MORE than a century after an Irish sea captain died from a German submarine attack, land bought with his widow’s compensation will become the home of his great-great grandchildren.
Merchant Navy Captain John O’Gorman from Co Cork used to sail into the Co Antrim village of Carnlough, where he met and fell in love with his wife Catherine.
She was pregnant at home with their second child when disaster struck on November 2, 1917.
Captain O'Gorman's steamer ship, the SS Jessie, had been travelling from Calais to Middlesborough when it came under fire from a German submarine near the coast of Flamborough Head.
Steering the ship towards the shore, the crew then escaped on two lifeboats but one perished in the attack and claimed four lives including Captain O'Gorman and Catherine's brother Patrick Black.
Another of Catherine's brothers, Johnny, escaped the same fate as he had been drinking in a Calais pub and was too drunk to sail.
Letters from Captain O'Gorman's employer to his widow conveyed their sympathies and arranged for wartime risk compensation, which Catherine used to build a new family home in Glenariffe in 1923.
She eventually died in 1972, aged 97, but the house still remains in the family 100 years later.
On the same land, a new house is being built to become the childhood home of his great-great granddaughters Eleanor (13) and Keira (10) – meaning that out of the wartime tragedy, a family home spanning five generations has emerged.
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Their mother Claire Giblin (44), Captain O’Gorman’s great-granddaughter, told the Irish News she felt compelled to return to Glenariffe with husband Scott (51) after living in Holland for 13 years.
“My great-grandfather and his brother-in-law (Johnny) were in a pub in Calais and were meant to be leaving,” she said.
“The brother stayed behind because he was too drunk and that night the SS Jessie was sunk by the Germans.
“The French Mayor of Calais wrote a letter to advise my great-grandmother of his death and from that she received a sum of money and decided to build the house in Glenariffe in 1923.
“It was actually the first house in the Glens to have an inside toilet, so she used them as lodgings and for people to come and stay.
“It’s been in the family ever since and it was my home growing up.”
After settling in Holland, she said the Covid pandemic was her “now or never” moment that brought her home.
“Our children were at a dutch school, but when Covid hit we just felt very isolated and away from family.
“It was a scary move, but I always felt a sense of belonging in Glenariffe which I didn’t have in Holland.
“The kids are now aged 10-13, when we came back on holidays they would say ‘why do we live in Holland, why don’t we live here?’”
Letters kept by the family since 1917 paint a picture of Captain O’Gorman’s last days, including one tear-stained correspondence to his widow confirming his death.
Dated November 2, 1917, a handwritten letter from the Walker & Bain company reads: “Dear Mrs O’Gorman, it is with a heavy heart that I write to tell you that disaster has overtaken the ‘Jessie’ this morning off Flamborough Head, there is a telegram just come from Walter Pyke, the mate, to say that steamer was shelled and driven ashore by a German submarine and that Captain O’Gorman, William Drummond Chief engineer, Patrick Black and James Galloway, Seaman, are missing.”
It continues: “I am desperately afraid that the worst has happened and that they have died in defence of their vessel.”
“I don’t know what more to say to you meantime, Mrs O’Gorman, we seem to be fated to suffer very sorely in this horrible business and you know how much we thought of Captain O’Gorman, who it would appear has now made the great sacrifice.”
An update followed the next day after surviving crew members arrived in Middlesborough.
“It would appear that a submarine suddenly opened fire on the ‘Jessie’ and fired in all about 20 shots, one of them going right through the engine room,” the letter reads.
“It appears that Captain O’Gorman turned her in for the land and preparations were made for leaving steamer in the two boats, the Captain, Chief Engineer and…Patrick Black and James Galloway left in one boat.
“The survivors say it was some little time afterwards before they got their boat clear by which time there was no word of the Captain’s boat so that are afraid she must have been struck and sunk.”
A further letter on November 9 confirmed that Captain O’Gorman’s body was found, describing him as “a thoroughly conscientious and absolutely reliable man,” and that a watch and chain, fountain pen, and a purse containing £1.12.6 found on his person would be returned.
Advising on steps to claim war risk compensation, the company adds: “You can rest assured that we do not intend that the dependants of such a servant as Captain O’Gorman should be left unprovided for the future.”
Inspired by the recent discovery of a time capsule from 1923 in Belfast, Claire said she is now planning to do the same in Glenariffe to preserve her family history.
Hoping to find someone with the skills to create a similar tin-plated capsule, she said a copy of the Irish News, photos, coins, architectural drawings and a shopping price list will be among the items sealed to tell the story of the land and her great grandfather.
