Edmond (1833)

History
United Kingdom
Name:	Edmond
Owner:	John Arnott and George Cannock
Port of registry:	Saint John, New Brunswick
Builder:	Granville, Nova Scotia
Launched:	1833
Fate:	Wrecked off the Duggerna Rocks in Kilkee, Co. Clare 19 November 1850
General characteristics
Class and type:	3-masted barque
Tonnage:	399 GT
Length:	112 ft 8 in (34.34 m)
Beam:	28 ft (8.5 m)

The Edmond was a chartered passenger sailing vessel that sank of the coast of Kilkee, Co. Clare on 19 November 1850. It was built in Granville, Nova Scotia in 1833, a small community near Annapolis Royal, a town that became famous for wooden shipbuilding during the 1800s. At the time of the disaster it was owned by John Arnott and George Cannock, who co-owned the Arnotts department store. Today there is a commemorative plaque engraved on the sea wall just beside the wreck site, in an area now known as Edmond Point.

Due to the Great Irish Famine, which lasted from 1845 to 1852, thousands of people emigrated from Ireland every week on ships known as "coffin ships". During these years Limerick port was the point of emigration for many people from Limerick, Clare and Tipperary. One of the ships that carried people across the Atlantic was the 3-masted barque Edmond. Normally based in London, the ship was chartered for the year by Limerick businessman, John McDonnell. As 1850 was beginning to draw to a close, and as the weather became more and more dangerous, ships were still crossing due to the demand for passage to the New World.

"What was my horror to see before me, within a few hundred yards a large vessel aground some distance from the rocks. It was low water; I cannot describe my feeling. I knew and felt that all in her were doomed to destruction and, as I then believed, not a soul would be saved."

After returning from Quebec, Canada with a cargo of timber, the ship set sail from Limerick on Friday, 15 November 1850. On the ship at the time were 195 passengers and a crew of 21, including the captain John Wilson and first mate William Thompson. The ship sailed down the Shannon River and on the 17th, anchored at Carrigaholt for the night. On the 18th, the ship left the river and sailed past Loop Head into the Atlantic. After a full day of sailing, a fierce winter storm struck, blowing the ship back towards the Clare coast. The captain's attempts to steer the brig back up the Shannon were futile, as the gale had destroyed the sails and two of the three masts were lost. By Tuesday 19 November all attempts at keeping the ship away from the shore ended in failure and at around 11 pm that night, she was blown into Kilkee Bay.

...
Wikipedia