Valentia to raise €15k for memorial to rescues and tragedies
The memorial to all lost at sea is to be erected outside the lifeboat station at the Kerry landmark.
World-renowned Cornish sculptor Joseph Hillier has been commissioned, and he returns to the island this week for a further visit.
The memorial project is being promoted by the local community.
It is estimated that at least €15,000 must be raised locally for the sculpture.
Further funding from the South Kerry Development Partnership is being sought.
“It is to be erected in memory of those who have been lost at sea over the years in and around Valentia Island,” said Michael Lyne, a community activist and local historian.
“It will also be a tribute to the many rescue services such as the lifeboat, the cliff and coastal rescue, Valentia Radio Station, and others, and will reflect Valentia’s great heritage and proud tradition in the field of life-saving.”
The Valentia Memorial Committee received more than 70 tenders for the planned sculpture.
The dramatic bronze sculpture on a Valentia slate base is that of a Janus-like figure — two heads in shimmering green bronze, one looking seaward, the other inland. The sculpture will be more than 1.7m high.
News of the memorial comes as Valentia prepares to mark the 50th anniversary of one of the saddest tragedies off the island when three local men, including two brothers, lost their lives crossing back to the island on Palm Sunday 1963.
The islanders, Jas and Jerry Lynch and Tony Murphy, had earlier lined out for South Kerry footballers in a Kerryman Shield game in Kenmare.
“All drownings are sad and bring such heartache to their families, and Valentia has suffered more than its fair share,” said Mr Lyne.
The committee has collected details of incidents dating back to the 19th century, but the victims will not be named on the memorial.
Young and old have been lost, the committee noted. Many were Valentia natives and were washed from the rocks or lost when their boats were swamped while fishing, while others were from elsewhere in Ireland and beyond and came to Valentia for rock-fishing or other pursuits.
Daring nighttime rescues, such as one in Sept 1908, when a Seine boat plucked 13 men from the water after a boat upturned, are also being recorded. Six men drowned that night.
In 1989, there was a dramatic rescue by the Valentia Cliff and Coastal Rescue Service when Spanish fishing trawler The Big Cat foundered.
“The many heroic efforts of successive Valentia lifeboat crews is well-documented and many Valentia volunteers continue to risk their lives daily in the furtherance of safety at sea,” said Mr Lyne. “The sea memorial will be a fitting tribute to all of them.”
