Hello and welcome aboard this weeks edition of Seascapes We’ll be hearing from Gery Flynn of Inshore Ireland on this months edition ; the anniversary of a maritime tragedy off Balbriggan aboard the Bell Hill in 1875 is recalled by Peter McNally - in London this week it was announced that ten triple E Class Maersk Container ships are to be built in the Daewoo shipyards in Korea and are to be the largest vessels afloat at a length of four hundred metres and twenty storeys tall and described as the width of an eight lane highway –enabling shipping to cut the cost of transporting a container from China to Europe by over twenty five per cent…….. they will be capable of carrying 18 million flat screen TVs in eighteen thousand containers …….first to Angling and our monthly report from Paul Bourke of Inland Fisheries Ireland ......
Pearse Butler and Fagan
This week in Dun Laoghaire – Irish sea dot org – marine leisure network drawn from the Irish Marine Federation /North Wales Watersports and South and West Wales Marine Leisure Federation hosted a Leisure Marine Industry Conference attended by delegates from Wales and Ireland and Seascapes was there - Steve Conlon from the Irish Marine Federation explained the background to the gathering .Howard Pridding is Executive Director of the British Marine Federation who own the London and Southampton Boat Shows , he addressed the conference on the current market and economic situation and how it impacts on the Marine Leisure Industry , following a contribution from IMF that’s Irish Marine Federation Chairman David O Brien – we spoke to Howard Pridding about the work of the British Marine Federation.
At the Marine Leisure Industry Conference at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire Seascapes Met with Alistair Rumball of the Irish National Sailing School; Harry Hermon of The Irish Sailing Association; Rory Golden of Flagship Scuba ; Chairman of the Marine Federation here David O Brien ; Ethna Murphy , Manager –Leisure Tourism with Failte Ireland ; Captain Philip Cowman of Waterford ; Captain Michael Langran of Sea and Shore Safety Services; Charter Skipper Jeff Browlee of Aquamarine Charter ; Charlie Kavanagh from Wicklow – Federation members from Fenit ,Ardmore , Dingle and Kilmore Quay and Sonja Ewen of Deep Blue Sea Kayaking…
As we mentioned on last weeks Seascapes – that event
In The Pillar Room of The Rotunda with readings and a performance of “Where A single Footprint Lasts a Thousand Years” celebrating Earnest Shackleton and Francis McLintock written by Michael Holohan and performed by Michael; Donal O Kelly and Simon O Dwyer is being staged in the Droichead Arts Centre in Drogheda on this Monday evening at 8 o clock in aid of “Drogheda Cares”.
The Wrecking of the Bell Hill
Peter Mc Nally
On the morning of 26th February 1875, the people of Balbriggan awoke to the fury of a south easterly gale worse than any in living memory .Huge seas hurled themselves onto the jagged Cardy Rocks just north of the harbour entrance. At about 9o’ clock the hulk of a massive sailing ship with its sails reduced to rags, came scudding out of control towards those rocks. She was the Bell Hill , a one thousand ton iron clad three masted barque not twenty four hours out of Liverpool and bound for Valparaiso but driven off course by the howling gale.
Word of the sighting spread quickly about the town and soon a large crowd gathered on the cliffs above the Cardy rocks .The horrified onlookers watched the Bell Hill career uncontrollably towards shore. They witnessed her last desperate attempt to avoid disaster as the exhausted crew threw out anchors and the captain attempted to wear the ship around. But she was caught on a lee shore in a shrieking gale where no anchors could hold her. Desperate crew lashed themselves to the masts to avoid being washed across her decks but when she hit the rocks her masts sheared dragging those hapless sailors over the side with them.
The coastguard rushed a breeches buoy apparatus to the shore. Twice they fired rockets with lifelines attached and twice the lines fell short of the Bell Hill. The third line fired reached the stricken ship but it snagged under a rock half way along its length rendering it all but useless. The lifesaving breeches buoy could not be deployed.
Meanwhile the coastguard telegraphed for the Skerries lifeboat. The lifeboat crew knew that their lifeboat would founder for sure were she launched into such a maelstrom, so they towed her to Balbriggan using a team of horses. As it happens, a low railway arch straddles the entrance to Balbriggan strand and on reaching it, the lifeboat men realised to their horror that the superstructure of the lifeboat was too high to fit under the arch and the lifeboat could not be launched!
By this time the incessant pounding on the sharp rocks had broken the back of the Bell Hill. Her cargo of spirits and textiles spilled out among the spume. Captain Edgar called for every man to save himself. All but three of those left on deck took their chances and jumped over the side only to perish in the boiling ferment. Three of the crew managed to shin down the breeches buoy line to the rock under which it was snagged. There they clung for three hours until a boat was finally launched to try to rescue them. All three were successfully snatched from the rock only to be thrown once again to the mercy of the waves as the rescue boat upended on its way back to shore. So great was their distress that although still alive on being washed ashore, two of those rescued died of exposure and exhaustion shortly after reaching shore. The third crew member and the only Irishman aboard the Bell Hill, a man called James Mac Donnell ,became the sole survivor of the sixteen sailors on board the ill fated Bell Hill.
The dead were taken to the village graveyard at Balrothery where you can still see the headstone listing the names of those fifteen unfortunates who died on that dreadful morning in February 1875
So what’s In the latest edition of Inshore Ireland
Magazine - We head to the Western seaboard and to our Galway studios where we heard from Features Editor
Of Inshore Ireland – Gery Flynn - SAILING
May Bank Holiday weekend over 300 sailors will compete in Dublin Bay in seven different classes (Laser Radial, Laser 4.7, 420, Feva, Topper, SL16 and Optimist). For youth sailors, this event is the most crucial in the annual calendar as it is the decider for the top Irish sailors to compete internationally during 2011 and is the pathway for future Olympic sailors.
Not only will the ISA Mitsubishi Youth Nationals over the May weekend be an important event for youth sailors it is also a major milestone for the organisers of the ISAF Youth Worlds 2012 as it offers them the opportunity to test drive the logistics of managing such a large event incorporating three clubs, three race courses and hundreds of volunteers.
Dun Laoghaire won the bid to host the ISAF Youth Worlds 2012 from 12-21 July when, in excess of 300 sailors and windsurfing champions from over 60 nations will participate. The granting of this prestigious sailing event to Ireland is a major boost to the sport and secures Ireland’s position as an ideal location for hosting world class sailing events. It also establishes Dun Laoghaire as one of the prime major racing locations in the world, capable of running multiple classes and courses to the highest international standard.