The Evelyn Marie, 50 years on: Forever loved, forever missed, forever in our hearts

“We know that the families are not just grieving their loss 50 years ago, they are grieving every day of their own life since they've had to live without their loved ones.”

That was the message from Fr Pat Ward as a special mass at St Columba’s Church, Acres, Burtonport, remembered the crew of the Evelyn Marie, who were lost at sea on January 7, 1975.

Captain Patrick Bonner (33) from Dungloe; Hugh Gallagher from Aphort, Arranmore (35); Johnny O’Donnell (27), Burtonport; Roland Faughnan,  a native of Belleek, Co Fermanagh, who was living in Burtonport; Tom Hamm, who was originally from Longford Town and also resided in Burtonport, and Joe O’Donnell, Burtonport, lost their lives in the tragedy when the Evelyn Marie struck rocks at Rathlín O’Birne Island off south-west Donegal.

Fr Ward, PP of Kincasslagh/Burtonport, was joined by Brian O'Fearraigh, Bunbeg, and Rev John Joe Duffy CC of Dunfanaghy/Creeslough, himself a Burtonport native. 

Fr Ward said: “The impact of the death of these six young men was felt first and foremost by their families, who still feel that personal pain of loss to this day. They still have questions that they would like to have answered. They still need peace and they still need this to come to a resolution. There is nothing as cruel as not knowing. Many family members have gone to rest, feeling that they have not been given all the information or all the facts that were there. That is just not right. That is cruel.”

Music was provided, somewhat poignantly, by Mary Rodgers and her niece Mischa - the daughter and grand-daughter of James Mickey Gallagher, now 90, a fisherman and skipper, who helped pick up the remains of the only two men who were ever found, Roland Faughnan and those of John O'Donnell. Helena Gallagher, a daughter of Hughie, put together a commemorative booklet, where photographs of the crew, were shown under the heading 'Forever loved, forever missed, forever in our hearts.'

Some of those who took part in the search and rescue from 1975 were in attendance and Fr Ward welcomed Mary Bonner, as was the widow of captain Bonner, who was tuning in online and had sent a card. Families met afterwards at the local community centre, sharing their support and some sad memories from the night in question. Four special large candles have recently been erected near the remembrance garden, to remember those who died and who were lost at sea.

“It's hard to believe that 50 years have passed since this tragedy,” Fr Ward said. “I know that you're still very much in your hearts as the loss of your loved ones and for this, we offer this mass. We offer it as a healing for the memories and for the lives that you've had without these loved ones.

“We gather today on this the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the trailer, the Evelyn Marie. She was a new 65-foot trawler and had all of the proper equipment on board as well as a competent crew on the night that she perished.

“The response at the time was widely seen by everybody - search and rescue was comprehensive and they were joined by a large fleet of local fishermen who were searching for survivors on that night and subsequently searching for remains on nights after that as no survivors were found. Of course, only two bodies were recovered.”

The tragedy of 1975 was not the first or the last to beset the community of Burtonport. In  November 1935, 19 people died as they making their way home from Scotland, having spent the season there tattie-hoking - picking potatoes - when they were overturned on the last leg of the journey from Burtonport into Arranmore. Only one man, Paddy Gallagher, survived. 

Less than two years after Evelyn Marie in November 1976, the crew of the MFV Carraig Una were lost when their trawler foundered at sea, again at Rathlin O’Birne.

Those who died in the tragedy were skipper Ted Carbery (27), a native of Mountmellick, Co Laois living in Dungloe, his brother-in-law John Boyle (18), Meenmore; Doalty O’Donnell (23), Meenbanad; Micheál Coyle (22), Meenmore, Dungloe and Anthony McLaughlin (18) of Ross Head, Glengad.

“This is not a unique story,” Fr Ward continued of the Evelyn Marie. “It happened before with the Arranmore disaster, where returning workers from Scotland perished so close to the shore of the island with only one survivor, Paddy Gallagher.

“This awful tragedy of the Evelyn Marie was shockingly repeated the following year when the Carraig Úna floundered on the same rocks at Rathlin O'Birne. Along the shores of Ireland, there have been other sad losses, to the sea among the fishing community and also among those who use the sea recreationally.

“You could be forgiven for thinking that this was one of the dangers of this kind of work. Indeed, there's a certain sense of fatalism presumed by people that the sea can yield a great bounty but can also call on a high price for those who seek that bounty.

“I was about nine years old when the Evelyn Marie went down I was probably too young to understand what had happened. I was probably too protected to understand the hushed tones of those who spoke about what happened that night.

“But even without understanding it was obvious that something had taken place that would leave an indelible mark on these communities and that is been proven true. 

“We could remember this day as if it were a movie on TV, where the heroes go out to make their living and perish after a hard night on the sea, and where their faces remain forever young on old photographs that we have.”

“But we know that the families are not just grieving their loss 50 years ago, they are grieving every day of their own life since they've had to live without their loved ones. These families grieve for what could have been. They grieve for the story that they were meant to have and shared together. Time waits for no one, a day becomes a week, a week becomes a month, a month becomes a year and here we are 50 years on from the day of this tragedy remembering these young men and wondering how life might have been different if this tragedy had never occurred.

“Today in this mass, we commend them to the lord once again and we pray that those who remain will find peace and resolution in their lives. One thing I am sure of is that each of those men and thanking of you who mourn them, wishes for you that the life they didn't get to live would be fulfilled and you living yours. We remember as a community those gone before us and this tragedy and all the tragedies around us that happened because of our proximity to the sea.”