Families heartbroken for heroes lost to the sea
The devastated O’Keeffe family from Ballincollig, Co Cork, identified the remains of Peter O’Keeffe, a loved son, brother and husband-to-be on a pier in West Cork last night. And while they begin preparations for his funeral, the Herlihy family from Glanmire, in Cork, whose son Jonathan, aged 22, is still missing, must continue the terrible wait.
Both men were swept away from Owenahincha beach on Sunday after saving two people from drowning. For the second day yesterday, dense fog hampered the search for the bodies of both men. And for the second day, family members and friends stood in a lonely vigil on the beach and on the dunes above, watching the sea and waiting. Peter’s father, Reg, his daughters, extended family and friends, and Jonathan’s parents, Liam and Eileen, and their family, huddled in groups as boats crisscrossed the sea. A blanket of dense fog rolled in an hour after the search started at 7.30am yesterday. Visibility fell to below 40 feet and two trawlers out of Union Hall, including the Gaia skippered by Seanie Harrington; dozens of smaller fishing boats, and jet skis had to be called back to shore. The Courtmacsherry and Kinsale lifeboats, as well as coastguard boats, continued their work. The smaller vessels were able to resume their search at lunchtime and the trawlers dropped nets to scour the sea bed from about 2pm. Seven civil defence teams backed up by almost 100 volunteers also had to call off cliff searches because of the treacherous conditions. Some cliffs north-east of Rosscarbery Bay are up to 150 feet high and could not be abseiled in the poor visibility. They were able to resume work as conditions and visibility improved at around 4pm. Dives by garda and naval sub-aqua units were also delayed. Earlier in the day, local sources said that despite strong tides, the missing men’s bodies could still be just a few hundred yards off the shore. And so it proved to be.
