This article is from page 12 of the 2012-08-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
FISHERMEN have a special place in Quilty. They always will.
It’s history; it’s heritage; it’s family; it’s been a way of life for so many down the generations, that has touched so many families as a job of journeywork, a livelihood.
In Quilty fishermen know the floor of the sea like farmers know their land. They do, because it’s part of their DNA, part of what they are and it’s something they’re proud of, and fiercely so.
Pride at this long association with the waters around Mutton Island is everywhere. In the plaque on the sea wall opposite the Quilty Tavern that reads, ‘Heroism remembered: On October 3, 1907 tragedy was averted in Quilty village’. The crew from the French ship, Leon XIII, were rescued from their stricken ship by local fisherman and despite stormy conditions not a single life was lost; in the artwork on the same wall; in the name of the local chipper that commemorates the Leon XIII; in the church that’s named Star of the Sea; in the bell in the sanctuary of the church that once belonged to Leon XIII.
When the church bell rang out on Friday afternoon for Noel Dickinson and Michael Galvin, there was still pride at that association with the sea, but overwhelming sadness had enveloped the village. Quilty was a community in mourning, and a community drawing on each other for comfort, or as parish Fr Pat Larkin said in search of “meaning”.
One of the laments played at Noel Dickinson’s funeral was ‘Fiddler’s Green’, while members of the fishing community from Clare and as far away as the Aran Islands were present to pay their respects to the two men and their families for their tragic losses.
Fr Larkin, told the congregation about how the previous Monday, August 14, was “like any other day for Michael Galvin and Noel Dickinson” before turning to a double tragedy that had rocked the community.
“Just another ordinary day going out to work to check the pots and put out the nets and, above all, hope there would be a catch coming back in,” said Fr Larkin.
“But things changed, changed drastically, changed forever. And in that change, hearts are broken, lives are turned upside down and we search for meaning. We look for hope and we turn to each other. That’s what we’ve done over the past week – turning to each in support,” added Fr Larkin.