Bill Mc Stay recalls a 125 year-old tragedy of the sea

How and why did three keepers disappear without trace from their isolated rock lighthouse? This question is at the centre of a mystery, unsolved after 125 years, rivalling in perplexity another Atlantic mystery — the disappearance of an entire crew from the vessel Marie Celeste years before.

The Flannan Isles are a remote cluster of rocks, mere dots in the vastness of the North Atlantic Ocean. They lie 300 miles north of Malin Head, Ireland’s most northerly point. The nearest land, 40 miles to the east, is the Hebridean island of Lewis.

The island lighthouse, symbol of man’s paltry efforts in that turbulent waste of waters, was constructed in the years 1896-1899 by David Stevenson of the famous family of lighthouse builders. For three generations this talented group of engineers and designers built practically all of Scotland’s lighthouses for the Northern Lighthouse Board.

The disappearance of the Flannan Isle lightkeepers was discovered on the day after Christmas in 1900. Arriving at the scene on its regular relief voyage, the lighthouse ship Hesperus hoisted its flag, and waited for the answering signal from the Light. There was none.

Despite a long blast on the ship’s siren to attract the attention of the keepers, the only sound was the noise of wind and wave. The Hesperus managed to land Mr. Moore, the incoming relief keeper. He entered the tower, only to find not a sign of life.

There were no signs of disturbance in the keepers’ quarters, the lantern was freshly cleaned and ready for use, but the clocks had stopped, and the lighthouse log had been carefully kept until some days before. Plates and cutlery in the kitchen had all been cleaned and left to dry, but the keepers’ oilskins and seaboots were missing from their usual storage place.

Next day, as the huge Atlantic swells rolled round them in indifferent grandeur, an anxious party from the ship searched the lighthouse and the entire island, looking in every nook and cranny. There were no keepers to be found, alive or dead.

Continue reading in this week’s Ireland’s Own