The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
A dream comes true for the Atlantic conqueror, Pat
August 1995
A 29-YEAR-old Tralee man fulfilled the dream of a lifetime by sailing from America across the Atlantic Ocean to his home in Kerry.
Pat McCarthy from St Brendan’s Park arrived in Fenit on Sunday night after three weeks at sea.
Married with two children, Pat and his friend Sean McNaily from Coolock in Dublin, sailed home in a boat that was built from the hull by Pat himself over the past four years.
Pat’s sister Olive told The
Kerryman that sailing to Ireland was an idea Pat had for a long time.
“He said it was always a thing in his head that he wanted to do. He bought a boat and worked on it himself for four years before coming home,” she said.
Before setting off from America, Pat’s wife, Trish Murphy from Shanakill flew back to Kerry with their two children to wait for her husband.
The voyage took the two men three weeks and the bad weather took its toll on the boat.
“They were only a few days away when they lost wind and could not make it in. Their engine had failed a few days before that. The Fenit lifeboat was sent out and that towed them ashore,” she said.
Pat’s mother, Olive, was kept in the dark about his Atlantic crossing until after he had safely arrived in Fenit.
“Nobody told me anything about it. I knew he was coming home for good but I didn’t know he was sailing home. I was quite upset that I wasn’t at Fen it when the boat was brought inb ut we have a video of it,” she said.
The last time that Olive
McCarthy spoke to her son, he told her that he would have to stay in America an extra three weeks to complete a job.
“Just after that phone call, he stepped onto his boat to begin his journey,” she said.
She said the family decided not to tell her because she had suffered from a heart attack five months ago.
“I would not have liked to be told three weeks ago when he was setting out on the trip,” she said.
Pat, who is a carpenter by trade, plans to stay in Ireland permanently with his wife and children.