A Commemorative Mass will be held in Acres, Burtonport today, marking the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the ‘Evelyn Marie’.
The trawler, which had six young men on board, hit rocks and sank at Rathlin O’Byrne island on the night of January 7th 1975, as she headed back to port.
Those who died were 32 year old Paddy Bonner from Burtonport, 33 year old Hughie Gallagher from Arranmore, 24 year old Johnny O’Donnell from Burtonport, Rolo Faughnan, a Fermanagh native who lived in Burtonport, 26 year old Burtonport based Tom Ham, originally from Longford Town, and 20 year old Joe O’Donnell from Burtonport.
The bodies of Rolo Faughnan and Joe O’Donnell, were found, the other four men are still missing.
In November of the following year, five men were lost when the Carraig Una, also based in Burtonport, went down in almost the same spot.
Tosh Lavery was a member of the then new Garda Water Unit which was involved in the two searches.
He says the level of loss to hit Burtonport over that period was significant………
