1903 shipwreck is located by divers

September 1980

Divers who went out from Rosslare Harbour last week in skipper Jim Doyle’s trawler, the Mary Agnes, lcoated the wreck of a British freighter which has lain on the seabed off the Wexford coast for close on eighty years.

On Sunday April 26th, 1903, the 2,700 tons and 380-foot long Manchester Market, with a crew of 40 and commanded by Capt. Martin Hilkins, struck the Gipsey, one of the outlying reefs of Tuskar Rock in dense fog. The shop was carrying a cargo of iron and lead from Manchester and was bound for Philadelphia.

There was no radio in those days, and the telephone linking Tuskar Rock with the pilot master’s house at Rosslare Port was out of order. So it was 48 hours before the lightkeepers could summon help. When the Rosslare lifeboat and the Wexford paddle tug reached the scene on the Tuesday, 25 of the Manchester Market’s crew were on Tuskar and the remaining 15 were still on board the ship. All 40 were rescued before the ship broke her back and sank.

At the subsequent inquiry, Capt. Hilkins and the second mate, who was officer of the watch, both had their certificates suspended.

The wreck is now owned by Mr Michael Burrell, proprietor of the Bakehouse Restaurant at Carne, who purchased it from the underwriters. The divers are carrying out a survey to ascertain what is worth attempting to salvage from the wreck.