Roger, thanks for the details. I had heard of the story before but no names were mentioned. I do know that there is a superstition that if you save someone from the sea, the sea wil eventually get you.

Years ago in the north west of Ireland all the way down the west coast this was a belief and maybe still is ?.

In the small fishing villages of Donegal for example, if you saved someone from drowning, you had to move inland for fear the sea would take you or one of your descendants instead.

It would be safe to say that the lighthouse keepers had guided many ships to safety and perhaps the legend/superstition was born out of similar events of large waves coming ashore and carrying a person off ?.