Tit Bonhomme Ceremony

 

"Memorial.
This is a community project.
Dedicated to all those lost at sea from the parishes of Myross, Leap and Glandore"

Today, Irish President Michael D Higgins attended a ceremony in Union Hall, to remember the five fishermen who had died in the sinking of the trawler, 'Tit Bonhomme in January.

During my recent visit to West Cork, I was moved to see that a fitting memorial was already in the process of construction, scarcely three months on from the tragedy. The immediacy of this project clearly indicating the sheer enormity of the effect it had on these communities.

(The likes would still be being discussed three years on, here in the UK!)

It may look calm here but on 15th January it was a very different picture. The proximity to home is all too evident, with Glandore snuggling onto the hillside in the distance and the safety of Union Hall just around the corner. Mariners directions are to 'avoid Adam (the large island front right) and hug Eve' (the small island mid left).
We may never know what happened on that stormy morning but the Tit Bonhomme sadly still lies in the water at the point marked by the buoy.