Divers examine wreck of 1828 ferry

Galway-based divers have carried out preliminary surveys of the wreck of the Anach Cuain ferry boat in which 19 people lost their lives in 1828.

Timbers identified on the Corrib river at Menlo castle are "almost certainly" those of the ferry boat, which inspired the poet, Antoin Raifteri, to write his famous lament.

Mr Dave Jackson, a diver and scientist with the Marine Institute, said yesterday the location of the wreck had been known for over a decade. Positive identification would involve more examination of the timbers, but the evidence pointed to the ferry boat, he told The Irish Times.

The skeleton, including ribs and a possible keel, is lying in a 20-metre hole off Menlo pier, which also contains other archaeological material including a carriage and agricultural machinery, according to Mr Jackson and Ms Deirdre O'Hara, another diver.

Eleven men and eight women lost their lives on the Corrib on September 4th, 1828, when the rowing boat taking them from Annaghdown on the lake to Fair Hill in Galway foundered.

Some 31 passengers had boarded, along with 10 sheep and a quantity of lumber. One of the sheep became restless and put its hoof through a plank. A male passenger tried to plug the leak with his overcoat. In stamping it into the hole, he drove the plank through the hull.

The 13 people who survived received assistance from British soldiers in the 64th Regiment. Raifteri's lament records the events.

The first film of the wreck has been recorded on dives licensed by Duchas, the Heritage Service, and carried out by Ms O'Hara, Mr Jackson and Mr Conal O Domhnaill.

The work was conducted for a new documentary series on six dives around Ireland, made by Nemeton Television Productions for TG4. Eire FoThoinn will be broadcast on TG4 at 8 p.m. tomorrow and will be repeated at 11 p.m. on Monday.