By Paddy Clancy

The fishing community in Ireland is mourning the loss of seven trawlermen in two separate tragedies within a few hours of each other in mountainous seas off the south-east coast.

Five men are believed to have been trapped in the cabin of the Pere Charles when the 20-yard long vessel sank within seconds off Hook Head on Wednesday of last week as it was about to sail back to Dunmore East after a day’s herring fishing.

As the search for the vessel and crew was under way, severely hampered by atrocious weather conditions, another trawler, the Kinsale-based Honeydew 11, sank in the early hours of Thursday off Mine Head, Co. Waterford, after failing to find shelter from the raging sea conditions.

The Honeydew 11 had been operating off Mine Head when it went on standby to assist in the search for the Pere Charles.

Honeydew skipper Ger Bohan, aged 39, and 33-year-old Polish crewman Tomasz Jagla, are still missing feared dead.

Their colleagues, Lithuanians Viktor Losev and Vladimir Kostvr, were miraculously rescued by the Irish coastguard after spending 18 hours in a lifeboat.

They told rescuers that the Honeydew was destroyed when hit by a monster 45-foot wave as they were trying to find shelter.

The skipper tried to get back into the cabin of the sinking trawler to send out an SOS alert -– a move that may have cost him his life. He and the Polish crewman failed to reach a liferaft.

The Lithuanians managed to get into one on the other side of the vessel and pulled away from it as it sank.

Interpreter Amber McNamara, who has been assisting the Lithuanians since their rescue, said, “They saw the other men and how they died. They did try to help them but it was really too hard for them. They tried to help Ger. They did their very best but it was too late.

“They are both in shock. I think they will never go back to sea any more.”

The Lithuanians received a standing ovation in Kinsale at a special prayer service last Saturday. They were embraced by the wives of their missing colleagues, Mary Bohan and Anita Jagla.

The five lost with the Pere Charles were 32-year-old father of one Tom Hennessy, 48-year-old single man Pat Hennessy, father of five Billy O’Connor, 27-year-old father of one Pat Coady, and 32-year-old father of one Andriy Dyrin.

As the search for bodies continued Dunmore East Parish priest Father Brian Power told a packed church on Sunday, “We are all affected by this enormous grief and tragedy. The scale of it has shocked and numbed each and every one of us.”