Lost At Sea - Donegal Trawler Disaster 1976

This award-winning documentary, Lost at Sea, tells the story of the MFV Carraig Una, a fishing trawler that foundered at sea at Rathlin O’Beirne Island, off the Donegal coast, on the 23rd of November 1976 with the loss of all five crew. When word of the Carraig Una disaster reached the RTE newsroom, the story was picked up by filmmaker and Donegal-native, Joe Mulholland.

“I had regretted not going up and making a film about the Evelyn Marie, when the Carraig Una happened I just felt compelled to go and capture what was happening. Knowing that this was a tragedy and knowing that this was going to affect a community, which I knew, very, very badly.”

Joe Mulholland and his film crew were there to record the dangerous conditions faced by rescue teams and locals taking part in the search.

“The story of the Carraig Una is the just desperate attempt to find the bodies. They may have kept on hoping that there was someone alive somewhere but with the weather and the state of the sea it was impossible for anyone to survive in that water.”

During the search operation, one body was recovered; that of Skipper Ted Carbery. Of the other members of the Carraig Una crew, there was no sign. After two weeks with all hope lost, the difficult decision was made to call off the search.
Credit: RTÉ's Television Archive