Songs about: Fethard Lifeboat Disaster 20 Feb 1914

Subject: Lyr Req: Fethard Lifeboat Disaster 20 Feb 1914
From: Felipa
Date: 22 Feb 22 - 03:49 PM

http://irelandbyways.co.uk/saltees-keeraghs-co-wexford/: "In February 1914 'The Mexico', a Norwegian barque, ran aground in stormy seas [off the County Wexford, Ireland coast]. The Fethard lifeboat was launched, but both vessels were smashed to pieces by mighty waves. Nine of the 14 crew were swept to their deaths; the remaining five joined the eight surviving sailors on the exposed reef , where they remained miserably clinging to rocks while the storm continued unabated.

"Several attempts to rescue them were foiled before two brave men, Bill Duggan and Jim Wickham of the Rosslare Fort lifeboat, took a dinghy and ferried the survivors two at a time from their ice cold rocks. The operation needed 6 trips in stormy seas to bring all to safety, but on the second of these, the dinghy was holed. For the remaining trips the sea was kept out by a loaf of bread wrapped in oilskins, plugged into the opening.

"The incident is known as the Fethard Lifeboat Disaster. Many ballads were written about the tragedy, including the anonymous THE FETHARD LIFEBOAT CREW, which contains the lines:

The thunder roared, the lightning flashed, the seas like mountains ran,
But onward ‘mid that tempestuous storm the lifeboat proudly came.
The signal which she flashed that night was the white o’er the green in view:
The signal which a sailor reads: ‘I will not abandon you’.

As she neared the ill fated Mexico, oh heavens what a shock,
Their boat was dashed to pieces on the dreaded Keeragh Rock.
Oh God what a sensation, to behold those heroes brave,
Contending with the raging seas, their precious lives to save.

The crew of the gallant Mexico, though terror stricken too,
They rendered all assistance to the drowning lifeboat crew.
Five of those gallant heroes were all that could be found.
The other nine, by the Keeragh Rock, I’m sorry to say were drowned.

May God have mercy upon their souls, who gave their noble lives,
And heaven guard the helpless ones those heroes left behind.

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can we add more to the above lyrics, and add other songs and poems to commemorate the Fethard Lifeboat Disaster?

"The ballad features on the wonderful 'Ar Scáth A Chéile' CD by Joe & Connor & friends and all proceeds went towards the RNLI." (20 Feb 2021 post at https://www.facebook.com/traditionalarchivechannel/ ) The facebook Traditional Archive Channel includes the same selection from the Fethard Lifeboat Crew, along with some photographs and this more detailed background:

"On Friday February 20th, 1914 the Norwegian registered schooner 'Mexico' found itself between the Saltee Islands and Kilmore Quay just off the Wexford Coast. Conditions were treacherous with very poor visibility and the rocks of Keeragh Islands (Oileáin na gCaorach) in Ballyteige Bay is where this tragic story unfolds. The Fethard-on-Sea lifeboat, the 'Helen Blake' set off with 14 crew. Nine of the crew of the Fethard life boat were killed and drowned in a gallant attempt to save the crew of the 'Mexico'...... Today we remember The Fethard lifeboat crew who lost their lives: Coxswain, Christopher Bird, Michael Handrick, Patrick Stafford, William Bird, Thomas Handrick, Patrick Roche, Patrick Cullen, James Morrissey and William Banville. Richard Bird did survive but unfortunately he died two years later in 1916 aged 24 from injuries that he had received."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fethard Lifeboat Disaster 20 Feb 1914
From: Felipa
Date: 22 Feb 22 - 03:59 PM

http://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/Ran044.html
THE FETHARD LIFE-BOAT CREW
DESCRIPTION: The Mexico, from America to Liverpool, is "dashed to pieces along the beach of Burrow's lonely shore." The Fethard Lifeboat crew "launched their boat at Fethard Quay ... to save the shipwrecked sailors." The lifeboat itself is wrecked.
AUTHOR: James Mahony of Bride St, Wexford
EARLIEST DATE: 1948 (Ranson-SongsOfTheWexfordCoast)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck sailor rescue
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Feb 20-21, 1914 - The Mexico wreck
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ranson-Songs Of The Wexford Coast, p. 44, "The Fethard Life-Boat Crew" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #20557
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Mexico" (subject) and references there
cf. "The Hantoon" (tune)
NOTES [97 words]: Ranson-SongsOfTheWexfordCoast: Tune is "The Hantoon" on p. 46.
February 20, 1914: "Nine members of the Fethard lifeboat were drowned when going to the assistance of the Norwegian steamer Mexico.... Eight of the Mexico's crew were saved by the five lifeboat survivors. All but one of the stranded survivors were saved with great difficulty the next day." (source: Bourke in Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast vol. 1, pp. 52-53) - BS
We note that at least four poems were written about this disaster (see the cross-references); one suspects a campaign to raise money for someone's family. - RBW


http://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/Ran028.html
THE MEXICO
DESCRIPTION: Mexico is wrecked on Keeragh rocks when the captain "lost his bearings." Fourteen Fethard men set out to rescue the crew "but their boat was smashed upon the rocks": Nine are drowned; the remaining five get the crew to an island and 12 are rescued.
AUTHOR: John Codd
EARLIEST DATE: 1937 (Ranson-SongsOfTheWexfordCoast)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck sailor rescue
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Feb 20-21, 1914 - The Mexico wreck
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ranson-Songs Of The Wexford Coast, pp. 28-30, "The Mexico" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #20525
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fethard Life-Boat Crew (I)" (subject)
cf. "The Fethard Life-Boat Crew (II)" (subject)
cf. "The Fethard Life-Boat Crew (III)" (subject)
cf. "Loss of the Life-Boat Crew at Fethard" (subject)
NOTES [87 words]: February 20, 1914: "Nine members of the Fethard lifeboat were drowned when going to the assistance of the Norwegian steamer Mexico.... Eight of the Mexico's crew were saved by the five lifeboat survivors. All but one of the stranded survivors were saved with great difficulty the next day." (source: Bourke in Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast v1, pp. 52-53) - BS
We note that at least four poems were written about this disaster (see the cross-references); one suspects a campaign to raise money for someone's family. - RBW

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fethard Lifeboat Disaster 20 Feb 1914
From: Felipa
Date: 22 Feb 22 - 04:19 PM

one of the three songs entitled The Fethard Life-Boat Crew and published in Ranson's Songs of the Wexford Coast (1948) was reportedly written by a Matthew Barden, another by James Mahony, and the third by "anonymous".
---------------------------------

A modern composition, symphony and chorus: THE HEROES OF THE HELEN BLAKE by Liam Bates.
including song To Bring Them Home
first movement, Hymns and Sea Shanties
The words of the poem To Bring Them Home are not very specific to the Fethard disaster:

TO BRING THEM HOME

On brave white horses that rise and charge,
Aloft the heaving breast of the wayward deep,
T'ward weary ships and solemn hearts:
Make fast my bond, my pledge to keep.

T'is oar and courage that tamed the wave,
Thus bearing souls adrift to a far-off place.
God surely loved them as cries they gave:
Thy mighty hand. Thy saving grace.

The storms unleash their insignia of light,
A flash to bathe the blue in a crimson blend.
She dips and skims the brimming plight
And man and boat both creak and bend.

With buckled hull and broken mast
And a leeward thrust to the rocky shore,
That of each one, mankind should ask
To bring them home to love once more.

Be there no sadness in our farewell,
as much in faith, I make to the boundless sea.
Beat hard the waves that drape my sense.
God's light, my compass ever be.

Liam Bates February 2014

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fethard Lifeboat Disaster 20 Feb 1914
From: Felipa
Date: 22 Feb 22 - 04:39 PM

Séamus Brogan singing the Fethard Lifeboat Crew

This is the song quoted in my message at the beginning of the thread, with addtional verses before those quoted

You may like to compare this song with The Hantoon (wrecked December 27, 1881), sung by Phil Berry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3FASh_WRcE
Both recordings are part of a series of recording of songs which were published in the Ransom book of Songs of the Wexford Coast.
http://www.trad.appspot.com/song/The_Hantoon

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fethard Lifeboat Disaster 20 Feb 1914
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Feb 22 - 05:14 PM

Wow.