Irish Fishing Village Is Shrouded in Gloom of Sad Drowning Fatality.

The Butte Independent, Butte, 1918-12-14, p.1

Summary

The Butte Irish weekly's report of the drowning at Eyeries in November 1918, printed four days after the Butte dailies. It introduces a letter to James J. McCarthy of the Centennial Brewery from his kinsman Jeremiah McCarthy, schoolteacher at Ballycrovane, and then places the dead among Butte's Irish: an older man, once the best all-round athlete in Berehaven or West Cork; "The two Murphy Brothers", who "are cousins to James Murphy of the Hennessy store, one of the most popular young Irishmen in Butte"; Robert Dwyer, who "is survived by two uncles in Butte, Richard in North Wyoming street and Michael Dwyer", and three aunts; and "young McCarthy", who has two [brothers in Butte, by the dailies]. This corrects the Anaconda Standard and the Butte Miner of 10 December, which made Robert and Richard Dwyer the drowned cousins of James Murphy. The cousins were the Murphy brothers, John and Patie of Ballycrovane; Richard Dwyer was Robert's uncle in Butte, not a victim. The text here is pieced together from the search-result text of the page at Irish Newspaper Archives, read on 26 Sept and 4 Oct 2026. The page image has not been seen, and the body of the schoolteacher's letter has not been recovered.

In its time

Narrative

About the middle of November 1918 the fishing village of Eyeries, on Coulagh Bay near Castletown Berehaven, was plunged into mourning after an accident befell fishing boats in the bay. Word of it reached Butte in a letter from Jeremiah McCarthy, school teacher at Ballycrovane, to his kinsman James J. McCarthy of the Centennial Brewery. Among the drowned were two Murphy brothers, cousins of James Murphy of the Hennessy store, Robert Dwyer, whose uncles Richard of North Wyoming street and Michael Dwyer and aunts Mrs. Michael Walsh, Mrs. John Shea and Mrs. Jerry Sullivan live in Butte, and a young McCarthy; one of the dead was remembered as the best all-round athlete in Berehaven or West Cork. [transcription partial — the letter itself and the closing passage are not recovered]

  • “the little fishing village of Eyeries, situated on the wind-swept and storm-tossed Coulagh Bay”
  • “was of powerful physique and had the reputation in his younger days of being the best all-round athlete in [Berehaven] or West Cork”
  • “the sorrow of the tragedy which summoned them to eternity on the early morn of manhood”

AI-generated (claude-opus-5). Verify against the transcription before quoting.

People

Also mentioned

  • Jeremiah McCarthy, school teacher at Ballycrovane · writer_of_the_letter

    Namesake and kinsman of James J. McCarthy.

  • Michael Dwyer · uncle_of_robert_dwyer_in_butte
  • Mrs. Michael Walsh · aunt_of_robert_dwyer

    East Summit street.

  • Mrs. John Shea · aunt_of_robert_dwyer

    East Summit street.

  • Mrs. Jerry Sullivan · aunt_of_robert_dwyer
  • young McCarthy · drowned

    Jer (Murt) McCarthy of Faunkil, by the Annals of Beara.

Places

Themes

Story threads

Tags

Source type

news_item, correspondent_report

Related sources

Transcription
transcription: partial · confidence medium
# IRISH FISHING VILLAGE IS SHROUDED IN GLOOM OF SAD DROWNING FATALITY. *The Butte Independent, Saturday, December 14, 1918, p. 1.* *Pieced together from the search-result text of this page at Irish Newspaper Archives, read on 26 September and 4 October 2026. The page image has not been seen. Obvious errors of the machine reading are put right in square brackets; gaps between the windows of text are marked. Capitals and line breaks are not as printed.* About the middle of last month the little fishing village of Eyeries, situated on the wind-swept and storm-tossed Coulagh Bay in the vicinity of Castletown [Berehaven] in the southwest of the county of Cork, Ireland, was cast into deep sorrow and bitter bereavement, as a result of a terrible accident which befell some fishing boats plying their precarious trade in the bay. The following letter addressed to Mr. James J. McCarthy of the Centennial Brewery by his namesake and kinsman, Jeremiah McCarthy, school teacher at Ballycrovane in the neighborhood, graph[ically portrays the] tragedy in [the letter and what follows it are not recovered] [de]ceased man was of powerful physique and had the reputation in his younger days of being the best all-round athlete in [Berehaven] or West Cork. Hundreds of people from that district, now residents in Butte, both young and old, were well acquainted with him and kindly remember him for his many fine qualities of heart and mind. The two Murphy Brothers are cousins to James Murphy of the Hennessy storeButte: companies, unions & placesHennessy’sfounded 1886The D. J. Hennessy Mercantile Company, Butte’s leading department store. Its 1898 building at Granite and Main also housed the Anaconda company’s offices on the top floor.More in Key terms →, one of the most popular young Irishmen in Butte. His many friends in the city will share with him the sorrow of the tragedy which summoned them to eternity on the early morn of manhood. Robert Dwyer is survived by two uncles in Butte, Richard in North Wyoming street and Michael Dwyer, and three aunts, Mrs. Michael Walsh and Mrs. John Shea of East Summit street and Mrs. Jerry Sullivan; while young McCarthy has two [the rest is not recovered]

Dotted underlines mark key terms on first mention — hover or tab to one for a reference note. The wording is the source’s own.

Open questions

  • The page itself. The paper is also on Newspapers.com (the 9 March 1918 issue was filed from there); the page would give the schoolteacher's letter and the names of all the dead as printed.

Source ID: 1918-12-14_butte-independent_eyeries-drowning-murphy-brothers-cousins