Cammoge Ferry Disaster, 1849

Cammoge Ferry Disaster 1849 by Moc on Mixcloud

On December 12th 1849, at Cammoge Point, Clarefield, County Clare, 41 people were drowned when their ferry boat capsized within feet of the shore at the mouth of Poulnasherry Bay on the Shannon Estuary. They came from the Parishes of Kilballyowen and Moyarta and had travelled earlier to Kilrush on the 12th of Dec to seek relief at the Workhouse. As none was forthcoming they made the last ferry back to Cammoge in a starving and destitute condition to meet their doom within yards of the shore. In this radio programme we hear their story as told by local historian Paddy Nolan Kilkee, Ciaran O'Murchadha historian Ennis who has written extensively on The Great Famine, Cristóir Mac Cárthaigh archivist, folklorist UCD Dublin, Michael Burke folklorist, farmer, and fisherman, Carnacalla Kilrush. It is about a dark time in the history of West Clare coming to the end of The Great Famine of the 1840s. In making this programme many thanks are due to Sallyann Marron Coore Mary Hamilton Carnacalla Derrick Lynch, Mullagh, and Pat Talty Coore, and also staff and management at Raidió Corca Baiscinn. Further support and material from Clare Library, The Manse, Ennis, and Anne Finnucane, Kilkee Library, Kilkee. The programme was produced by Michael O'Connell for Raidió Corca Baiscinn. This programme was made with the support of The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.