IT WAS CASE OF ‘COAL GALORE!’ IN MORNINGTON

‘Shipwreck’ helped keep a village very cosy

SURELY in the annals of time this story is recorded around Mornington.

There was a famous film made about a shipwreck in Scotland many moons ago called ‘Whisky Galore’ - based on how villagers made the most of a whisky shipment ending up on their front door!

Well, it wasn’t drink washing up near the Maiden Tower 80 years ago - it was coal!

The SS Firethorn with a cargo of 310 tons of coal for Messrs. P. Cunningham and Sons, Coal Merchants, Drogheda, went aground near the Maiden Tower, Mornington, on a Thursday morning and was refloated on the Friday morning at high tide.

The vessel was lying close up to the south wall and about 200 feet from the centre of the channel.

From 5-30pm on the Thursday evening the crew with other assistance had managed to dump about twenty tons of the cargo overboard to make it easier for the vessel to refloat.

When efforts under her own power failed to take the vessel off, the Drogheda Harbour Commissioners’ Dredger, the S.S. “Moy “was requisitioned.

The Moy’s ropes were broken when making the attempt and the ropes from the other vessel were used and at 2-30pm the vessel was refloated. The Moy kept the vessel in tow until she reached the harbour in safety.

However, excitement was caused when the tide receded and there it was - a mountain of coal!

The Mornington residents using carts, prams, buckets, baskets and sacks started to remove the coal.

Mr. Roffey from the ship’s insurers, Lloyds, who was present objected to this but the villagers continued, regarding the coal as “shipwrack.” Only a small portion of the twenty tons of coal remained when the tide returned.

Later the whole of the abandoned coal was purchased by a local resident and retailed to the villagers at 1s a bag.

The guards from Drogheda arrived out on the Saturday to investigate the matter, and many yards and houses in the district were searched for some of the Firethorn’s coal.

The S.S. “Firethorn” sailed from Birkenhead with the cargo to Drogheda.

I’d say there were a few warm homes in Mornington that winter!