Trawler families meet to unite in grief

FAMILY members from two fishing tragedies along the south coast were united yesterday in their grief.

Mary Bohan, wife of Honeydew II skipper Ger Bohan, travelled from Kinsale to Dunmore East during the afternoon to meet with relatives of those who were lost on board the Pere Charles, as the weather continued to hamper efforts to find the bodies of seven fishermen.

A monument outside the parish church in Killea, Dunmore East, remembers local men who were lost at sea but whose remains were never found.

Prayers continue to be said throughout the community that the names of Tom Hennessy, Pat Hennessy, Andriy Dyrin, Pat Coady, and Billy O’Connor will not have to be added to that list, of those whose final resting place remains unknown.

Calm conditions in the picturesque seaside village of Dunmore East greeted those who were up and about early yesterday morning. Little activity was going on at the harbour.

But if the sheltered harbour was almost still, it didn’t bear much resemblance to conditions farther out at sea.

Off Hook Head, where the stricken trawler is known to rest, the water continued to swell and churn.

The events which conspired to make the Pere Charles go down all-too-fast remain unknown. It went down so fast that the nearby Susanna G did not see the trawler sinking but only received word via a last-ditch emergency signal from skipper Tom Hennessy.

The weather was good in Dunmore East and along the shore, but farther out those treacherous waters were still determined to foil the navy and garda divers in their work.

Prayers were said at 11am Mass for the missing fishermen, their families, the two men missing from the Honeydew II further west, and all involved in the search for bodies.

Dunmore East is quiet, the waiting continues, and “closure” remains elusive for this grieving and numb fishing community.