The Loss of SS Connemara & Coal Ship Retriever

Other than the weather, to the outbound Connemara, providing daily ferry services between Holyhead, Wales and Greenore, Carlingord the day's journey was expected to be fairly routine. The inbound Retriever was headed to Newry from Garston, Liverpool.

Conditions were abysmal and worsening by the minute with gale force winds and heavy seas. To complicate matters, both were running under U-Boat protocol with limited navigational lights. On this particularly night, the Connemara carried 51 passengers, livestock and a crew of 30 while the Retriever was manned by a crew of 9. Due to wave action, the Retrievers cargo had shifted, causing her to list and affecting her steering. A local lighthouse keeper tried in vain to warn the vessels that they were on a collision course with rockets and flares - but by then it was too late.

The Connemara sank in a few minutes. The Retriever, with a crushed bow managed to stay afloat for 20-30 minutes. 97 passengers and crew from both vessels would perish with the sole survivor of the disaster being 21 year old James Boyle of Summerhill, Warrenpoint, Co. Down.

Boyle a ship's Fireman aboard The Retriever was below when the vessels collided. He quickly made his way up to the deck where he found no other survivors. Noting the damage to both vessels and a sea littered with debris he abandoned ship, clinging to an upturned lifeboat until his rescue. Luck was certainly on Boyle's side that night, as he'd never learned to swim...