From the Archives

Edited By Ted Creedon

The Middlesex

[This is one account of the loss of the Middlesex – a story of tragedy, loss, sacrifice, rescue and reward].

Loss of the Middlesex

From – Tralee Chronicle, 26 March 1861

The Middlesex, a 2,500-ton passenger/cargo ship from New York, left Liverpool for New York on 18 February 1861. She had 35 passengers and 33 crewmen on board. After three weeks sailing she encountered very heavy weather, her cargo shifted, she sprang a leak and developed a serious list. She hoisted distress signals in the hope of attracting assistance from a passing vessel. The ship remained like that for three days but no help came. She began to fill with water and for three days and nights the crew worked the pumps to keep her afloat. In addition, in order to lessen her weight the main masts were cut down.

Lifeboats launched

With the water almost level with the deck their position looked hopeless and so the Master, Captain Parmerlee, ordered the crew to launch the vessel’s two lifeboats.

One of the lifeboats was smashed against the side of the ship. A crewman and the ship’s cook got into the other one and she immediately capsized in heavy seas. The cook managed to pull himself onto the upturned boat which then drifted away.

Longboat launched

As darkness approached, the ship’s last remaining boat, a longboat, was launched. The captain, ten crewmen and four passengers got on board. More than fifty souls remained on the Middlesex and were left to their fate on the sinking ship. [Ship’s longboats, in the 19th century, varied in size and were rowed by eight or ten men. Some longboats were fitted with a sail].

Lovers drown

One of the four passengers on board the longboat was a young man named Elford Thorpe, from County Carlow. He and one of the passengers still on the ship, a young woman from Scotland, were intending to marry on reaching New York. As the longboat lifted in the swell the young woman jumped from the ship but failed to reach the longboat and plunged into the waves. Her fiancée leaped into the sea as she sank and managed to bring her to the surface. The longboat had drifted away by then and the lovers were seen clinging together before sinking beneath the waves.

The Blaskets

After battling the elements for three days and nights the Middlesex survivors came in sight of the Blasket Islands on the morning of the fourth day and made their way into the Sound. Seeing their predicament, some of the islanders set off in a canoe and brought the longboat to the landing place where two of the exhausted passengers dropped dead. One of them was a Killarney man named Quin.

Island hospitality

The survivors were brought to different houses on the island where they were to remain for some days because of bad weather before being taken to the mainland. The captain and crew expressed their deepest gratitude for being rescued and for the hospitality shown to them by the islanders during this recovery period. When they reached Dingle they were taken in charge by Lieutenant Hawkey of the coast guard and eventually made their way to Cork via Tralee.

Rewards.

A number of monetary awards were made to the islanders for the rescue and housing of the Middlesex survivors later that year, based on reports submitted by Lt. Hawkey. The RNLI awarded £1 to each of the canoe crewmen while the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariner’s Benevolent Society awarded almost £12 to be

From – Kerry Evening Post, 15 February 1845

An appeal is being made to the public on behalf of Mr. John Lynch and his family who were so severely impacted by the late dreadful fire in Dingle. The poor man not only lost his wife but has been reduced from comparative wealth to complete destitution as a result of the conflagration. The receipt of almost £20 has already been acknowledged by Mr. James McKenna. We have much pleasure in seeing the names of Lord Ventry and Lt. Clifford [Coast guard] at the head of this list. These are some of the parties whom the Dingle priests so liberally abuse from their altars every Sunday. Will the people of Dingle ever learn who are their real friends.

Dingle fire engine From – Tralee Chronicle, 14 June 1870

Fires are very rare in Dingle but this is no argument against providing a fire engine. Nobody knows when a fire may occur and if any of the town’s large houses take fire a whole side of a street may be destroyed. It should also be remembered that very few houses in the town are insured. A fire engine can be bought for around £200. It could be placed in the charge of the police or the coast guards who would be trained in its use.