Islands of Ireland: Sovereign state of affairs

Big Sovereign island, Oysterhaven, Co Cork. Picture: Dan MacCarthy

There is an old anchor at Oysterhaven Pier, Co Cork, that tells the story of dangerous rocks and warns seafarers to take due care on their approach. The rocks are the Sovereign Islands and the origin of the anchor was the Dutch ship the Nellie which foundered there in the 1960s without loss of life.

The Irish name (also Oileáin an tSabhrain) derives from Magairlí na tSoibhréin, meaning ‘testicles’, or ‘crown jewels of the mayor’s’, as the islands were the possessions for the term of each succeeding mayor (provost), or sovereign, of Kinsale. The main two islands lie about 1km from the pier, with Newfoundland Bay to the east and Kinsale Harbour to the west. The bifurcated mouth of the harbour leads north to Oysterhaven and northwest to Belgooly and the River Stick along a glorious tree-lined passage.

Today, the Nellie is an attraction for divers drawn to tilted decks and rusting masts in the turquoise depths. Graham Ferguson of oceanaddicts.ie records that in an area known as the Grotto “there are amazing coloured jewel anemones lining the walls”.

Dan MacCarthy: 'The channel has room for nothing more than a very small boat but somehow in 1818 the Sylvan got wedged there.'

The islands are a special protection area on account of the cormorants that nest there. There are, in fact, three islands. The 30m high Big Sovereign is divided by a channel through which the sea surges. Closer to the mainland is Little Sovereign whose dramatic wrinkles look like folds in a bolt of cloth.

The channel has room for nothing more than a very small boat but somehow in 1818 the Sylvan got wedged there. The ship was en route from Liverpool to Cork when a huge storm broke. The crew and a couple from Youghal drowned immediately.

When the fog cleared by evening, observers from Oysterhaven could “discern the the form of a man clinging to the rigging, the only survivor, apparently”. A dramatic account of the rescue attempt was given
by a George R Pain and reprinted in the Southern Star in 1946. In no time the sea made smithereens of the ship and a heavy fog enveloped the wreck and the islands. The article claimed those who watched were in no doubt that the “unfortunate creature must perish”.

The next morning gallant boatmen from Oysterhaven attempted a rescue, wrote Pain. They were beaten back, but could see who it was they were attempting to save: a young lad, by now cowering on the island. By now, word had reached the sovereign of Kinsale, a Mr Newman, who offered a reward of ten guineas to anyone who could effect a rescue. The crews were given warm wine in bladders as they crossed the mountainous seas. Crowds gathered on the hillsides to watch. This mission also failed and the lad spent a second night on the Sovereigns, left to his own devices.

On day three the storm intensified and the rescuers were desperate, considering the boy lost. Finally, one of the Oysterhaven men, Jack Carthy, tied a rope around himself and flung himself into the roiling sea and somehow made it to the Sovereigns. He tied a rope around the boy, “demented from fear and hunger”, before the crew hauled him through the waves to safety. Great cheers resounded from the clifftops, wrote Pain. Carthy was universally acknowledged a hero.

The above wrecks are listed in Jerome Lordan’s riveting account of maritime activity in the area over hundreds of years. Jerome who owns kinsaleharbourcuises. com also delves into the placenames (dinnseanchas) along the coastline and reports a contact from Eileen McGough of Tracton who told him of a version of ‘Sovereign’ she came across on a 17th century French chart stored in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris (copy in UCC). This was written ‘Pullagh Fachagh’ (poll or hole of the giant’.
The Sovereigns are very difficult to land on with just the odd rock platform here and there. Even on a calm day there is a big swell that can defeat any attempt. There are imposing cliffs all around and the utmost caution is advised for any kayakers.

How to to get there: oceanaddicts.ie;
kinsaleangling.com
Other: No Flowers on a Sailor’s Grave: Shipwrecks of Kinsale and Courtmacsherry, Jerome Lordan, Old Head Press; Kinsale Harbour: A History, John Thuillier, Collins Press.