Mystery solved: Identity revealed of Cork fisherman who inspired UK music legend's tattoo
Andrew Weatherall and his tattoos photographed at the Good Bits club in Dublin in 2010: 'Fail we may, Sail we must'; right, the Cork fisherman who inspired the tattoo. Weatherall picture: Aidan Kelly
A combination of a Twitter appeal, an article in this newspaper, and the West Cork bush telegraph has led to the solving of the mystery of how the late Andrew Weatherall ended up with a fisherman's proverb inked on his arm.
The issue first arose after the British producer and DJ passed away exactly a year ago on February 17, 2020, and an old magazine interview surfaced where he spoke about getting the slogan 'Fail we may, sail we must' tattooed across both his forearms.
Weatherall had recalled how his driver for a gig in Cork was a 21-year-old trawlerman. As they talked about their respective professions, his temporary chauffeur had told the DJ about an incident at sea in which his father had broken his leg in stormy conditions, and the young man had to take over the boat. “And he said, 'Fail we may, sail we must',” Weatherall told Dummy magazine. “Which led to me spending hundreds of pounds and a lot of pain having it tattooed up the sides of my arms.”
There had been some speculation in Cork music circles about the identity of the fisherman – and whether he'd even existed - as well as debate about which of Weatherall's several visits to the Rebel County had produced the exchange, but nobody had ever come forward.
It was an issue that had puzzled Cian Ó Cíobháin, presenter of the electronic music show An Taobh Tuathail on Raidió na Gaeltachta. The Kerry-born broadcaster had put an appeal out on Twitter that was picked up by the Irish Examiner, and as word rippled through the local fishing community, a call to Baltimore confirmed the mystery man had been found.
Gerard Sheehy, of a well-known fishing family in the West Cork village, was stunned to hear about his connection to the producer/DJ famed for his work with the likes of Primal Scream, New Order and Björk. The Corkman had indeed driven Weatherall between Cork Airport and Skibbereen for his performance at the Cork X Southwest festival in 2008, but had never known the tale of the tattoo.
“I couldn't believe it,” said Sheehy on Tuesday. “I had heard that he'd died, and we were chatting at the time in our group about the festival, but I'm blown away to hear about the tattoo. I'm amazed nobody twigged it earlier.”
Now 32, Sheehy remembered he had done the driving for the neighbouring town's festival in exchange for a ticket, but hadn't been very aware of who Weatherall was at the time.
“I remember he was a fairly soft-spoken sort of man, and on the spin he wasn't inclined to talk about the Djing and that sort of stuff. He was more into asking me about the fishing, and we were also chatting about tattoos,” recalled Sheehy, still a fisherman operating the Lovon trawler from its Baltimore base.
Sheehy revealed he has a tattoo with a similar slogan on his chest, but whether it was lost in translation or Weatherall decided to alter the phrase slightly, the British DJ ended up with a different version.
“Mine says 'Fail she may but go she must',” said Sheehy of a proverb he'd heard his father, Anthony Sheehy, use through the years.
Meanwhile, RnaG's Cian Ó Cíobháin was delighted to solve the mystery just as he's about to broadcast a tribute show to Weatherall, a man he'd met on numerous occasions through the years. “Andrew would reference the story regularly in interviews, so I'm thrilled we got to the bottom of it,” said Ó Cíobháin.
- An Taobh Tuathail on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta presents a tribute to Andrew Weatherall on Wednesday, February 17, at 10pm
