A dark pall fell on Quilty on Tuesday when news emerged that the bodies of local fishermen Michael Galvin and Noel Dickinson had been recovered from the waters off Spanish Point. They had been moving lobster pots ahead of an impending storm.

Both men lived in Seaview Park, which has been hit by two additional deaths in recent weeks.
The fishermen and their trawler, The Lady Eileen, were due back at Seafield Pier at 5pm on Monday. When they failed to return, concern grew locally for their well being.

Rescue services, family and friends began searching the waters around Spanish Point on Monday night, while around 100 volunteers searched the shore from Spanish Point to Green and Goat’s Islands. That area was searched because that was the direction in which the wind was blowing. 
Miltown Malbay man James McMahon, a member of Burren Sub Aqua Club, joined the rescue effort at about 10pm on Monday night, along with his sons Jim and Eoin.

Mr McMahon was a close friend of Michael Galvin and he was also well acquainted with Noel Dickinson. “Michael would have been a very good personal friend of mine,” he said.

“I’d have known Noel from being around boats. I do welding and I’d have done repairs on Michael’s boats a lot. Noel would be there. He was a lovely lad. Quiet and a great worker.

“He’d been fishing for a long time on and off. He was a man that was never idle. A quiet lad, he’d never say a word. It’s very sad for both families,” he added.

Despite knowing both men, James had to put his emotions on hold while he searched. “You have to do the job and try and get on with it. When we got them, you could think about it then. Still, I presume Michael would have wanted me to be there,” he said.

Once alerted on Monday night, James and his sons set off on a rib boat. They searched from 10.30pm until about 2am.

“It’s very, very hard to understand what happened. It seemed to be very sudden. They got no chance. It must have been very, very rapid. The sea was so calm. When we were out that night, it was so calm,” he said.

While on the water, Mr McMahon and his sons smelled the waft of diesel in the air. “We got the smell of the diesel exactly where it happened. We were thinking it wasn’t great alright at that stage. There was a lot of markers on the water, which had come up from the boat. It was surprising to see so many of them together so we were thinking there was a problem,” he said.

Other agencies involved in the search and recovery operation included Doolin Coastguard, Kilkee Marine Rescue and the Shannon and Sligo-based rescue helicopters. The search was put on hold in the early hours of Tuesday morning before resuming at first light.

“On Tuesday at about 6am, I alerted some divers and our own co-ordinator, Cormac McMahon, to get other clubs involved with us. We had three divers from Burren Sub Aqua Club, four from Kilkee Sub Aqua Club, a diver and a coxswain from Aughinish Diving Club,” Mr McMahon explained.

“When we got to the scene we had to wait for the trawlers to get the nets off the boat. They were able to attach them because the markers had come up from the (cray) nets. They had floated. That cleared the boat and made it safe for us to dive down,” he added.

The remains of the two fishermen were brought ashore shortly after 1pm on Tuesday to scenes of overwhelming grief. Prayers and a minute’s silence were held before the bodies were removed to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick for formal identification and a post mortem.

 

Investigation launched

The Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) has confirmed it will investigate the tragic drownings of Quilty fishermen, Michael Galvin and Noel Dickinson.

The function of the MCIB is to carry out investigations into marine casualties that take place in Irish waters or involve Irish registered vessels. The main purpose of the board’s investigations is to establish the cause or causes of a marine casualty, with a view to making recommendations to the Minister for Transport for the avoidance of similar incidents.

Both men lived in Seaview Park. Michael Galvin and his wife, Liz, have three children, Brian, Aidan and Michelle, all of whom are travelling home from Australia for the funerals. Mr Galvin was a committed Kilmurry-Ibrickane GAA club supporter and even sported the colours of his club on his boat, before the 2010 All-Ireland club final in Croke Park.

Noel Dickinson is survived by his partner, Helen O’Leary; his parents, Larry and Mary and siblings, Anne-Marie, Frances and Alan.

David Galvin, a nephew of Michael Galvin has expressed immense gratitude to the several rescue services and individuals from the local and neighbouring communities in helping to search for and recover both men.

“We’d like to pay tribute to all of the rescue services and to all of the people for coming to help with the search. We need to put that message out there because all of the rescue services were outstanding as were all of the local people and the Armada Hotel because they were very generous with tea and sandwiches for everyone,” he told The Clare Champion.

He also singled out the contribution of the local fishing community to the efforts on Monday and Tuesday.

“The fishing communities in West Clare also rallied together from Carrigaholt, Doonbeg, Liscannor and even up as far as Doolin. People and boats came from all over the help,” he said.

 

GAA chairman offers unyielding support to families

KILMURRY-Ibrickane GAA Club chairman Martin Lynch is hopeful the community support on offer to the Galvin and Dickinson families will help the bereaved to deal with their tragic losses.

The club chairman told The Clare Champion the club’s support will be long lasting and won’t dissipate in the coming weeks.

“Hopefully, the support of being there and helping will help the families in weeks and months to come, to look back and see that the support was there for them. I can see that this will go on as we go down the road in time. It’s not just these days that the GAA is there as a shoulder of comfort. The GAA will be there to help in the weeks and months to come as well,” he said.

Martin Lynch was in the Seaview estate on Wednesday morning where the families of the late fishermen reside. Two other neighbouring families have also been bereaved in recent weeks.

“I came out of the estate this morning. There’s four [bereaved] houses tied on to each other, there’s only one house in between separating them. You can imagine how people in Seaview Park feel and by extension, the wider community,” Mr Lynch reflected.

He acknowledged Kilmurry-Ibrickane’s decision to play their Senior Football Championship match against Cratloe on Tuesday evening was not taken lightly.

“We were in a no-win situation heading to Cusack Park yesterday evening. There was very much divided opinion as to whether we should have gone ahead with that game or not. But we, as a club, felt that it was going to give a release to players and supporters but in no way could you envisage that it was going to help in the healing process for both families either,” Martin Lynch remarked.

“All we can do is do what we can for both families,” he vowed.