Coffin Ship (11 page)

Henry David Thoreau's observations as he walked the Cohasset shoreline on 9 October 1849 are an important part of the
St. John
story. One wonders about Thoreau's own feelings about the sad event. He was not impressed with the funeral procession, confessing that if he had found a body ‘cast up on the beach in some lonely place' it might have affected him more. His writings on the subject can either be interpreted as a show of indifference or as evidence of a strong belief in the will of God. The following words recorded by Thoreau commemorate, in a strange sort of way, the aftermath of the terrible disaster in October 1849:

I sympathized rather with the winds and waves, as if to toss and mangle these poor human bodies was the order of the day. If this was the law of Nature, why waste any time in awe or pity? If the last day were come, we should not think so much about the separation of friends or the blighted prospects of individuals. I saw that corpses might be multiplied, as on the field of battle, till they no longer affected us in any degree, as exceptions to the common lot of humanity. Take all the graveyards together, they are always the majority.

It is the individual and private that demands our sympathy. A man can attend but one funeral in the course of his life, can behold but one corpse. Yet I saw that the inhabitants of the shore would be not a little affected by this event. They would watch there many days and nights for the sea to give up its dead, and their imaginations and sympathies would supply the place of mourners far away, who as yet knew not of the wreck. Many days after this, something white was seen floating on the water by one who was sauntering on the beach. It was approached in a boat, and found to be the body of a woman, which had risen in an upright position, whose white cap was blown back with the wind. I saw that the beauty of the shore itself was wrecked for many a lonely walker there, until he could perceive, at last, how its beauty was enhanced by wrecks like this, and it acquired thus a rarer and sublimer beauty still.

Why care for these dead bodies? They really have no friends but the worms and fishes. Their owners were coming to the New World, as Columbus and the Pilgrims did, they were within a mile of its shores; but, before they could reach it, they emigrated to a newer world than ever Columbus dreamed of, yet one of whose existence we believe that there is far more universal and convincing evidence – though it has not yet been discovered by science – than Columbus had of this: not merely mariners' tales and some paltry drift-wood and seaweed, but a continual drift and instinct to all our shores. I saw their empty hulks that came to land; but they themselves, meanwhile, were cast upon some shore yet further west, toward which we are all tending, and which we shall reach at last, it may be through storm and darkness, as they did. No doubt, we have reason to thank God that they have not been ‘shipwrecked into life again'.

The mariner who makes the safest port in Heaven, perchance, seems to his friends on earth to be shipwrecked, for they deem Boston Harbor the better place; though perhaps invisible to them, a skilful pilot comes to meet him, and the fairest and balmiest gales blow off that coast, his good ship makes the land in halcyon days, and he kisses the shore in rapture there, while his old hulk tosses in the surf here. It is hard to part with one's body, but, no doubt, it is easy to do without it when once it is gone. All their plans and hopes burst like a bubble! Infants by the score dashed on the rocks by the enraged Atlantic Ocean! No, no! If the
St. John
did not make her port here, she had been telegraphed there. The strongest wind cannot stagger a Spirit; it is a Spirit's breath. A just man's purpose cannot be split on any Grampus or material rock, but itself will split rocks till it succeeds.
[1]

Most people need some sort of memorial to visit when remembering their departed loved ones. They take consolation in erecting headstones that record the deceased's name in stone and serve as a testimonial to their time in this world. But a monument or memorial was denied to those lost at sea or consigned to a mass grave following the sinking of the
St. John
. Grief has far-reaching tentacles that can touch every corner of a nation, and a tragedy such as this affects not only the friends and family of those who are lost but also entire communities. The need to remember and commemorate tragic events becomes strong. While this need is not unique to Ireland, it is an important part of our way of life. This is perhaps a legacy of the famine. The mass exile of people during these troubled years exported our tragedy to other countries and bound other people to our plight. Links with Irish organisations already in existence in America were strengthened and their leaders lent their support to the immigrants.

Wooden carving of the brig St. John in the church in Lettermullen by Dermot Nestor. (Courtesy of Alice Scanlan)

The Ancient Order of Hibernians was adamant that a memorial be erected to commemorate the loss of the
St. John
. Eventually, on 26 May 1914 the Cohasset Central Cemetery authorities granted permission for a memorial to be erected close to the mass grave in memory of the victims. On 30 May 1914 the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Ladies Auxiliary, the female branch of the order, had a twenty-foot Celtic cross erected near the site of the grave. It was placed at the top of a low hill that overlooked the ocean and the scene of the disaster. Thousands of people (some reports estimate between ten and twenty thousand) attended the dedication. The unveiling was conducted by Tessie St John, granddaughter of James St John, the man who married Mary Kane Cole, one of the survivors. The governor of Massachusetts, Hon. David I. Walsh, spoke at the ceremony and thanked the seven thousand Hibernians from all over Bay State for attending. Superintendent Philip Lothrop Towle of Cohasset General Cemetery later stated that the exact location of the mass grave was unknown because it had not been properly marked at the time of the tragedy. The cross was located just north of where the original burial ground was believed to be. It must be very close as it seems doubtful, given the enormity of the tragedy, that such a grave could be forgotten so quickly. The Ancient Order of Hibernians must have had evidence of the site in 1914. It is likely that confirmation regarding the location of the grave would have come from living memory. The inscription on the monument reads as follows:

This cross was erected and dedicated May 30, 1914 by the A.O.H. and the L.A.A.O.H. of Massachusetts to mark the final resting place of about forty-five Irish emigrants from a total company of ninety-nine who lost their lives on Grampus Ledge off Cohasset, October 7, 1849 in the wreck of the Brig
St. John
from Galway, Ireland. R.I.P
.
[2]

On 21 August 1949, almost one hundred years after the brig
St. John
sank, Archbishop Cushing travelled to Cohasset to celebrate a solemn pontifical mass in memory of all who had lost their lives in the tragedy. It was celebrated on the grounds of St Anthony's church on South Main Street. Archbishop Cushing also sponsored a poetry competition for the anniversary of the disaster. Contestants were required to recount the tragic story of the
St. John
in verse. The winner was Professor Charles Brady of Canisius College, Buffalo; the runners-up included Herbert Kenny, Edward Myers and James Hanlon. A centenary commemoration booklet was produced for the anniversary mass. (Archbishop Cushing later became a cardinal and officially dedicated the Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas ‘New Cathedral' in Galway city on 15 August 1965.) Below is a list of the priests who took part in the
St. John
centenary commemoration ceremony. Revd Michael J. Houlihan, listed below, was chaplain to the Ancient Order of Hibernians:

Revd Patrick J. Waters, Deacon of Honour to His Excellency

Revd Michael J. Houlihan, Deacon of Honour to His Excellency

Revd Michael J. Splain, Assisting Priest

Revd Thomas A. Flynn, Deacon of the Mass

Revd James F. Grimes, Sub-Deacon of the Mass

Revd Fredrick R. McManus, Master of Ceremonies

Revd Joseph Daley, Assistant Master of Ceremonies

Revd Joseph W. Leahy, Thurifer

Revd Francis S. Keany, Cross Bearer

Revd Francis D. Scully, Acolyte

Revd Ralph Enos, Acolyte

Revd Edward D. Tangney, Gremial Bearer

Revd Martin P. Harney, Bugia Bearer

Revd James F. Cassidy, Mitre Bearer

Revd John W. Mahoney, Crozier Bearer

Revd Patrick J. Flaherty, Book Bearer

Revd Edmund W. Croke, Torch Bearer

Revd John J. Kelly, Torch Bearer

Revd Thomas A. Dwyer, Torch Bearer

Revd Ambrose B. Flynn, Torch Bearer

Revd Frederick R. Condon, Choir Conductor

Revd William J. Desmond

Revd Lawrence Crowley

Mr Francis Regan, Train Bearer
[3]

John Bhaba Jaick Ó Congaola of Lettermullen was the driving force behind a number of events that were arranged to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the tragedy.

His life-long interest in the disaster had begun as a child, when he heard an old woman in Connemara telling the story of the brig
St. John
. He travelled to Boston in 1998 and requested that an anniversary committee be set up there, while he in turn would establish one in Ireland. The two committees, one in Boston and the other in Lettermullen, Connemara, were set up to raise awareness of the plight of the Irish during the famine and to organise a commemoration. The events were held on 9 and 10 October 1999. A reception was held in St Anthony's Parish Hall, Cohasset, and included a short historical presentation on the
St. John
. A commemorative journal was also produced containing advertisements from businesses that supported the events. Support came from both sides of the Atlantic and the proceeds were donated to charity. During a social evening of music and song, held in the Teacher's Union Hall, Dorchester, John Bhaba Jaick Ó Congaola presented the Boston Brig
St. John
committee with a model of a
pucán
, a traditional Irish sailing vessel. At 3 p.m. on 10 October the anniversary mass was celebrated by Fr Bernard Law (today a cardinal) in Saint Anthony's church, Cohasset. Following the mass, a boat trip to Grampus Ledge and Minot's Lighthouse was organised. A wreath-laying ceremony also took place in Cohasset cemetery.

The St. John celtic cross (Courtesy of John Costello)

A documentary film about the
St. John
and the events surrounding its tragic end was broadcast on the
Seán Folan Show
in Boston and recordings of it were later made available to the public. It is also hoped that a famine memorial will be opened near Mutton Island Lighthouse in Galway and dedicated to the memory of all those who fled starvation and disease during the Irish famine.
[4]

The following poem to the memory of the famine victims was discovered among the John Bhaba Jaick Ó Congaola collection, but no author was recorded for this very poignant work.

‘To Their Memory'

How many died in forty-five,

The first year of the hunger?

When starvation cursed the old ones first,

And then tormented the younger.

And when we cried as the praties died,

And turned black in the soil;

Who was there to hear our prayer

For food that was not spoiled?

And where was God when the Irish sod

Gave up its putrid yield,