Mayo memories: Rescue of Mayo lighthouse keeper in 1947 recalled
By Tom Gillespie
READERS will be familiar with Blackrock Island as the location where on Tuesday, March 14, 2017, the Irish Coast Guard Rescue 116 helicopter impacted the island, with the wreckage coming to rest in 40 metres of water south west of the island with the tragic loss of four lives.
Seventy-nine years ago the dramatic rescue of a lighthouse keeper from the island was recorded in The Connaught Telegraph on Saturday, November 1, 1947.
The report read: In the history of Irish lighthouses none has so frequently hit the headlines as that of Blackrock, situated five miles off the storm-swept coast of north Mayo.
As regularly as the Artic snows in the north, this lone beacon standing on a rock 80 foot high, continually at the mercy of the Atlantic breakers, has launched many gripping stories to the world. Tragedy, swift and very often unannounced, has struck this guardian of the western waters, and in real stormy weather waves 100 feet high envelope this home of the ocean-going vessels’ best friend.
On Sunday morning (October 25, 1947), while those on the mainland made ready to depart to early Mass, another unwritten story was in the making on Blackrock, or, as it is better known locally, ‘The Rock’.
A wireless message flashed from the lighthouse informing the lighthouse information station at Blacksod that chief lighthouse keeper Jack Stapleton was seriously ill from boils that had become septic.
Immediately the news was dispatched to his home and to his comrades, who, after spending six weeks on ‘The Rock’, were having a rest ashore.
Hundreds of eyes turned towards the sea, which at the time was in one of its usual autumnal storms.
There was in the hearts of all these brave men a faint hope that they might, as on previous occasions, get through to ‘The Rock’, but even if they did their job was not completed then.
Before them lay the task of steering the frail craft around the fortress of stone when at any minute they may be hit by breaking rollers and dashed to pieces against this mighty buttress of solid stone.
The first to make the rescue attempt was the veteran fisherman John Cadden, who since the days of his childhood had witnessed situations such as this.
Despite the fact that he had on many previous occasions made this same journey, he was now forced, after a two-hour bitter fight with the elements, to return unsuccessfully.
From the ranks of the volunteers there stepped forth a colleague of the sick man, lighthouse keeper Padden, who realised the fateful position more than the others ashore.
He left with a grim determination that nothing would prevent him from reaching his objective.
Right well he foresaw what he had to fight against. For hours he battled with the mountainous waves which time and again nearly swamped his launch, until at last, and in complete exhaustion, he was compelled to return.
With his arrival back on the mainland hopes of making the rescue had to be abandoned for that day.
While those on the pier made futile attempts at rescue, away at the reception station in Blackrock stood Dr. Standard, Port Light’s medical officer, who gave instructions by wireless to the second keeper on the lighthouse as to how to treat the sick man, Stapleton, by now much worse and in grave danger.
Continually throughout the morning the wireless told the news of the sick man’s condition, until at 2 p.m. it flashed an announcement that the sepsis was spreading and Stapleton was in a critical condition.
In a last effort lighthouse keeper Padden, assisted by four of a crew, started on a voyage that could have proved to be their last.
Carefully, and with the greatest caution, they took the launch nearer the rock, where the second lighthouse keeper watched their progress.
Quickly the second lighthouse keeper made ready a cradle and, with the aid of a winch, swung keeper Stapleton clear of the protruding rock and lowered him to the gallant rescuers below.
The fact that he was in a sickly condition did not deter keeper Stapleton from doing his share on the return voyage. His continual smile and frequent jokes helped in no small way to give courage to the crew.
The rescue boat, having been now five hours absent, returned to the pier about 7 p.m., and the sick man was taken ashore on a stretcher, and taken home, where he was given medical attention by Dr. Standard.
Thus the gallant rescue by lighthouse keeper John Padden and his gallant crew of four has closed another chapter of ‘The Rock’.
ABOUT THE LIGHTHOUSE
According to Wikipedia, the lighthouse on Blackrock Island was constructed in 1864. It is a 50-foot-high round stone tower with lantern and gallery attached to a single storey keeper's house. The lighthouse is painted white.
It is one of Ireland's most remote lighthouses and the most westerly lighthouse off the Mayo coast. It was converted to automatic in 1974 after which the island became uninhabited.
The lighthouse was converted to solar power in 1999.
In September 1937 the then lighthouse keeper, Patrick Monaghan, was swept from the lighthouse by a freak wave.
On Wednesday, August 20, 1940, a German bomber attacked the SS Macville which was passing close to the island and damaged several lantern panes and the roof.
Three lighthouse keepers were stranded on Blackrock Island in the winter of 1942-1943 during the Emergency. Storms were particularly ferocious in this period and the landing stage and associated derricks were destroyed in the gales.
The keepers, who normally expected to be supplied every 10 days, started with reduced supplies due to being subject to rationing in the emergency, and were at points critically low on supplies.
Captain John Padden, at considerable risk, made several resupply attempts and supply baskets on a few occasions were successfully thrown to the island.
On Sunday, February 17, 1943, in a short lull in the weather, he was able to relieve Walter Coupe (117 days) and Michael O'Conner (90 days). Jack Scott, the principal keeper, remained to direct recovery operations.