January 13

The storms and gale-force conditions that ravaged these islands in January 1843 had devastating consequences off the Mourne coast. Early that fine winter’s morning, some sixteen skiffs set out from Newcastle and the nearby village of Annalong for their customary fishing grounds in Dundrum Bay. Conditions being exceptionally calm, the boats ventured further from the shore than usual. Then, about noon, disaster struck. Without warning, the wind veered from south to north-west, bringing violent gusts and blinding snow squalls howling down from the Mourne Mountains. Many of the boats were immediately swamped. Others vainly tried to make it to the shore, whilst a number of locals, watching in horror from the harbour, put to sea in a bid to rescue their stricken neighbours. Twelve of them would not return alive. A number were, however, rescued in shore-based efforts. One George Thompson from nearby Glasdrumman single-handedly hauled one boat ashore, saving the lives of its eight-man crew. Though there was no official count of how many were saved, 73 fishermen lost their lives, leaving 37 widows, 157 children and 42 other dependants, including eighteen aged parents. In the weeks that followed, appeals for relief funds, led by the local gentry and church congregations, raised over £1,000, a substantial sum for the time. Apart from financial relief, twelve cottages were built for the families most affected. ‘Widows’ Row’, as the locals call it, nowadays fully modernised, still stands today just above the harbour. ‘Black Friday’ was County Down’s worst maritime disaster until the MV Princess Victoria foundered in the North Channel in January 1953 with the loss of 133 lives.