The sea is still the scavenger it always was - a fickle opportunist, waiting with Pavlovian anticipation to subsume the unwary mariner into the oblivion of its murky depths.
But shipwrecks are not as common as they used to be. Stronger and sturdier ships, better communications between ship and shore, modern navigational aids, and above all perhaps, accurate and timely weather forecasts, have deprived the sea of countless victims.
In the vicinity of Dublin in the 19th century, wrecks were almost commonplace. One such tragedy was that of the Tayleur,, en route from Liverpool to Melbourne with 600 emigrants, which ended up near Lambay Island 146 years ago today.
The Tayleur was less than one year old, and one of the largest sailing vessels of her time. At 11.45 on the morning of January 21st, 1854, the lookout cried "breakers on the starboard bow". According to a survivor, "the helm was put hard to starboard, the sheets of the headsails were let go, and every means was taken to bring the ship around on a course free from the threatened danger.
But it was impossible to see a cable's length from the vessel, and in about 20 minutes more she struck with great violence on a reef of rocks running out from a creek right to the eastward bluff of Lambay Island". Some 400 lives were lost.
The same witness tells a poignant story:
"The ship's doctor struggled hard to save his wife and child. He had succeeded in getting about half-way to the shore on a rope, holding his child by its clothes in his teeth, but just then the ship lurched outwards, by which the rope was dragged from the hands of those who held it on the lower rocks and was held only by those above, thus running high in the air, so the brave fellow could not drop on the rock.
" Word was now given to lower the rope gently; but those who held it above let it go by the run, and the poor fellow with his child was buried in the waves. "He at length swam to a ladder hanging by a rope alongside the ship and got upon it. After he had been there a minute or two his wife floated close to him; he immediately took hold of her and dragged her on to the ladder, tenderly parted the hair from her head and appeared to be encouraging her. But in another minute she was washed from his hold and sank immediately. All three of that delightful family perished in the sea."