£800,000 trawler joins Kilmore fleet

August 1980

A new trawler joined the twenty-five strong Kilmore Quay fishing fleet last week, and the 80 ft. long 100-ton ‘Bridget Carmel’ is by far the most modern yet to sail from the busy port.

Owned by twenty-nine-year-old skipper, Mr. John Keating, the trawler cost more than £800,000 and was built by Tyrrell’s of Arklow. It carries the most up-to-date navigational aids, including sonar equipment for placing the exact location of fish shoals.

The first completely shelter-decked trawler in the Kilmore fleet, the ‘Bridget Carmel’ will be used mainly for herring fishing around the Irish coast. She can stay at sea for up to 14 days, with an eight-man crew.

Built from iroka hardwood on oak frames, the trawler is named after Mr Keating’s wife Bridget, and doubled the family fleet by joining another boat which formerly had the same name, but has now been renamed ‘Success’.

Mr. Keating, of Newtown, Kilmore, is a nephew of four other Kilmore trawlermen, Mark, Willie, John and Jimmy Bates, and he bought his first vessel five years ago after starting in the profession nine years previously.

The ‘Bridget Carmel’ was bought with the aid of grants from Bord Iascaigh Mhara, with further finance being provided by Allied Irish Banks.

Mr. Keating took delivery of the vessel from Arklow last Tuesday week and she was officially launched on Saturday afternoon last when the traditional bottle of champagne was smahes against her bows by Mrs. Keating.

Prior to that, ‘Bridget Carmel’ had been blessed by Fr. Matthew Kelly of Kilmore, assisted by Rev. Haycock of Seattle, Washington State, who is a cousin of the owner.