a sadness at the
absence
of so many of our friends and supporters who are no longer with us.
"Ar Dheis De go raibh
a anam "
Since 1947 many attempts to have a National Memorial erected
went unfulfilled for
various reasons beyond the control of those involved till 1977 when the present
Independent Committee was formed and as a result of 13 years of persistent
effort
succeeded in completion of the project.
Those we honour to-day were unique in that as civilians of a
neutral country carrying
out their normal functions at sea, bringing essentials to Ireland, they were
drawn into
the ensuing conflict between the great powers resulting in heavy loss of life
and limb
with a casualty rate of 17% the highest ratio among the combatants and neutrals.
These men were patriots in the truest sense, prepared to work
for Ireland under
appalling conditions and in so doing made the. ultimate sacrifice with their
lives.
Their remains are scattered over the worlds oceans and seemingly forgotten by
their
fellow countrymen, except their loved ones who mourned their loss and comrades
who remember them each year at the Commemoration Services organised by the
Maritime Institute.
Our motive in erecting this Memorial was to correct this
omission and give testimony
to future generations of the Seamens contribution to the survival of our Nation
in very difficult times when the call to serve was responded to by
thousands ready to endure, but none had to face the hazard of almost daily
confrontation with death among the belligerents while in a totally
defenseless state protected only by the silent prayers and the word
'EIRE" painted on a rusted hull.
Our hope that the Nation being an Island would have learned
the lesson of dependency on others, appears misplaced when one see 85% of
our essential commodities being carried on foreign based vessels while
trained personnel are redundant and young people are denied the opportunity
of making a living and career from the sea.
Till recent years the Irish Flag flew proudly in all the ports
of the world while to-day it
is conspicuous by its absence in our own home ports. Must we only look to the
sporting fraternity to see the National Flag fly abroad, however, grand and
joyous the occasion, it is only a substitute for a native owned Merchant
Fleet manned by Irish Seafarers.
Is Misc,
Paddy Launders, Chairman.
"SURELY ITS TIME THE GOVERNMENT GAVE IRISH SEAMEN, WHO
HAVE CONTRIBUTED IN NO SMALL WAY TO THE SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT OF OUR
COUNTRY, THE CREDIT THAT THEY DESERVE."
©AIDEN
MC CABE 2001
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
IRISH
MERCHANT SHIPS LOST IN WORLD WAR TWO.
MUNSTER (Captain William James Paisley) mined and sunk in
Liverpool Bay
2 February 1940-no casualties
CITY OF LIMERICK (Captain, R. Ferguson) sunk by air attack 700
miles west of Ushant.
15 july 1940-2 dead
MEATH (Captain T. MacFarlane) mined and sunk off Holyhead .
16 august 1940-1 dead
LUIMNEACH (Captain E. Jones) sunk by gunfire from U-46 in Bay
of Biscay
4 september 1940-no casualites
KERRY HEAD (Captain C. Drummond) bombed and sunk with all
hands off Cape Clear.
22 october 1940-12 dead
ARDMORE (Captain T. Ford) missing on passage Cork to
Fishguard.
11 november 1940-24 dead
ISOLDA (Captain A. Bestic) bombed and sunk by German aircraft
off Wex ford Coast
19 december 1940- 6 dead, 7 wounded
INNISFALLEN (Captain G. Rrth) mined and sunk in River Mersey.
21 december 1940-4 dead
ST. FINTAN (Captain N. Hendry) bombed and sunk by German
aircraft of Welsh Coast.
22 march 1941-9 dead
CLONLARA (Captain J. Reynolds) torpedoed and sunk whilst in
convoy 0G71 in Bay of Biscay
22 august 1941-11 dead
CITY OF WATERFORD (Captain T. Alpin) sunk whilst in convoy
0G74 in North Atlantic.
19 september 1941-5 dead
CITY OF BREMEN (Captain G. Bryan) sunk by German aircraft in
Bay of Biscay
2 june 1942-no casualites
IRISH PINE (Captain M. O'Neill) torpedoed and sunk in North
Atlantic by U-608.
15 november1942-33 dead
KYLECLARE (Captain A. Hamilton) torpedoed and sunk in Bay of
Biscay by J-456
23 february 1943-18 dead
IRISH OAK (Capatin E. Jones) torpedoed and sunk in North
Atlantic by U607
15 may 1942-no casualites
CYMRIC (Captain C. Cassedy)
missing on passage Ardrossan to Lisbon.
22 march 1944-11 dead
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
IRISH FISHING VESSELS LOST IN WORLD WAR 2
S/Trawler "LUKOS" missing off Donegal
10 march 1940-11 dead
M/Trawler "NAOMH GARBHAN" mined and sunk off Waterford coast.
2 march 1945-3 dead
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The
following names are those of Seamen lost on Irish ships during the 2nd.World war.
APLIN, T.E .
BARRY, E. BARRY, M.J. BEGLEY, T. BERGIN, P. BENT, P. BRADY, T. BRAN NOOK, P.
BRENNAN, H. BRENNAN, J. BROWN, W. BRULAND, E. BURKE, L. BYRNE, E. BYRNE, R.
CARR, W. CASHIN, C.
Cassedy, C. CLEARY, P. CONNOLLY, W. CONWAY, J. COWZER, F. CRICHTON, R.
CRONIN, J. CROSBIE, J. CUDDIHY, N. CULLEN, M. CUSACK, M. CUSACK, T. CUSHBY, W.
DALGARNO, J. DALY, T. DAVISON, W. deBU RCA, D. DESMOND, B.
DONAGH, E. DON NOLLY, W. DONOHOE, T. DONOVAN, P. DOOLEY, M. (Snr) DOOLEY, M.
(Jnr) DOYLE, W. DUFFY, P. DUNNE, P. DRUMMOND, C.
FANNING, P. FARRELLY, P. FENNELL, J. FORD, T. FORDE, M.
FRITZSON, K. FURLONG, G. FURLONG, K.
GEARY, D. GREENE, E. GRIFFIN, J. (Snr) GRIFFIN, J. (Jnr)
GRIMES, R.
HAMILTON, A. HARE, T. HARTNE1T, T. HAYDEN, J. HAWKINS, J.
HENDERSON, W. HENDRY, N. HOLLAND, W. HOPKINS, P. HOWAT, J.
JOHNSON, A. JONES, J.
KAVANAGH, E. KEARNEY, E. KELLEHER, J. KIERAN, B.
LAMBE, J. LANE, J. LARKIN, J. LEONARD, M. LYNCH, T.
MOONEY, D. MORGAN, J. MULLIGAN, T. MURPHY, F. MURPHY, P.
McCarthy, J. MCCARTHY, P. MCGLYNN, J. McGUIGAN, P. McKANE, S. McLeod, A.
McMahon. McMahon, S. MCNALLY, S.
NAUGHTON, G. NAUGHTON, J. NAYLOR, S. NICHOLL, G. NOLAN, J.
O'BEIRNE, D. O'BRIEN, D. O'BRIEN, G O'BRIEN, R. O'BRIEN, W.
O'BRIEN, W. O'CALLAGHAN, JAMES O'CONNELL, M. O'CONNELL, C. O'CONNELL, J. O'CONNOR, J. O'DONNELL,
M. O'FLYNN, P. O'LEARY, E. O'LEARY, T. O'NEILL, M. O'NEILL, P. O'NEILL, P.
O'ROURKE, W. O'SCANLON, P. O'SHEA, F.
PAISLEY, W. PILL, A. PLUNKETT, B. PORTER, J. POWER, J. POWER,
J.
RAYMOND, M. REGAN, J. REYNOLDS, J. RICKARD, J. ROBERTSON, A.
RYAN, M. RYAN, P. RYAN, S. RYAN, T. SEAVER, P. SHEEHAN, P. SHORTT P. SIMMS, W.
SMITH, S. SMITH, W. SMYTH, W. SPANNER, J. SPEED, E. SPENCE, R. SULLIVAN, J.
SUMNER, J.
TALBOT, R. THOMPSON, J. TIERNEY, M. TOBIN, A. TOBIN, J. TODD,
U. TREACEY, F.
WARD, H.
WILSON, J.
YOUNG, H.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
REPORT
OF THE KERRY HEAD SINKING
"The Irish Press", Saturday June 21,
1952, page 5 as part of a series "The
Brave Ships", heading "Kerry Head and All Hands".
--------------
They were taking in the hay around Kinsale, on the fine August evening
(1940), when the first sign of war glinted in the sun over the old historic
town.
A bombing plane roared over the bay of Ballymacous and circled the Sovereign
Islands.
John Hurley is a small farmer, seafarer and pilot at Kinsale, and he was
making up a rick of hay in his haggard. He looked at the sky when the
bomber's roar ripped the silence and he watched the dark wings of it rushing
to the sea.
John scanned the bay. There was a ship out there. A three masted ship with
derricks forard. He knew her well. Kerry Head of the Limerick firm of
Mullocks. Out near the Old Head of Kinsale he saw the plane dive - just
where the ship was.
Two explosions rumbled from the sea. John called two of the men who were
making the rick and with him (his brother Pat and Tim O'Donovan, since dead)
and ran to the shore even as the plaintive siren of Kerry Head moaned on.
The three men rushed the boat into the water, pulled at the oars. They were
fast oarsmen, those men of Kinsale. Half a mile outside the Bullman Rock
they saw Kerry Head. She was stopped but seemed undamaged.
John pulled alongside, clambered aboard. He saw Captain Charles Drummond
and asked him what was wrong. The Wexfordman answered: "The plane bombed
us."
They inspected the damage. No direct hit had been made on the ship. Captain
Drummond explained:
Two light bombs had been dropped forard, missed the bridge and hit the sea
right beside the vessel. A heavier bomb had fallen about five yards to the
starboard side of the engine room. The concussion had stopped the engines,
the impact of the sea had crushed in the vessel's side.
Ship Saved For Awhile
The cabin quarters were a shambles. The forard winch had been cracked on
both sides by the concussion alone; doors had been wrenched from their
hinges; the compass was smashed; the glass from the wheelhouse windows was
all over the place; cooking pots, tinned foods and crockery were spattered
on the decks. One of the lifeboats had got locked and entangled in the
davits. The other lifeboat had been lowered but was filling with water.
And, after all that, nobody was hurt. The crew stood by in lifejackets,
some were disentangling the locked lifeboat.
John Hurley's boat took the captain ashore to make the report to Limerick,
where he was bound from Britain with coal and tinplate for that city's
factories.
The engineers and crew stowed everything, rushed the ship to Garley Cove, to
ground her on a sandbank, so that repairs could be carried out.
The Kerry Head was saved - for three months.
In October of that same year, the 1,000-ton ship was passing Castletownbere,
travelling light. Local people at Blackhall Head recognized the familiar
outlines of the vessel. She passed out of sight.
A bomber again swept over the coast, dipped down at the horizon, where the
Kerry Head had gone hull down.
Nobody could say, for certain, whether the plane had bombed the ship.
Local boats searched the area when the signal went along the coast. But
Kerry Head had passed Kinsale for the last time.
The following were the crew of the Kerry Head: - Capt. Charles Drummond;
First Officer Dick Byrne, of Wicklow; Second Officer Stephen MacMahon,
Scattery Island, Co. Clare; Will Davidson, chief engineer of Carrickfergus;
Tom Begley, Hartsong St., Limerick; George Naughton, Windmill St., Limerick;
his brother James Naughton, Windmill St., Limerick; Patrick O'Neill, 4 Henry
St., Limerick; John Tobin, Distillery Houses, Limerick; Michael MacMahon,
Scattery (cousin of Stephen); James Wilson, Carrickfergus.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
John D. Reid
Ottawa, Canada
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IRISH SEAMEN'S MEMORIAL COMMEMORATION
CITY QUAY DUBLIN
PICTURES BY TONY BRENNAN
(CLICK ON PHOTOS FOR FULL PICTURE:)
SUNDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2002
 |
 |
THE LORD MAYOR OF DUBLIN |
DES BRANIGAN
(long time seaman's union leader) |
INCLUDED IN PHOTO ARE:- BOBBY CARRICK AND PAUL BOLAND OF THE S.U.I |
INCLUDED IN PHOTO ARE:-JOAN McCAIN AND PAUL SMITH OF S.I.P.T.U. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and years past
 1976
1977
©AIDEN
MC CABE 2005
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McCarthy,
Patricio
(1897-1940), merchant seaman, was born in Balcarce,
Buenos Aires
province, the son of John McCarthy (b.1860)
and Mary Callaghan (b.1859), and brother of Timoteo McCarthy (b.1895).
John and
Mary McCarthy were dairy farmers, originally from Ballyclough in Mallow, Co.
Cork
. They emigrated from Queenstown (
Cobh
) to
Argentina
onboard the
steamer
City
of
Dresden
, arriving in
Buenos Aires
on
16 February 1889
. At the early age of eight, Patricio McCarthy
was brought to
Ireland
together with his brother Timoteo, and ended
up in the Sacred Heart Home, Drumcondra, run by the Sisters of Charity. In
1906 the McCarthy brothers were sponsored by the St. Vincent De Paul Society and
sent on to
St. Vincent
's Orphanage, Glasnevin, in
Dublin
. Spanish was their spoken language at the
time.
Both
brothers went to sea, training in the catering departments of various shipping
lines. Patricio McCarthy served on the Irish registered fishery protection
vessel
Fort
Rannoch
before he lost his life on the steam
trawler Leukos on
9 March 1940
. Timoteo served in Irish shipping throughout
the War World II. He was also a great friend of Captain Carlsen of the Flying
Enterprise, and died at sea in August 1960, being buried in the
Catholic
Cemetery
, Cimitero Latino, Rue De Port Said, in
Alexandria
,
Egypt
. Patricio McCarthy was the only Argentine
citizen lost on an Irish registered vessel during World War II.
Edmundo
Murray
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