Walkers on the beach at Killahoey in Dunfanaghy can sometimes see a shipwreck visible on the beach close to the car park at Catherine’s Island, especially after a period of easterly Gales. This wreck is the Dinas FD63, a steam trawler originally built in Milford Haven in Wales. At the time of her loss, she was based in Fleetwood and was stranded on the beach on the 4th of December, 1936. It is believed locally that the Dinas, which comes from the Welsh word for “Fort of Refuge”, was trying to reach shelter in Dunfanaghy but was using outdated charts which showed the channel in a different position than it was. The trawler ran aground and despite salvage attempts could not be refloated.

This was not the first time that the Dinas, which had been built in 1909, had got into trouble off the Irish coast. In 1910, the trawler had got into trouble along with other boats in Bantry Bay for illegal fishing, a report on which reads as follows: “Thomas Salter, Starbuck Road, Milford Haven, skipper of the steam trawler Dinas, owned by Thomas George Hancock, and John Davies Harris, both of Milford Haven, was prosecuted for a like offence. ………….. The defendant was fined £75 and £5 5s. costs”.

At that time, Fleetwood trawlers were common sights around the Irish Coast and unfortunately some were lost. There was no loss of life when the Dinas ran aground. The steel from the Dinas was cut up as far as the Keel and taken to the yard of the Stewart Arms Hotel (Now the Carrig Rua). It was then to be taken to boats at Hornhead by horse and cart to be taken away but unfortunately things didn’t quite go as planned.

Another Fleetwood boat, the SD/H Honora Evelyn which had been built in 1918 as the Silhouette, had been converted for salvage work. It was owned by J. Bier and Son Iron and Steel scrap merchants in London and was dispatched to Dunfanaghy to work on the salvage of the Dinas. Unfortunately, the Honora Evelyn also ran aground in Dunfanaghy on the 23rd of September 1937 where she was driven on to the rocks in a storm and has remained since. Her magnificent steam engines are still to be seen in the channel on the Hornhead side of Dunfanaghy Bay.  She was declared a complete loss in October 1937.

Over the years, the sand has silted up the wreck of the Dinas and it is only rarely visible, whilst the Honora Evelyn has now disappeared save for her two engines which continue to defy the sands of time. So, next time you are at Killahoey beach, keep an eye out. You may see evidence of that frenetic activity that took place in the area in 1936 and 1937.