Kilmore Quay Memorial
Sam Williams lays a wreath in memory of lost
Isolda crew members
L-R: John Power with Sam Williams and Captain George Ball
at the opening of the Kilmore Quay Memorial Trail and
Garden.
A Memorial Trail and Garden in remembrance of those lost at sea was officially opened at Kilmore Quay on Sunday 17 June 2001 by Hugh Byrne, TD, Minister of State at the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources.
The Garden is at Forlorn Point, an area reached by crossing a narrow causeway, overlooking Ballyteigue Bay, known as the graveyard of a thousand ships. The theme of the Trail and Garden is the experience of loss and the journey to recovery. It was the idea of Fr Jim Cogley, a local curate, and was achieved through the work of a voluntary committee chaired by John Power.
Minister Byrne said that the Memorial Garden would be a special place where family members could come to pay tribute and remember those lost at sea where, in many cases, bodies were never recovered.
The garden is not just a memorial to the dead but a place to help all those who are grieving to come to terms with their loss. A Vigil Sculpture of two grieving figures looking out to sea and supporting each other, by local artist Ciaran O'Brien, leads to the garden which is designed in the shape of a ship and includes a Ship's Wheel sculpture, a Compass Fountain, a propeller recovered from ss Lennox-lost off the Saltee Islands in 1916, and a tall mast, supported by a plinth on which the names of people lost at sea are carved.
The Commissioners of Irish Lights were represented at the opening ceremony, following which there was an ecumenical Blessing of the Trail and Garden, and a wreath laying ceremony. Also present were representatives of the Naval Service, Coast Guard, Lifeboats, Aer Lingus, and representatives of the families of those lost when the Viscount St Phelim crashed near Tuskar Rock in 1968.
A wreath was laid on behalf of Irish Lights by Sam Williams, retired Lighthouse Depot Bosun, and Captain George Ball, Master of ilv Granuaile, in memory of those killed when the Lighthouse Tender ss Isolda was bombed and sunk by a German plane near the Saltee Islands off Kilmore Quay on 19 December 1940 when carrying out the Barrels and Coningbeg Lightship reliefs. Sam is one of the few survivors of the Isolda bombing still alive.
The names of those members of the Isolda crew who lost their lives are carved on the plinth in the Memorial Garden. They are P. Dunne, Coxswain; P. Farrell, Seaman; W. Holland, Steward; W. Rushby, Leading Fireman; J. J. Hayden, Fireman; and P. Shortt, Fireman.
A Memorial Trail and Garden in remembrance of those lost at sea was officially opened at Kilmore Quay on Sunday 17 June 2001 by Hugh Byrne, TD, Minister of State at the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources.
The Garden is at Forlorn Point, an area reached by crossing a narrow causeway, overlooking Ballyteigue Bay, known as the graveyard of a thousand ships. The theme of the Trail and Garden is the experience of loss and the journey to recovery. It was the idea of Fr Jim Cogley, a local curate, and was achieved through the work of a voluntary committee chaired by John Power.
Minister Byrne said that the Memorial Garden would be a special place where family members could come to pay tribute and remember those lost at sea where, in many cases, bodies were never recovered.
The garden is not just a memorial to the dead but a place to help all those who are grieving to come to terms with their loss. A Vigil Sculpture of two grieving figures looking out to sea and supporting each other, by local artist Ciaran O'Brien, leads to the garden which is designed in the shape of a ship and includes a Ship's Wheel sculpture, a Compass Fountain, a propeller recovered from ss Lennox-lost off the Saltee Islands in 1916, and a tall mast, supported by a plinth on which the names of people lost at sea are carved.
The Commissioners of Irish Lights were represented at the opening ceremony, following which there was an ecumenical Blessing of the Trail and Garden, and a wreath laying ceremony. Also present were representatives of the Naval Service, Coast Guard, Lifeboats, Aer Lingus, and representatives of the families of those lost when the Viscount St Phelim crashed near Tuskar Rock in 1968.
A wreath was laid on behalf of Irish Lights by Sam Williams, retired Lighthouse Depot Bosun, and Captain George Ball, Master of ilv Granuaile, in memory of those killed when the Lighthouse Tender ss Isolda was bombed and sunk by a German plane near the Saltee Islands off Kilmore Quay on 19 December 1940 when carrying out the Barrels and Coningbeg Lightship reliefs. Sam is one of the few survivors of the Isolda bombing still alive.
The names of those members of the Isolda crew who lost their lives are carved on the plinth in the Memorial Garden. They are P. Dunne, Coxswain; P. Farrell, Seaman; W. Holland, Steward; W. Rushby, Leading Fireman; J. J. Hayden, Fireman; and P. Shortt, Fireman.