One of the most tragic events to occur during the mass exodus from Ireland in the aftermath of the Great Famine was the shipwreck of St. John and the loss of nearly 100 lives, many of whom were from Ennistymon, Lahinch, and Kilfenora, off the coast of Massachusetts in October 1849.
On 7 September 1849 the St. John, a brig of about 200 tons, sailed out of Galway bound for Boston. She was owned by Henry Comerford of Galway and Ballykeale House, Kilfenora and Captain Oliver from Bohermore, Galway was in command. Aboard were nine crew members and about a hundred passengers from North Clare and Connemara. On Saturday, 6th October the ship came close to land near Cape Cod almost at the end of her journey to Massachusetts Bay. The voyage had been a good one and the captain had a ration of grog issued to the crew and he suggested to the passengers that they might celebrate their last night aboard the St. John. They, too, had every reason for merriment; they had left far behind them a country of starvation, disease and death, the voyage had been less of a trial then they had expected and they were on the shores of the golden land. They hurried to decorate the rigging and decks with candles and "passed the night in
song and dance."
At five o'clock in the evening they passed Cape Cod Light and were off Scituate Light at one o'clock in the morning. But already the ship was being driven towards the shore by a fierce north-easterly gale. The captain stood to the northwards to clear the land until daylight, which would normally have come at about quarter to six. By then the gale had become a full storm and the ship was being driven southwards along the Massachusetts coast and was by morning at the mouth of Cohasset Bay. The Captain described the weather as "very thick"; the people who crowded the shore said that the waves "were mountains high". Inexorably the wind drove the little ship towards the shore. The brig came inside Minot's Lighthouse and the Captain tried "to wear away" up to another brig which was lying at anchor just inside the breakers at Hocksett Rock, but the sails were in shreds and the storm too powerful. Both anchors were dropped but they
dragged. As a last resort Captain Oliver had both masts cut away but the wind and seas were relentless and the brig was driven onto Grampus Ledge. It was then about seven o'clock on Sunday morning.
Enormous waves lifted the helpless ship and smashed her again and again on the rocks. The impact broke her back and opened her seams. A hole was quickly broken in her hull and those below decks were drowned within minutes. Pounded against the rocks, the brig began to break up. Horrified spectators saw people being "swept in their dozens" into the boiling surf from the crowded decks. Even though they were deafened by the howling of the wind and the thunder of the seas, the watchers were convinced that they could hear the screams of the unfortunates as they were swept to their deaths. And their was nothing that they could do to help; only a lifeboat could have lived in such seas.
The ship was quickly disintegrating…
The jollyboat was hanging by its tackle alongside. The stern rigging bolt broke, the boat fell into the water and was being swept away. The captain, the second mate, two of the crewmen and two apprentice boys jumped into the maelstrom to secure her but about twenty-five frenzied passengers attempted to board the boat and it was swamped. Of the people in or around the jollyboat, only one survived; Captain Oliver grabbed a rope which was hanging from the quarter and was pulled aboard the ship by the first mate, Henry Comerford (believed to be a nephew of the ship's owner of the same name).
When the long boat was got clear, a number of passengers jumped into the water to reach her, but all perished. By now the ship was quickly disintegrating and the water around her was strewn with wreckage to which people clung desperately even though they were again and again buried beneath tons of water as the colossal waves broke over them. The captain, the first mate and the remaining seven members of the crew succeeded in reaching the longboat, but only one passenger. As they made their way to the shore, they met the lifeboat coming out of Cohasset to the aid of another emigrant ship, Kathleen, which was in difficulties at the mouth of the harbour. Blinded by the flying spray and spume and deafened by the waves and wind, the crew of the lifeboat had no inkling of the tragedy so close to them; they assumed that the longboat contained the entire complement of the brig and continued on their mission to assist the Kathleen.
By eight a.m. the ship had completely broken up and the worst horror was over. Eight women and four men had made their way to the shore, almost dead of exhaustion. Some had to have hands prised from the wreckage which had saved their lives. News of the disaster had spread and by early afternoon the shore was lined with people who worked unsparingly to rescue the living and retrieve the dead. They had many stories to tell. Two of the women who had fought their way ashore had each lost her three children. Patrick Sweeney of Galway had perished with his wife and nine children. Many of the bodies were badly mutilated by the jagged rocks, yet Sally Sweeney's "features were calm and placid as if she were enjoying a quiet and pleasant slumber." Mr. Lathrop, in whose house the survivors found shelter, waded into the surf to retrieve a parcel of clothing and found that he had an infant in his arms; some days later the baby was said to be in excellent health.
Time and again the bodies were thrown on the rocks by the breakers only to be swept again into deep water by the backwash. Charles Studley was so determined to bring one such body to the shore that it was only with great difficulty that he himself was rescued.
The American writer, Henry David Thoreau was in Boston when the tragedy occurred and made his way to Cohasset where he met "several hay-riggings and farm-wagons each loaded with three large, rough deal boxes. We do not need to ask what was in them. The owners of the wagons were made the undertakers. Many horses in carriages were fastened to the fences near the shore, and for a mile or more, up and down, the beach was covered with people looking out for bodies, and examining the fragments of the wreck. It was now Tuesday morning and the sea was still breaking violently on the rocks. There were eighteen or twenty of the same large boxes I have mentioned lying on a green hillside and surrounded by a crowd. The bodies which had been recovered, twenty seven or eight in all, had been collected there."
Thoreau further relates that a woman who had immigrated from Ireland in an earlier ship "but had left her infant behind for her sister to bring, came and looked into these boxes, and saw in one her child in her sister's arms, as if the sister had meant to be found thus; and within three days after, the mother died from the effect of the sight."
Forty-six bodies had been taken from the sea…
A newspaper report of the time says that forty-six bodies had been taken from the sea by nightfall, that they were coffined on the beach and, after religious ceremonies on the beach and in the cemetery, were buried in a common grave on Tuesday. Thoreau describes seeing the funeral headed by the captain and the survivors. He ruminates that "on the whole, it was not so impressive a scene as I might have expected. The sight of one body affects us deeply but the sight of so many bodies blunted the sensibilities".
Sixty-five years later a huge granite Celtic Cross was raised over the grave, sited on the highest point of Cohasset Central Cemetery so as to command a view of they bay. The cross bears the inscription: "This cross was erected and dedicated May 30, 1914, by the A.O.H. and the I.A.A.O.H. of Massachusetts to mark the final resting place of about forty-five Irish immigrants from a total company of ninety-nine who lost their lives on Grampus Ledge off Cohasset October 7, 1849, in the wreck of the brig St. John from Galway, Ireland. R.I.P."
This article is compiled from material supplied by Brud Slattery, Lahinch, John Flanagan, Lahinch and Frank Flanagan, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
About One Hundred Drowned - Men, Women And Children
We are indebted to our much respected friends from the Messrs Train & Co., the extensive Shipping and Emigration Agents of Liverpool, for the following melancholy intelligence, as also to our valued friend, John Moore, Esq., Post Office Pack-inspector of Boston, and formerly a citizen of Galway: -
The brig St. John, Capt. Oliver, from Galway, the property of Mr. H. Comerford, of this town [Galway], anchored inside of Minot's Ledge, Saturday, Sept. 5th. At about 7 o'clock a.m., on Sunday morning, she dragged her anchors and struck the rocks.
The following particulars of her loss, together with that of 99 of her passengers and crew, is gleaned from the various persons who witnessed the disaster: -
The vessel struck
at about 7 a m. yesterday. The scene was witnessed from Glade House, and is represented to have been terrible. The sea ran mountains high, and as soon as she touched, the waves swept the unfortunate human beings upon her crowded decks by dozens into the sea. The spectators of this awful sight imagined that they could hear the cries of the victims as they were swept away, but as no boat, save the life-boat, could have lived in the gale, it was found impossible to render aid.
The life-boat left Cohasset early in the morning, and went to the aid of a British brig which was in danger at the mouth of the harbour, and carried her to a place of safety. They did not however visit the wreck, supposing that the long boat which they met going towards the shore, contained all that belonged to her.
When the St. John struck, her small boat was got ready, but was swamped at the side by the large number jumping into her. Shortly after the long boat broke her fastening, and floated off from the vessel. The captain and several others swam to and got on board of her, and landed in safety near Glade House. The second mate, two men and two boys of the crew were drowned.
After the ship struck the rocks, she thumped awhile, but shortly went to pieces, holding together not more than fifty or sixty minutes. Seven women and three men came ashore on pieces of the wreck, alive, but some very much exhausted. Two dead bodies were also taken from pieces of the wreck.
Early in the forenoon, the news of the wreck began to spread, and in the afternoon, the shore was lined with people who were active in getting bodies from the surf. Mr. Holmes, railroad conductor, was busy during the entire day in aiding the living and rescuing the dead bodies from the waves. One man, whose name we did not learn, came near losing his life in rescuing a body from the surf.
Towards nightfall the bodies began to come ashore and quite a number were taken from the surf, all, however, dead. Dead bodies were thrown upon the rocks, but before they could be rescued, the sea would carry them back again.
Quite a number of her passengers, especially women and children, were below when she struck, and were probably drowned there, as a hole was almost instantly thumped in her bottom. The long boat that reached the shore in safety contained, in addition to the captain and crew, only one passenger. Of the 7 first class passengers, who were all lost were three girls, nieces of the owner of the vessel. Great difficulty was experienced in saving those who came ashore on the pieces of the wreck, on account of the surf, which would throw them upon the rocks and then carry them to sea again. The poor creatures would cling with a death-grasp to the clothes of those who came to rescue them, and were with difficulty made to release their hold, even after having reached a place of safety.
One woman saved was very badly bruised upon the rocks, and it was thought last night that she would die, but she is this morning most comfortable.
It is stated that one passenger, clinging to a piece of a wreck, floated to the rocks, but was so far gone as to be unable to unclench his hand. Finally someone jumped on the fragment, made fast a rope to him, and he was got ashore. His face of a deep purple, his open mouth, fixed teeth, and deathly eyes, formed a sight long to be remembered.
So far only 26 dead bodies have been recovered, but the surf which yet runs very high is full of them. Before nightfall many more will doubtless be taken out. The shore is strewed with the baggage of the passengers all stove to pieces.
LATER ACCOUNTS
Capt. Oliver and his surviving mate reached this city at twelve o'clock. He states he made Cape Cod Light about 5 o'clock on Saturday evening, Scituate Light near 1 o'clock on Sunday morning; then stood away to the northward, to clear the land, for about three hours; then, it being about daylight, tacked ship and stood S.S.W., weather very thick; he came inside of Minot's Light House, and there saw a brig lying at anchor just inside of breakers, at a place called Hocksett Rock; tried to wear away up to the brig, but found he could not fetch up, and threw over both anchors, which dragged; he then cut away her masts, and she drifted on to Grampus Ledge, where she went to pieces.
Previous to breaking up, the jolly-boat was hanging by the tackle, alongside, when the stern rigging bolt broke and the boat fell into the water. The captain, second mate, and two boys jumped in to get her clear, when about 25 passengers jumped in and swamped her. The twenty-five, together with second mate and two boys perished; the captain caught a rope hanging over the quarter, and was drawn on board by the first mate.
When the long boat was got clear a number of passengers jumped over to swim to her, but all perished. The captain, first mate (Mr. Crawford), and seven of the crew swam to and reached the boat.
The names of the drowned are probably unknown to the captain. He reports 120 souls on board, 21 of whom were saved, leaving 99 lost. The brig was in ballast.
All of the survivors were taken to Mr. Lathrop's house. They were chilled, bruised, and many of them senseless. Dr. Foster, the able and philanthropic physician of the village, attended them professionally, and it required untiring perseverance and skill to restore them. All but two of them are in a fair way of recovery. Mrs. Quinlan was struck upon the head with a very heavy piece of timber, which inflicted a severe wound, and she was otherwise both internally and externally injured. She will, however, speedily recover. Honora Burke is in a more critical situation. She was severely injured, and the struggle between life and death in her case has been a severe one. She appears much better this morning, and were it not that she is likely to become a mother in a short time, the Doctor could speak confidentially in her case.
A watch was set all night on the beach, to rescue what bodies from the water that might be cast ashore. Mr. Lathrop, at whose house the survivors were taken, relates an incident that is at once touching and affecting. The waves were dashing high before him, and upon their crested tops, as they were breaking upon him, he saw what he thought was a small package of goods. While watching to save even this small relic from the doomed vessel, it fell upon him striking upon his face. He reached forth his arm and grasped it - when, lo, he held an infant yet alive. He placed it in safety and that infant is now doing well in the family of a Mr. Gove, in this town.
From further conversation with the passengers and people of the town, it is certain to our mind, that Captain Oliver is liable to severe censure for some parts of his conduct. We would be the last to say one word the would add to the poignancy of his feelings in view of his great disaster; but, in a question involving the lives of more than one hundred fellow beings, we are bound to speak faithfully, the truth, as it has been presented to us.
It seems that on the afternoon of Saturday 6th inst., he numbered his passengers. Upwards of one hundred names were borne upon the manifest, or list, as two passengers called it who answered to the call. A line was then drawn across the deck, and between twenty and thirty other names were borne upon a small memorandum book. If the consignee has a duplicate list of passengers he or they should produce it. Unless a complete list can be produced we can never fully ascertain the exact number who perished on board this vessel on the fatal morning of October 9.
It is stated by three of the passengers that, on the afternoon of Saturday after they had made Provincetown Light, the Captain mustered his passengers on deck and joyfully assured them that the last night of their confinement on board had arrived. A sad truth and most fearfully realised. His passage had been a good one and he felt elated. The simple and light-hearted passengers in the exuberance of their feelings prepared for an illumination; the deck and rigging were decorated with candles and dance and song wore away the evening of their LAST NIGHT ON BOARD THE ST. JOHN. The Captain dealt out his crew a treat of ardent spirits, and all on board participated in the joys and hopes incident to the termination of an Atlantic passage. Sad, sad, finale to their journey.
The following are the names of the few passengers who were saved: - Austin Kearin, Catherine Flanagan, Betsy Higgins, Mary Keane Michael Fitzpatrick, Michael Gibbon, Barbara Kennelly, Mary Slattery, Michael Redding, Honor Cullen, Honor Burke, and Mrs. Quinlan.
The Burial of the Victims of the St. John - Melancholy Sight
One of our reporters visited the scene of the lamentable catastrophe, yesterday, and states that the sight was heart-rending in the extreme. The shore, for about a mile in length, was strewed with portion of the wreck. Some of the bodies were shockingly mutilated. The forehead of one the woman (sic) was horribly mangled; the flesh from the right leg of another was torn off from above the knee to the feet; all the others were more or less bruised, with the exception of one young girl, recognised as Sally Sweeny, whose person exhibited no injuries. Her features were as calm and placid as if she were enjoying a quiet and pleasant slumber. It was expected, however, that the tide would float in more (sic).
An inquest was held, and a verdict returned in accordance with the facts heretofore given of the terrible calamity.
After remaining on the beach until eleven o'clock, the lids of the coffins were nailed down, and the bodies were then removed in wagons to the church. Here religious ceremonies were performed by the Rev. Messrs. Reed and Osgood of Cohassett, and after at the grave by the Rev. Mr. Redden, a Catholic clergyman from Quincy.
The bodies were all buried in one grave which was some twenty feet long, by nine broad, and six in depth.
An interesting incident occurred as the coffins were being placed under the final covering. The cars from Boston arrived at that moment, and among the passengers were the sisters (sic) of Miss Peggy Adams, one of the victims, and her husband, from South Boston. At the inquest the coffin was opened, and a most melancholy scene ensued. The sister's agony was most poignant, and exhibited itself in such a manner as to touch all hearts. What a melancholy meeting after so many days of joyful anticipation!
Too much praise cannot be awarded to the generous hearted citizens of Cohasset - male and female - for their noble conduct of the whole affair. One of them, Mr. Charles Studley, nearly lost his life in attempting to rescue the living and secure the bodies of the dead. Dr. Foster, an able physician of the town, also deserves praise for his unremitting exertions in behalf of the survivors.
Brig St. John of Galway, Ireland, Lost October 7, 1849 at Cohasset
List of Survivors and Drowned
Crew saved (9)
Captain . . . Oliver; Henry Cummerford, 1st Mate;
Sailors: Henry O'Hern, Michael Kennelly, William Larkin, Isaac Cummerford, Thomas Walker, James Flathery, Andrew Frost:
Crew lost (sailors (7) ):
Antonio McDonough, William Thompson, Michael Conners, William Angiers, Edward Kennelly, 2 apprentice boys.
Passengers saved (with ages) : (11)
Austin Kearin - 20, Betsy Higgins - 21, Michael Fitzpatrick - 26, Barbara Kennelly - 20, Michael Redding - 24, Mary or Honor Burke - 27 (lost 3 children), Catherine Flannagan - 20, Mary Kane - 24, Michael Gibbon - 26, Mary Slattery - 20, Hanora Cullen - 28 (lost 3 children)
Cabin passengers lost (5)
of KILNARE, COUNTY CLARE: Mary Flannigan, Nancy Hannagan, Margaret Hannagan.
of INISTIVAN, COUNTY CLARE; Bridget Quinn, Eliza O'Brien
Steerage passengers lost (90)
of INISTIVAN, COUNTY CLARE: Ann Slattery, Bridget Slattery, Hugh Madigan, Margaret Keenan
of KUNNANMAR, COUNTY GALWAY: Bridget Connelly, Patrick Sweeney, wife, 9 children
of GALWAY; Patrick Corman, Miles Sweeney, Thomas Burke, Eliza Burke, Mary McDermott, Joyce McDermott & child, Catharine Fitzpartick, Bridget Burke, Peggy Purkey.
of LALINEN, COUNTY CLARE: Michael Hannagan.
of KILLANARA, COUNTY CLARE: Patrick Lahiff, John Lahiff, Thomas Riley, Bridget Maddigan
of INNISTIVAN, COUNTY CLARE: Hugh Glynn
of GALWAY: John Belton, Mary Dolan, Thomas Fahey, Bridget Fahey, Martha Fahey, Honora Donnelly, Honora Mullen, sisters Catherine Henniff and . . . . Henniff, Mary Cahill, Patrick Noonan, Mary Landsky. Meggy Mullen & sister's child, John Butler
of ROAN, COUNTY CLARE: Bridget McMahan, Patrick McMahan, Catherine McMahan, Mary Nalon, Mary Frowley & child
of INNES, COUNTY CLARE: Mary Freeman & child, Mr. Egan, wife & daughter
of DYANT, COUNTY CLARE: Martin Sexton, Jeremiah Murphy, James Moran
of ISSISTIVAN, COUNTY CLARE: Margaret Keenan, Miss Brooks
of ANCH, COUNTY CLARE: Daniel Byrnes, Michael Griffen, Catherine Burnes, Peggy Molloy, Ellen Hassett
of KILMARY: Patrick McGrath, James McGrath, Winny Galvin, Mary Galvin, Margaret Kane, Mary McNamara
of CLARE: Honora Lahiff or Rohan, John Lahiff or Rohan, Mary Curtis, Honora Mulkenan, Mary Mulkenan, Margaret Mulkenan.
From The Boston Post, October 12, 1849.
Although five weeks had elapsed since the tragedy, the list bears signs of hasty compilation. There are obvious errors in the names both of persons and of places, and in the numbers of people involved.
There is evidence that the list was compiled by a reporter from information supplied informants who were more familiar with the Clare contingent aboard the St. John than with the Galway emigrants. It is evident the reporter had some difficulty with the Clare accent. A second set of errors occurred when the printer set up the type from the longhand list.
Under the first heading come the placenames, which should read: Kilfenora (Kilnare, Kilanara), Ennistymon (Inistivan, Innistivan, Ississtivan), Kilmurry (Kilmary). The correct form of Dyant may have been Dysart. Anch may have been Inch on the Miltown Malbay-Ennis road but more likely to have been Lahinch, as it is pronounced locally, with a heavy stress on the first syllable.
A pointer to the second type of error is given by the names of the cabin passengers, three of whom were Flanagans. The longhand "Fl" was misread by the compositor as an "H". Similarly the first "h" in Lahinch was set up as "i" and the final "ch" as "en".
The inscription on the memorial in Cohasset put the number lost at a very precise ninety-nine even though there was some doubt as to the number of bodies interred there. The list given above has been duplicated again and again in spite of the very obvious mistakes: steerage passengers lost are put at ninety although there are only eighty names in that part of the list; Margaret Keenan's name is repeated under two variants of Ennistymon; the infant rescued by Mr. Lathrop is not included among the survivors.
And there is a further complication. Two of the survivors charged Captain Oliver with falsifying the count of the passengers. On the Saturday evening, they said, the passengers had been assembled on deck and the captain had entered the names of a hundred of them in a list; a line was then drawn on the deck and the names of the twenty to thirty people on the other side of the line were written in a little "memorandum book" kept by Oliver.
The available evidence suggests that there were only ninety-eight passengers and sixteen of a crew. Of the latter, nine men survived; five men and two boys died. Of the passengers, four men, eight women and one child reached the shore alive; twenty-three men, thirty-eight women and nineteen children were drowned. In all, ninety-two people lost their lives, not ninety-nine. But this calculation assumes that the figure 90 for "steerage passengers lost" is in error; if it is correct, then the names of ten drowned were omitted at some stage.
This article is compiled from material supplied by Brud Slattery, Lahinch, John Flanagan, Lahinch and Frank Flanagan, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
