Mr Paddy Barry, owner of the Galway hooker, St Patrick, which was wrecked on rocks off Co Cork several months ago, has expressed delight at the chance discovery of the vessel's tiller.
The 7ft oak tiller was found recently by a west Cork sculptor, Mr Ian McNinch, while out beachcombing in Glandore. "I had heard that the hooker had been wrecked in here, and I knew that its owner was appealing for any news of the rudder," Mr McNinch said yesterday.
"I normally go out looking for wreck and other pieces that I can use in my work, and I came across it on a tiny strand in the harbour." The sculptor found a brass porthole from the hull and several other items, including a hip flask.
He has returned the tiller to Mr Barry and intends to use some of the other material for a piece of sculpture. "It was a beautiful boat with its own history, and I think it deserves to be remembered in some way," he said. Mr McNinch lives in Leap, near Glandore, and works with a group of artists at the Digress studio in Skibbereen, Co Cork.
The St Patrick was the first and only Galway hooker to cross the Atlantic and to sail as far north as the Arctic Circle. It was one of only five original Galway hookers left on the water and had been owned by Mr Barry for the past 29 years. It was built in 1910 as a working vessel by the Casey brothers in Mweenish, Carna, Co Galway, and was rebuilt by Mr Colm Mulkerrins in 1988-1989.
Originally known as Bad Conroy, it transported supplies from Galway to the Conroy shop in Connemara. In 1912 Padraig Pearse travelled on the vessel from Rosmuc to the Aran Islands during his efforts to form the Irish Volunteers.