THE GHOSTLY remains of a 19th century ship, whose bones adorn a beach in Kerry, is the basis for a book which goes a way to offering up sunken Limerick secrets.
A strange structure visible at low tide on Beale Strand in County Kerry is the wreck of the Thetis – a vessel whose story is both a compelling mystery and an allegory of Irish society in the years before the famine.
The vessel was owned by the Spaights of Limerick before it met a watery end in the Shannon estuary.
Originally from Dublin, engineer and sailor Paul O’Dowd has been living on the North Kerry coast with his wife Anne for 40 years.
His quest to uncover what happened to the Thetis germinated on one of his many walks along the strand – something he recounts in the introduction to his new book, Final Voyage of the Thetis.
Owned by Limerick landlord and businessman Francis Spaight, of Spaights of Limerick fame, the ship’s primary purpose was to transport timber from Quebec, Canada, back to Ireland.
It also operated as a passenger vessel, carrying thousands of Irish emigrants to the New World. These passengers endured crowded, unsanitary conditions with limited access to food and water for at least six weeks – experiences O’Dowd vividly describes in the pages of his book.
“There’s no doubt that Francis Spaight was aware of what went on with the ship. He would have known all about how many passengers were on board and how overcrowded it was, just as he would have known about the overloading on the way back with timber,” Paul told the Limerick Post.
No record of investigation
Despite the hardships faced by those aboard, Ireland in the years before the Great Famine benefited from the remarkable scientific advancements of the late Georgian period, the author points out. In his book, O’Dowd details the various navigational devices and tools used by captains to cross the Atlantic in sailing ships of the day.
At the book lies a mystery, how could a brig that survived the treacherous, ice-laden waters of the St Lawrence River meet its end in the comparatively calmer waters of the Shannon Estuary?
According to some official records, some crew members perished on that fateful night, yet these deaths are not corroborated elsewhere.
Rumours also suggest that the ship was carrying tobacco as contraband, which may have played a role in its eventual demise. Is it plausible that Francis Spaight, the ship’s owner and a prominent figure among the landed elite, was unaware of the contraband and bore no responsibility for what happened to the ship, O’Dowd asks.
“The ship owners would have known there was contraband on board. The tobacco had to be bought and it was expensive – these were part of a landed gentry class who had money,” he suggests.
“They were trying to get rid of the tobacco quickly because if they went on to Kilrush, the Customs and Excise would have found it there.
“And interestingly, there’s no record of any court case or investigation,” he adds.
Paul has dedicated the book to his two grandchildren, Luca (11) and Antonio (8).
Final Voyage of the Thetis is currently available online at buythebook.ie and on Amazon.
