An Plassy (Shipwreck)

MV Plassy, or Plassey, was built as a trawler but converted to a cargo vessel in 1947. She was acquired by the Limerick Steamship Company in 1951 and renamed Plassy.

On 8 March 1960, while sailing through the sound between Inis Oírr (Inisheer) and the coast of County Clare, carrying a general cargo, she was caught in a severe storm and ran onto Finnis Rock, just off the east coast of Inis Oírr.

A young local boy saw that the ship was in trouble and alerted the islanders.  The crew of the Plassy was rescued by the Inisheer Rocket Group using a Breeches Buoy.  Photographs of the rescue can be seen in Tí Ned one of the local pubs. A full account of the heroic rescue can be read on the On-line Journal of Research on Irish Maritime History.

The ship was washed off the rock by a second storm several weeks later and this drove her ashore onto the island where she has rested ever since.

The wreck still lies on the shoreline and is a tourist attraction, particularly for fans of the Television Series Father Ted.  The shipwreck appears in the opening credits of this popular series. A full account of the

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