William Burke: A Man of the Harbour

They say that a picture paints a thousand words; however, a thousand words are not enough for some photos. The old photograph of William “Liam” Burke, standing at the wheel of what I think might be the C. & S. lifeboat in Dunmore East in 1939, is one of them. When you begin to look into his life, you realise that the man looking back at the camera had spent the greater part of his working years going out through that harbour mouth, sometimes to bring ships safely up the river and, on other occasions, to bring men safely home.

In his younger years, William Burke was a merchant seaman, serving at one time aboard the sailing ship Kambira, an ocean-going cargo vessel. She was a substantial wooden, full-rigged sailing ship, built at Kingsport, Nova Scotia, in 1882. Ships of her type carried bulk cargoes such as grain, coal, timber and nitrates on long voyages between Britain, Australia, South America and North America. For some reason, the Kambira was abandoned at sea on 18 May 1905, while on a voyage from Brazil towards Baltimore. Thankfully, the crew were rescued, though I’m not sure if Liam was still one of the crew at the time.

William Burke was among the Dunmore East lifeboat crew in February 1914, when the Norwegian schooner Mexico was wrecked on the Keeragh Islands near Fethard. It was one of the darkest episodes in the history of the lifeboat service in this part of the country. The Fethard lifeboat capsized while attempting to reach the stranded vessel and nine of her crew were lost.

The Dunmore East lifeboat Fanny Harriet was among the boats involved in the efforts that followed, and William Burke’s name appears among her crew. He had already begun his lifeboat service before the First World War began.

Around the same time, he became a river pilot, a position he would hold for roughly twenty-five years. Ships arriving at Dunmore East, bound for Waterford, required a man who knew the river, the channels, the tides and the tricks that the weather could play. The pilot had to get himself aboard the incoming vessel, often while both boats were moving in a swell, and once he stepped onto the ship he took responsibility for guiding her safely towards Passage and on up the river.

There was no radar screen showing every obstruction and no satellite navigation telling a man exactly where he was. The knowledge was in the pilot’s head.

Liam would have known the harbour in all its moods. He would have known how the sea looked before a change in weather, where the tide ran hardest and how much depth a heavily laden ship needed. These were things learned over years rather than from a book.

His work as a pilot did not keep him from serving on the lifeboat. When the Dunmore East station entered the motor-lifeboat era, Liam was still very much involved, and in October 1928 he became coxswain of the Dunmore East RNLI lifeboat C. and S., a position he held until 1934. Richard “Dick” Murphy served as mechanic alongside him.

The C. & S. was called out for the first time on 15 February 1926, when the Spanish steamer Cirilo Amoros, carrying fruit and wine from Valencia to Liverpool, ran aground at Ballyvooney Cove near Stradbally. By the time the lifeboat arrived, the steamer’s crew of about twenty-four had already been brought ashore using ropes, so the C. & S. returned to Dunmore East without having to carry out a rescue.

Her first major life-saving service came on 29 January 1930, when the ketch Bernard of Bridgwater foundered about twenty miles south of Mine Head. Her three-man crew had abandoned ship and spent some 31 hours in a small open boat, exhausted and unable to make Waterford Harbour under their own power. William Burke was coxswain of the C. & S. on this service. Seeing the small boat in immediate danger of being driven ashore, Burke did not wait for a full lifeboat crew but put out with only three men and the motor mechanic. The three survivors were brought safely into Dunmore East; one was unconscious and, according to the service report, would not have survived much longer.

On 6 March 1931, William Burke was again coxswain when the auxiliary fishing boat Thistle of Passage East suffered engine failure during a strong easterly wind and heavy snow showers. Her sails had largely been blown away and she was drifting dangerously towards the rocks. The C. & S. reached her in time, took her in tow and brought the vessel and her three-man crew safely into Dunmore Harbour.

One of the lifeboat’s most remarkable services came on 11 December 1932, when the steamer Pauline of Panama was driven into Tramore Bay after several days in an easterly gale. Her crew were exhausted, short of food and water, and the vessel was in a dangerous anchorage. The C. & S. battled heavy seas to reach her, and two lifeboatmen succeeded in boarding despite the great difference in height between the lifeboat and the steamer’s deck. The lifeboat then returned to Dunmore for provisions, went back out in darkness and transferred food to the starving crew. Two lifeboatmen ultimately took charge of the Pauline and helped bring her to safe anchorage while the C. & S. stood by. The contemporary report credited the Dunmore crew with saving both the vessel and those aboard.

In 1933, the small Dunmore fishing boat Sirius required the assistance of the C. & S. twice in quick succession. On 28 February, engine failure left her drifting towards rocks in a strong south-easterly wind. The lifeboat reached her when she was only about 100 yards from the rocks, took her in tow and saved the two men aboard. Two days later, on 2 March, the Sirius again got into trouble when a fishing net fouled her propeller. One of the two men aboard had already fallen overboard and nearly drowned. William Burke was coxswain on this second rescue, and the C. & S. again succeeded in towing the boat safely back to Dunmore East.

Just two weeks later, on 15 March 1933, the lifeboat was sent towards Tramore to investigate what appeared to be a vessel displaying a distress signal. It was eventually discovered that the supposed mast and flag were actually a drifting fishing “dahn”, or marker buoy. The service report specifically notes that the coxswain was away on pilot duty, which appears to explain William Burke’s absence from that call-out. In October 1934, Nicholas Madigan succeeded him as coxswain.

During the terrible snowstorm of 10 to 11 February 1936, the C. & S. put to sea in response to an SOS from the steamer Baron Graham. With only six men aboard, the lifeboat searched for around six hours in mountainous seas and near-zero visibility but could not locate the vessel. On the return journey, however, the crew found the Spanish steamer Duero dragging her anchors and in serious danger. They stood by her until daylight and then helped bring her into the safety of Waterford Harbour. The entire service lasted about eleven and a half hours in exceptionally severe conditions.

On 15 January 1938, the C. & S. was sent in search of the Republic of Panama during another violent gale. With the regular coxswain and second coxswain unavailable, veteran crewman William “Willie” Bond volunteered to take charge. The lifeboat searched in enormous and confused seas off Hook Head but could not find the vessel, which was later reported to have weathered the storm safely. Bond’s courage in taking command was formally recognised by the RNLI.

The C. & S. was again heavily involved on 14 to 15 December 1939, when the motor vessel Cairngorm, carrying coal to Waterford, ran aground near Creadan Head. The ship’s crew managed to reach the shore themselves, but the lifeboat returned at high water and successfully towed the stranded vessel off the rocks and into Creadan Bay, after which the Waterford dredger Portlairge brought her upriver.

The last recorded service of the C. & S. at Dunmore East came on 4 February 1940. A coastwatcher at Hook Head reported what appeared to be a ship’s lifeboat drifting offshore. After a lengthy search in fog, rain and a heavy swell, the crew discovered that it was actually a large unmanned pontoon which had broken adrift.

Taken as a whole, the record shows the C. & S. as a remarkably active and dependable lifeboat, rescuing exhausted shipwrecked sailors, towing disabled fishing boats away from rocks, supplying and helping navigate distressed steamers, searching for vessels in some of the worst weather experienced on the Waterford coast, and even refloating stranded ships. The C. & S. is credited with saving 31 lives during her service. William Burke was an important part of that story. Among the men serving with him was Paddy “Billy” Power, who became second coxswain in 1934 and would himself go on to become one of the great names in the history of Dunmore East lifeboat station.

In 1939, after approximately twenty-five years as a Waterford Harbour pilot, Liam retired from a job that had kept him closely connected with the sea for most of his working life. I’d imagine that retirement did not take him very far from the harbour. It’s likely that he spent many an hour at the lookout wall, watching the ships come and go, recognising vessels he had once piloted and exchanging a few words with old friends and former colleagues. For a man whose life had been shaped by ships and the sea, it would surely have been difficult simply to turn his back on it all.

Liam died in Dunmore East on March 25th, 1944, in his seventieth year, only five years after retiring. He belonged to that generation of Dunmore men for whom the harbour was not merely part of the scenery. It was their workplace, their livelihood and, in many ways, the centre of their lives. They knew every boat tied up along the quay and most of the ships that passed outside the harbour wall. When somebody was in trouble at sea, they didn’t have to be asked twice to help.

"The lifeboat rescues listed above have been compiled from a section of David Carroll’s book, Dauntless Courage. The photos of Liam Burke were originally shared by John Burke."