Shipwreck Narratives, 1812 - 1957

Kilmore has had a long history of shipping disasters, stretching from ancient to modern times. In 1847 a lifeboat station was established in Kilmore Quay and the lifeboat was kept in a Coast Guard boathouse. In 1852 The lifeboat was taken to Wexford for repairs. After this there is no record of any services by this boat and the lifeboat station closed sometime after the late 1850s.
There has equally been a tradition of hospitality to shipwrecked sailors and the Wooden House, in the village, was known as the rallying and refreshment point for dispossessed survivors of shipping incidents. Dry clothes, food and drink were readily provided. Indeed, the expectation was so much so that in 1899, when the Wooden House proprietor, Nicholas White, was accused of not providing for the survivors of the Pembroke, he was adamant in refuting this allegation.

By kind permission of Dr Edward J Bourke, here follow details of some of the shipping disasters off the Kilmore coast.

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Unknown date, Pirate Ship
A merchantman was pursued into Ballyteigue Bay by a pirate vessel, according to local legend. the pirate anchored for the night, confident that the merchantman was at his mercy. But the wily captain prepared a raft with lights and doused the ship’s lights. The raft was carried by the strong tide towards the northern end of the Little Saltee. The pirate followed, lest his prey should escape. The raft floated over the rocks of St Patrick’s Bridge but the pirate ship truck a submerged rock and foundered. Many pirated were drowned and buried on the island.
This was regarded as a tale until about1970 when Mr Devereux, a local fisherman, trawled guns and cutlasses from the reputed location of the wreck. One of the cutlasses is in Aidan Kelly’s pub in Wexford Town. A pirate ship was also wrecked at Slade.

 

1812 Irlam
The Irlam, captained by Mr Keyser, was wrecked near the Saltee on 10/5/1812. The ship was en route from Barbados to Liverpool with troops. One report says four were lost but the local papers say over 100 troops were drowned.

 

1831 or 1833 Vulcan
The remains of the Vulcan, wrecked at Tacumshane, were disposed by auction on 12/4/1833. They consisted of 15 tons of Swedish iron as well as ropes, rigging and timber. Her master was Mr Bunker.

 

1833 Water Witch
The Water Witch rock, east of St Patrick’s Bridge, is named after the steamer lost there in a storm on 21/12/1833. The Water Witch was built in Liverpool in 1833 and wrecked after only six months in service. Captain Stacey was in command. She left Bristol for Waterford, with 42 on board, but suffered damage which was repaired at Tenby. The compass was four points out and this caused the error in navigation. When the vessel struck (a mile from the shore) at St Patrick’s Bridge, the longboat was damaged. The jollyboat reached shore with the passengers and fishing boats rescued the crew from rafts. In the same storm, two fishing boats were wrecked in Wexford harbour.

 

1837 Shancaddie/Subernacadie
On 24/1/1837 the Shancaddie of Liverpool was wrecked at Kilmore. She carried a cargo of cotton. Her crew were saved. The crew were alleged to have set fire to salvaged bales of cotton.

 

1837 Glasgow
The Glasgow, a 423 ton American ship, sunk after striking the Barrells on 14/2/1837. She was en route from Liverpool to New York with 90 passengers and a cargo of iron, salt, copper and bale goods. When the ship struck, she lost her rudder and drove over the rocks. Confusion and panic occurred and the lifeboats were found to have no oars. Captain Robinson sounded the bell as a sign of distress as the ship could not be seen due to fog. Captain Walsh, in the Alacia, came to assistance. A pinnacle waslet out on a rope and reached the Alacia with four crew who collected oars and rowed back. After three trips, the majority of passengers had been saved. Five hours after the ship struck, Captain Robinson boarded the pinnacle and the Glasgow sank suddenly. The twelve left aboard were thrown in the water and six were picked up. Altogether 82 were rescued by the Alacia, at considerable risk. Captain Walsh had sailed around the crippled Glasgow, in high seas and dangerous waters, for several hours.

 

1846 Iride
The 158 ton, Iride, went ashore at Tacumshane on 22/02/1846 and was dashed to pieces. The master, Carmello Agracta, and crew of 8 were saved. She was bound from Messina to London with fruit. There were reputed to have been eight Wexford wrecks that winter.

 

1847 Macao
The cargo of the wrecked Macao was auctioned at Kilmore on 23/1/1847. She was en route from New York to Belfast with 2000 barrels of corn and 500 barrels of meat. Her captain was Mr Scott of Colerain.

 

1851 Grace
The Preston ship, Grace, was wrecked at St Patrick’s Bridge on 16/1/1851. Two of her crew were lost. The figurehead at the Wexford museum in Enniscorthy, attributed to Mary Grace, may actually be from this ship.

 

1853 Victory
The paddle steamer, Victory, was built in 1832 at Liverpool for the St George Co. The 256 ton and 152 foot ship had three masts, schooner rigged as well as steam engines. Her figurehead represented a lion. On 30/9/1853she sunk, after striking the Barrels rock en route from Liverpool to Waterford. Captain Stacey backed off and the pumps were started. After three hours journey towards Waterford she sank, in 20 fathoms, near St Patrick’s Bridge. Her crew took to the boats and one man was drowned coming ashore. The Victory was returning empty from Liverpool, having carried troops there from Waterford. Her Captain was a nephew of the captain of the Water Witch, lost nearly 20 years previously.

 

1855 Isabella
The 131 ton Cork schooner, Isabella, was wrecked at the Saltees (Lavender rock) on 18/12/1855. She was bound for Cork from Newport with 130 tons of coal. She struck St Patrick’s Bridge and went to pieces. Captain McNamara and the crew got ashore on some wreckage. One man was crushed by a spar but the coastguard saved the others. A Silver Medal was awarded to Dennis Donovan, Chief Boatman of Coastguard Station in 1856 for rescuing the five crew of the wrecked brigantine. A bell, dated 1841 Baltimore, at the Enniscorthy museum may be from this ship.
Denis Donovan married Jane and is listed in the parish records as having two children - Julia, born 23 jun 1850, and Henry , born 10 Sep 1852.

 

1855 Bon Accord
The 600 ton Bon Accord, en route from Penang to London, was wrecked at the Saltees on 19/12/1855. She was observed, from the mainland, sinking at anchor. Only her main royal masts showed. Captain Sayer and the crew of 25 were saved by Mr Parle, the tenant of the island. A court case occurred on 31/1/1856. Mr Parle’s award for salvage of £460, by the Wexford court, was reduced to £60 on appeal at the Admiralty court in Dublin. Her cargo was 350 puncheons of rum, hides, sugar and spices.

 

1856 Exile
Silver Medals were awarded to Henry Smyth, John Ahern, Donald Gray, Daniel Regan, William Cox, and Dennis Donovan of the Kilmore Coastguard Station, for rescuing the six crew of the Exile.
John Ahern, Denis Donovan, Henry Smyth & Daniel Regan can all be found having children baptised in Kilmore between 1838 and 1854.

 

1860 Lady Rebow
There is some discrepancy over the date of this wreck. On 7/1/1860 the 86 ton Lady Rebow of London was wrecked at St Patrick’s Bridge. She was caught by a storm en route from St Michael’s, with a cargo of oranges. The same day another wreck occurred at Kilmore.

 

1860 Neptune
The Greek training ship, Neptune, was wrecked in April 1860 at Ballyteigue Bay, near Kilmore Quay. The only survivors were eight apprentices whose cabin was washed up intact on the rocks. The other eight aboard were lost when the aft portion sank. The deck house was manhandled, over the sand dunes, across the slob land, up through Grange and the Mill road and onto the Quay. It is estimated in the Kilmore Journal of 2003/2004 that some 50 men were needed for such a task. the deck house was then attached to the eastern gable of the main Furlong premises, and used afterwards as a restaurant. It is said that The Wooden House derived its name from this portion of The Neptune, purchased by the Furlongs. The Wooden House itself is described in 1846 in a newspaper item on Kilmore.

 

1860 Bubona
The brig, Bubona of Hartlepool, sank near the Saltees on 21/12/1860. She carried pig iron from Ardrossan to Le Havre. About nine miles SSW of Tuskar, the crew realised that they could not pump out water fast enough to save the vessel. The Gleaner answered their flags of distress and stood by. Captain Chudleigh and the crew were saved by the Gleaner of Glouster and landed at Warrenpoint.

 

1863 La Vifrido
The Spanish screw steamer, La Vifrido, sank after striking the East Brandie rock on the Saltees on 23/5/1863. The ship was bound for Liverpool with a cargo of fruit, wine and cattle. The ship ran on the rocks and became wedged. A local vessel went to assist, manned by Messrs Rochford & Kehoe. The engineer of the Vifrido was a Scotsman and he asked them to stand by overnight. A fee of a hundred pounds was demanded and negotiations reduced this to forty pounds. The vessel suddenly broke in two. Captain Arnot, the crew of 31 and two passengers, were rescued by the Patrol of Kilmore which towed the ships and boats ashore.

 

1867 Fairy Queen
There is some discrepancy over the date of this wreck. The 183 ton schooner, Fairy Queen, was wrecked on rocks at the Little Saltee Island on 21/12/1867. She was en route from Liverpool to Liberia with general cargo which included muskets and gunpowder. A fire broke out which caused alarm, due to the danger from the cargo. Captain Pearson was censured as, despite the wind and thick weather, he had neglected to take soundings which would have revealed the danger. The vessel was owned by Hatton & Cookson of Liverpool.
The Irish Times of 26 Dec 1867 reported that the ship was wrecked "Saturday evening" on the Saltee Islands. It also reported that the crew of 13 took to the lifeboats and survived. 150 muskets were saved.

 

1870 Sea Rest
The steamer, Sea Rest, was wrecked in the hole in the Forlorn rocks in winter 1870. Most of those aboard were lost, including 32 passengers. One survivor was a Dublin Fusilier who was so drunk that he did not know of the incident until he awoke ashore.

 

1872 Shark
The 125 ton iron screw steamer, Shark, was wrecked at Ballymurray, Tacumshane on 26/12-1872. Owned by Munn Miller, she was built at Dublin in 1866. She was bound for Liverpool from Dunkerque in water ballast. In a storm and heavy seas, her compass may have failed and she went ashore. Though high and dry, she was wrecked. Her master was Charles St John.

 

1873/1874 Calcutta
The iron ship, Calcutta, struck the rocks off Kilmore in Ballyteigue Bay during for on 17/1/1874. She was owned by F A Clint & Co of Liverpool. The ship was bound for Liverpool from Surinam. Captain Hamilton and his crew were lost. She was the third wreck in the neighbourhood in three weeks.
The Irish Times of 16 Feb 1874 reported on the Board of Trade inquiry into the wreck of the Calcutta. It says it was lost, at Forlorn Rock, January last. Captain Hamilton was found negligent and his certificate was suspended for six months (this indicates that he was not lost, as indicated above).

 

1875 Paquet de Terranova
The Spanish brig, Paquet de Terranova, was wrecked in a bay at Tacumshane on 25/9/1875. Carnsore lifeboat rescued her crew of ten. Her foremast was blown away and the rocket could not reach her. Her cargo was sugar. A vessel, known as the Spanish packet, is described as wrecked in 1867 but may be the same.

 

1878 May Lily
On 3/4/1878 the iron built trawler, May Lily, of St Mary, Penzance was wrecked on the Barrels. She was returning from fishing off Kinsale. Four of the crew were lost, the other four reached the shore at Carne by their boat.

 

1878 Idaho
The 3356 ton, Liverpool and Great Western SS Co vessel, Idaho, struck Coningmore Rock on 1/6/1878. She left New York on 21 May for Liverpool, via Queenstown, with 63 passengers and 82 crew. Fog occurred on nine out of the eleven day voyage. The vessel left Queenstown on 1 June and quickly ran into haze. Thinking that only banks of mist were about, Captain Holmes posted lookouts and maintained speed. The Idaho struck Coningmore Rock quickly after the order to stop had been given, due to the sighting of smaller rocks. Good order prevailed and all aboard reached the boats safely before the Idaho sank, 22 minutes after striking the rock. The only casualties were 54 horses.
The survivors spent a cold night on the Saltees until they were rescued the next day. Landing at Kilmore Quay, the survivors made their way to the Wooden House for refreshments. The Wooden House was the only restaurant in the village but was only big enough to accommodate one third of the number at a sitting. Some of the ship’s officers searched the village for ponies and traps to take them to Wexford. From there they would catch a train to Dublin and passage to Liverpool.
At an inquiry on 26/6/1878 the captain was censured for faulty navigation and maintaining speed. The wreck was located about 17/2/1976 by the Guiding Star trawler of Kilmore. A local diver, James Kehoe, recovered some portholes. Her anchor was raised in 1988 and adorns the bow of the Guillemot Museum ship at Kilmore Quay. The Idaho was built at Palmer’s of Newcastle on Tyne in 1869.

 

1879 Debonair
The Debonair of Greenock was wrecked at Kilmore during a storm on 8/1/1879. She was en route from Bilbao to Glasgow with a cargo of iron ore and sardines. The coastguard fired their rocket and one crew member was taken ashore. The others waited for the storm to abate.

 

1879 Brother Jonathan
The 280 ton 250 hp tug, Brother Jonathan, was wrecked on the Saltees on 30/1/1879. She was built at Preston in 1857. She sunk in the Mersey but was raised and sold to Queenstown the Towing Company. She left Queenstown on 29/1/1879, towing the barque, Kate Kearney, to London. The barque was en route from Boston to London with peas and flour. The Brother Jonathan developed leaks and put in to Queenstown, where she took on extra hands to help with the pumps. In a WSW gale the tow was slipped. The tug was in some distress at this stage and she steeled for the Coningbeg light vessel. She grounded at the point of one of the Saltees and quickly broke up. The Coningbeg fired rockets but otherwise gave no help. A sailor named Hurley and the second engineer were washed ashore astride a paddle box but no others survived. The engineer later died. The captain, Thomas Griffiths, is buried at the cemetery at Grange.

 

1879 Langdale
The 1237 ton, Langdale of Liverpool, struck the Barrels Rocks, drifted towards shore and sank off Tacumshane, after she struck the Combe rocks on 27/9/1879. She was en route from San Francisco to Liverpool. Captain Jenkenson, his wife, the mate and boatswain were drowned when their gig overturned. Three men were washed ashore from this boat. The 23 remaining crew survived in the other boat and landed at Carne. The ship was a total wreck but some of her cargo of wheat was saved. She was owned by J D Newton of Liverpool.

 

1880 John A Harvie
On 26/11/1880 the three masted barque, John A Harvie of Winsor, Nova Scotia, was driven aground at Ballyhealy, three miles from Kilmore. Commander Elkeneh Curry was confused by the new revolving light of the Barrels lightship and thought he was at Cardigan. She was carrying 1555 tons of loose and bagged maize from New York. Those aboard retreated to the single remaining mast and the Carne lifeboat was launched by a substitute crew, assembled by local priest, Fr Browne. The sea prevented a rescue until the next day when the regular crew completed the rescue of Captain Lockhart, his wife, his sister and 14 crew. This incident may have promoted the establishment of Kilmore lifeboats.

 

1881 Brittanic
The White Star steamship, Brittanic, went aground in fog near Kilmore Quay on 4/7/1881. The ocean-going liner disgorged 200 passengers in lifeboats. The passengers were dressed in their best clothes of bonnets, lace, and bowler hats, arousing a stir in the village. The Wooden House, owned by Nicholas White, was used as an assembly point for transportation to Wexford Town. Nicholas White seconded every croydon and donkey in the area, even requesting croydons from Wexford, to transport passengers to Wexford.

 

1881 Liffey
The 845 ton Liffey, of and from St John NB, grounded on St Patrick’s Bridge on 2/11/1881. She drifted off and stranded 500 yards south of the pier at Kilmore. She carried 1000 tons of cargo, bound for Liverpool. Her captain mistook Coningbeg for Tuskar.

 

1882 Regalia
The Ketch Regalia, of Jersey, went ashore at Ballyhealy on 12/1/1882. She was owned by F J Picot and carried 104 tons of barley. She had been built in 1872 and was expected to be refloated.

 

1883 Clementina
The Clementina of Cardiff was carrying a cargo of rum and sugar from Demerara to Greenock when she was wrecked on 22/2/1883, three miles west of the pier at Kilmore. Her crew of 11 were rescued by coastguards. Her cargo was salvaged.

 

1885 Antelope
The American ship, Antelope, was wrecked on the Saltees about 1885. Her timbers were salvaged and constructed into a new schooner by Wexford Dockyard Co. Later she was wrecked at Dollymount.

 

1895 Citizen of Youghal
On 25/12/1895 this 184 ton brigantine, carrying coal, was wrecked at the tip of the Little Saltee. Captain Lynch and one of a crew of six were lost. The lifeboat saved four. She was en route from Newport to Youghal.

 

1898 Haaswater
This 838 ton vessel grounded on the Forlorn Point on 7/4/1898 in fog. The tug, Wexford, failed to refloat her and the tug, Ida, also tried to assist. The vessel was full of water and developed a list before breaking up. She was en route from Liverpool to Natal in ballast.

 

1899 Pembroke
The Great Western Railway Company’s passenger steamer, Pembroke, went ashore on the Little Saltee in February 1899. The steamer was travelling between Milford Haven and Waterford. Nicholas White, of Newtown, Ballyteigue, had bought the Wooden House in the late 1860’s, having married into the Furlong family. Nicholas White was responsible for lifeboat launches, to aid the Pembroke, as the Hon. Sec. Charles Walker was unavailable. The lifeboat crew were, at that time, on strike over money owed to them. The crew of the grounded steamer made it to Kilmore Quay in their own lifeboats. Nicholas White, of the Wooden House, was then accused of not looking after the 31 seamen, which he is on record as denying. The Wooden House had a long tradition of affording refreshments to shipwrecked sailors.

 

1917 Lennox
There is some discrepancy over the date of this wreck. On 18/1/1917the 6,500 ton SS Lennox was wrecked on the Collough rocks, south of the Great Saltee. Her crew of 45 were saved by the Kilmore lifeboat. Among her crew were 34 Chinese men, who sold their watches in local pubs and shops. Boiler lining bricks, marking the Lennox, are still found at the spot.

 

1926 Valdura
On 12/1/1926 the Valdura ran aground on The Forlorn. She carried a cargo of 4,500 tons of maize. When this was washed ashore farmers, from miles around, assembled to gather up this “yellow meal” for cattle food. Photos of the wreck, high and dry, are in the Wooden House in Kilmore Quay.

 

1927 Cluny
The Milford steam trawler was wrecked on St Patrick’s Bridge. After refusing to leave the stricken vessel for some days, the crew were rescued on 2/5/1927. The wreck could be boarded at low tide after she drifted onto the beach.

 

1928 Brackley
The Wicklow schooner, Brackley, was wrecked on the Blue Rocks or Mageen Rocks, east of St Patrick’s Bridge on 28/9/1928. She carried coal from Garston to Glandore. During a storm she sprang a leak off the Lucifer lightship. While difficult to control, she ran onto the rocks. The master, John Wall, and her crew of three were rescued by Kilmore Quay lifeboat.

 

1941 Loddon
The Lowestoft steam trawler, Loddon, struck a rock near Saltees on 27/1/1941. Despite assistance being near at hand, Skipper Gilmartin and his crew stayed aboard and drove her ashore at Rosslare, where they hoped she could be repaired.

 

1947 Helga/Muirchu
The 166 ft steel twin screw, Helga, was built in 1908 by the Dublin Dockyard Co for fisheries protection work. At the outbreak of war, she was transferred to the Royal Navy. During the 1916 Easter Rising she was used to shell several sites in Dublin. She sank a German submarine in the Irish Sea in April 1918. In 1922 the vessel was transferred to the Irish Government and served as a fisheries protection vessel until replaced by flower class corvettes in the late 1940’s. She sank on 8/5/1947 eight miles south of the Coningbeg light vessel, under tow from Haulbowline to Hammond Lane shipbreakers in Dublin. Her crew were taken off by a Welsh trawler.

 

1957 Auguste Maurice
The 96 foot French trawler, Auguste Maurice of L’Orient, was wrecked on the Saltees on 28/12/1957. She struck Ebba reef NW of the Great Saltee and was observed from the shore. The Kilmore Quay lifeboat was launched, with great difficulty, and located the stricken trawler in Ballyteigue Bay. In three runs past the wreck, she rescued the captain and crew of 11. Two were snatched from the sea. The rescued men were taken to the Wooden House, owned by John Sutton, where they were provided with food and dry clothes. The remains of the trawler were washed ashore at Kilmore Quay.