Somewhere far away a lonely bell was ringing

A MOST unusual annual phenomenon occurs in the village of Lahardane, at the butt of Nephin along the shore of Lough Conn in Co Mayo: the bell at St Patrick’s church rings out across the silent countryside between 2am and 3am on April 15 in remembrance of those lost with the Titanic 500 miles west of Newfoundland at that time and on that date 95 years ago this spring.

Remarkably, the church bell remains silent for the rest of the year and on the one unique occasion when it is rung, very few people actually hear its lonely tones across the plains of Co Mayo.

A quote from one of the early classic English poets, John Donne, would be most appropriate regarding this event ... “and therefore send not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.”