Fishing community unites with families of lost trawlermen

A Co Cork community which has experienced its own tragedies at sea and which has ties to the missing crews of both the Pére Charlesand the Honeydew IIunited last night in a show of solidarity with the grieving families of those lost in the past week.

Among the many people who attended the special Mass for missing fishermen and their families at the Star of the Sea Church in Ballycotton were the family of local fisherman Glynn Cott, who was lost with his crewman Jan Sankowski when their boat the Maggie Bwent down last year.

The Ballycotton boat sank just five miles off Hook Head in Wexford last March not far from where the Pére Charleswent down and both Mr Cott and Mr Sankowski's bodies have never been found.

Last night, Mr Cott's parents, Con and Margaret, his brother Alan, his sister Sharon and his girlfriend Elaine Hayes, joined with others to pray for all those lost at sea including the seven victims of last week's double tragedy off the south east coast.

Local curate, Fr Peadar O'Callaghan, recalled the close links between the Cott family and Tom Hennessy, skipper of the Pére Charles, while he also remembered the skipper of the Honeydew II, Ger Bohan, as a man who was well-liked and respected in Ballycotton.

"Tonight we gather here in Star of the Sea Church to show our support for and solidarity with all the families and communities, from Kinsale to Dunmore East, Lithuania to Poland and the Ukraine, " said Fr O'Callaghan.

"Our thoughts are with these families and communities who are praying and hoping that their loved ones lost at sea off the Hook Peninsula last Wednesday will soon be found and brought home."

Fr O'Callaghan said the loss of the Pére Charleslast Wednesday night had "shocked us into silence" and he recalled how Tom Hennessy had often stayed with the Cott family in Ballycotton and had taken an active part in the search for Glynn Cott and Jan Sankowski.

"On the following day the loss of the Honeydew II, out of Kinsale, shocked the whole country and made everyone aware of the day-to-day risks taken by fishermen, both native and migrant, fishing out of small fishing communities all along our coast , to provide for their families."

Fr O'Callaghan asked everyone to pray for the safety and success of those searching at sea and along the coastline for the missing crew members. Candles were lit to remember all those who have been lost at sea.