The legend of Donnacha Rua Mac Cárthaigh

Edwin McGreal

We head for the Bills on a winter’s day

With a huge challenge ahead of us

The gale had started blowing

And the sea was rising nicely

The first of the nine verses of the song AmharΡn na mBioll sets the scene for a legendary survival story in the village of Dooega on Achill Island.

It tells the tale of a group of men from the fishing village of Dooega who headed for the perilous Bills Rock in the wild open Atlantic south of Achill on a November day sometime in the middle of the 19th century.

Conditions would get much worse as the group risked their lives to get enough fish in the bountiful waters around the Bills Rock to get their families through the winter.

Ling was their target. It had great longevity once salted so a good supply of ling would keep villagers in Dooega fed over the winter and into the following spring.

But on this precarious journey the weather got worse and worse and before they knew it, they were in great danger as huge waves crashed into their boat.

Keeping lookout from Dooega Head was their friend Johnny. AmharΡn na mBioll tells of his grave fears - ‘his poor heart in turmoil, watching these fine men who would drown, with no way for him to save them’.

There was a fatal feeling on the boat too. With a high swell and big waves panic took over among some of the crew, assuming their fate was sealed. However, Donnacha Rua Mac CΡrthaigh kept a cool head and took control.

He steered the ship and kept them afloat while debate raged over the best route to safety.

Some suggested hitting for Clare Island but one of their number, Eoin Ó PiotΡin, insisted they should use a rock on Cnoc Mór high above Dooega village as their guide. This rock is known as ‘the star’, so bright does it become from sea.

With the waves blocking a view of most of the land, ‘the star’ became invaluable in facing for the sanctuary of home.

However, to get back to Dooega using ‘the star’ as their guide involved a journey along the treacherous waters south of Dooega where Donnacha Rua’s great knowledge of the waters was the difference between triumph and disaster.

Another contributory factor was the excellent quality of the boat - an bΡidín is fearr ar an gCuan, the finest little boat on the bay - built by a man named Burke.

They made it home in one piece and the song AmharΡn na mBioll was written about their dramatic survival.

In a time before television and radio, this song was passed on, from house to house in Dooega, and immortalised men like Donnacha Rua and Eoin Ó PiotΡin.

Mac CΡrthaigh was a renowned man of the sea. He was a pilot of Clew Bay, which meant he helped steer big ships through the island filled waters and into the safety of Westport Harbour with their load.

Mac CΡrthaigh would leave Dooega by boat and get on these ships in the waters south of Achill Island and navigate from there.

He could be navigating ships from all over the globe which meant that in Dooega in the middle of the 19th century he was a fountain of great knowledge. Though Irish was the language of the villagers, Donnacha Rua would have had very good English and would have picked up news from all over the world via newspapers on the ships he helped dock and relayed such news to his family and neighbours.

There is another dramatic story about his seafaring. As he would go out from Dooega in a punt to meet the ships, he would have a crew with him to bring the punt home while he headed for Westport.

However, on one particular journey, so wild were the sea conditions that it was felt the only safe course was to bring all of Donnacha Rua’s crew on the ship and into Westport.

The punt was left empty and with no communication methods, the worst was feared when it washed up empty in Dooega. Donnacha Rua and his crew were assumed dead and by the time they returned from Westport, it’s reputed some of them actually walked in on their own wakes.

The survival story from the Bills Rock is to be celebrated this year with the inaugural hosting of Féilé na mBiollaí in Dooega.

Donnacha Rua Mac CΡrthaigh has several direct descendants in Dooega and two of them - Kevin O’Donnell and Denis McCarthy, both great-great grandsons - will be telling the full story on a ferry trip to the Bills Rock this Saturday.

Inaugural Féile na mBiollaí recalls legend of Donnacha Rua

The inaugural Féile na mBiollaí will take place this weekend in Dooega.

It gets underway this Friday, June 23, the date which marks 193rd birthday of Donnacha Rua and will run until Sunday, June 25.

The focal point of the festival will be the first ever passenger ferry trip to the Bills Rocks complete with a guided talk.

Tickets for the trip cost €28 and include complimentary lunch. Pre-booking is highly advisable.  Contact Achill Tourism on 098 20400 or the Event Brite link on the Féile Dú Éige Facebook page to book.  There will be a host of activities all weekend, full details on the Féile Dú Éige Facebook page.