Recalling the 110th Anniversary of the Connemara Retriever Tragedy in Song

Newry singer/ songwriter Hugh Mulligan penned a song several years ago about one of the worst the maritime disasters to visit our shores.

Today 110 years ago on 3 November 1916 the SS Connemara and SS Retriever collided at the mouth of Carlingford Lough resulting in the loss of 94 lives.

Hugh and his brother Thomas are well known in music circles around Newry and we recently joined with them to make a video of the song on Cranfield beach.

Tonight at 8pm in Kilkeel, Newry Maritime Association are hosting Haulbowline Lighthouse - The Silent Witness and James McArevey will be presenting the story of the Connemara and Retriever while Hugh Mulligan will be singing the song. 

The song references "11 hours of silence," representing the period during which there was no radio, Morse code, or light signal contact between the vessel and land, resulting in the deaths of 94 people.

He said: "I heard the story of the Connemara and Retriever and because we always went down to Cranfield for holidays every year, the story was very, very intriguing". He believes it's very important to remember the tragedy for future generations.

The Mulligans lived in The Meadow in Newry and then moved up to Chapel Street before moving to Hennessey Park. "When I wrote the song 'Glorious Days' it was all about Chapel Street and them pulling down the old houses and changing the way the street was."

Hugh started playing the drums in his family band 'The Mulligans' in the mid 1960's. "I've never played with any other band only The Mulligans. There was five of us at the start, my mother and father, my brother, and my uncle, and I played the drums for three years. Drums never interested me though, I just wanted to play guitar. Like bands of the time they did the local circuit of bars and clubs, pubs, weddings and dinner dances. 

Eventually the band whittled down to just himself but he got disillusioned with music around ten years ago and gave up the circuit. He began song writing and has written around 50 to date based around his life experiences and the area he lives in.