A memorial to several currach fishermen, which was vandalised last year, has been replaced with a new cut stone version at Galway’s Barna pier.
Relatives of the fishermen, William “Liam” Gill (78) and Peter Faherty (53), were so upset by the damage to the plaque that they commissioned a replacement.
Gill and Faherty, his son-in-law, drowned when their currach filled with herring sank an estimated 80 yards from the Barna shoreline in October 1922.
Both men had learned to swim, having served in the British Navy. Their third crew member, Michael (Michil Frank) Coyne, couldn’t swim, so Faherty helped rescue him, using the currach’s oars to support him towards the shore.
However, Gill was trapped in the nets, and Coyne swam back to save him and also got tangled in the gear. Neither of the two survived.
The late William Gill who died off Barna pier a century ago, photographed with his family
The Connacht Tribune of October 21st, 1922, reported that their bodies were found close to the currach about a mile east of the village at Léana.
“The remains of William Gill were placed in a coffin and those of Peter Faherty in a cart, and they were taken to Barna amidst every demonstration of regret,” the newspaper reported.
“Faherty had a wife and a family of seven, six girls and one boy, and much sympathy is extended to Mrs Faherty in her great loss,” it reported.
At the inquest, survivor Michael Coyne said that both of the two men kept a grip “on the canoe” - as the currach was called - all the time.
Peter Faherty, a former Royal Navy stoker, who drowned off Barna in 1922
“When I shoved myself away from the canoe, I was full sure myself that I was going down. I had the oars under the arm, and they kept up my head,” he said.
“The canoe would have drifted ashore only for the weight of the nets, some of which had fallen out of the boat,” he told the inquest.
Last year, a stone from the original pier, fitted with a plaque to the two fishermen, which was carved by Denis Goggin and Ray Flaherty, was damaged. The incident, which occurred less than a month after it was unveiled, was reported to the Garda, and CCTV footage captured in the area was sought as part of an investigation.
A new plaque has been fitted by stonemasons Peter and John Greaney, who are related to both men.
John (left) and Peter Greaney fitting the replacement plaque to the two fishermen at Barna pier Photo: Joe O'Shaughnessy
“Peter Faherty is our great grandfather, and William Gill is our great great grandfather,” Peter Greaney explained.
Galway historian Cormac Ó Comhraí gave the historical context when he spoke at the original unveiling. He recounted how the country was “so disturbed” by the Civil War that in the week that the two men drowned, it was also reported that the Clifden-Galway railway line had not run in three months.
Ó Comhraí said there were repeated warnings of famine in Connemara, and fishing was poor in Galway during that period – “a coincidence that many have affected the men’s judgment in October 1922”.
He said that William Gill, also known as Liam Rua or Liam Goill, was born at the time of the Great Famine, and the trauma of his early years would have increased his fear of the threat of famine.
When they caught a large quantity of herring, they would have been under pressure to land it all ashore.
After the men died, a fund was set up by clergymen to collect money for the two families. Among those who contributed was a large subscription from the people of Castlegar across the city.
