New information has shed new light on the death of one of three Donegal brothers who was killed at sea during World War One.
The news comes following a discovery by Caroline Carr of Donegal County Museum, supplying fresh information for the O’Donnell family, of Stroove, who lost three sons in the final months of the Great War.
Edward and Annie O’Donnell (née Griffith), Gortgowan, Moville, then Stroove, had 4 sons in the Merchant Navy during World War 1.
Mark, John, James and Eddie O’Donnell all served during the war while the fourth brother, Eddie, survived both WW1 and WW2 at sea. His medals are on display in the Maritime Museum, in Greencastle.
Mark died whilst serving as mate on S.S.Saint Barchan, of Glasgow, when she was torpedoed, without warning, by the German submarine, UB-94, on October 21, 1918.
Whilst on passage the SS Ardgarth, of Greenock from Dublin to Belfast, John O’Donnell, in June the same year, contracted pneumonia and was landed in Belfast. He was put on a train to Derry but died there before he could make it home.
Another son, James, was serving as a seaman on the SS Ibis when she was lost, with all hands, in a collision on May 12, 1918. Ibis was on passage from Bilbao to Glasgow, with a cargo of ore, when she was in collision with SS Whimbrel, six miles West of Lizard Point.
The death of James, however, was always a mystery to his family at home as they never received official notification of his death.
Meanwhile, Caroline Carr, while carrying out research on another project discovered an article in the Belfast Telegraph, which was likely due to the brothers’ reputation in Belfast shipping circles.
Aware of the ongoing search being conducted by the Inishowen Maritime Museum, Carr passed the article on to museum staff who were able to pass it on to family relatives.
The discovery comes at a time when the Maritime Museum is refreshing the names on the Inishowen Maritime Memorial.
Over 100 new names will be added to the memorial, which will be re-dedicated at the Blessing of the Fleet service on August 9.
Thanking the County Museum for the discovery, Maritime Museum manager, Rosemarie Doherty, said: “That while these snippets of information may seem trivial to some, they give us a valuable insight into the past and can be of huge significance to a family such as the O’Donnells.
“The Maritime welcomes any information regarding the maritime heritage of Inishowen as it greatly adds to our understanding of our place and our people in the past.”
