Disaster can strike at any community but within weeks the world often moves on. However, left in the wake of such tragedy, the memories of those lost are not forgotten by the people and communities closest to them. Sometimes lessons are learned. Series Two of this successful series tells the stories and histories of eight Irish tragedies. They include: Noyek’s fire in the centre of Dublin; the Wexford container deaths of eight Kurdish immigrants; The Princess Victoria car ferry sinking off the coast of Belfast; the Cherryville train crash in County Kildare; the New Quay drowning of school children in Co. Clare; the Lacken, County Mayo drownings during the big storm of 1927; and the Drumcollogher cinema fire in Limerick of 1926.
EPISODE 6: LACKEN DROWNINGS
In October 1927 a freak storm blew up along the west coast of Ireland. The hurricane devastated communities in Galway and Mayo and on the Islands of Inishturk and Inishkea. At least 48 fishermen were killed that autumn evening. The lifeblood of many rural communities was lost. One of the parishes touched was Lacken near Killalla in North County Mayo. Nine men died that fateful night: breadwinners all. Eighty years on, just how has the disaster affected Lacken? Two witnesses, now in their 80s and 90s, remember the tragic night as if it were yesterday.