The Wreck of the Steamship Plassey: Co Galway

On a recent visit to the Aran Islands I took this picture of the Motor Vessel Plassy (or Plassey).

The vessel was built in the early 1940’s and acquired by the Limerick Steamship Company in 1951 and renamed Plassy.  On 8 March 1960, while sailing through Galway Bay carrying a cargo of whiskey, stained glass and yarn, she was caught in a severe storm and ran onto Finnis Rock, Inisheer, Aran Islands.  A group of local Islanders, the Inisheer Rocket Crew, rescued the entire crew from the stricken vessel using a breeches buoy — an event captured in a pictorial display at the National Maritime Museum in Dún Laoghaire.  Several weeks later, a second storm washed the ship off the rock and drove her ashore on the island.  The wreck still lies on the shoreline and is a tourist attraction. She is visible in the opening credits of the television series Father Ted. In early January 2014, Storm Christine shifted the wreck’s position on the coast for the first time since 1991.  (Source:Wikipedia)

Submitted by Tim Scanlon

The Wreck of the MV Plassey – photo by Tim Scanlon