Fishing trip that turned tragic

A “GARBLED message” just before 6am on a Sunday and lasting just over three minutes alerted Valentia marine rescue centre to the tragedy of the fishing vessel Tit Bonhomme.

The trawler, built 24 years earlier but re-engined five years ago, experienced technical difficulties two days into a five or six-day fishing trip for whitefish and prawns.

On its forced return to Union Hall port in the early hours of Jan 15 last year, the 21m-long vessel smashed into and became stranded on a rock, Adam’s Island, at the mouth of Glandore Harbour. It began to break up, with the eventual loss of five crew.