An Irishman's Diary on the Léon XIII

In October 1907, the village of Quilty in Co. Clare, Ireland was the scene of a dramatic maritime rescue. The three-masted Nantes registered ship, Léon XIII, was bringing grain from Portland, Oregon to Limerick, when tragedy struck. A violet storm caused the ship's rudder to break, for the ship to be blown off course and to run aground and breakup.

The twenty-two French crew on board were rescued by a combination of a British Navy ship and currachs. Local fishermen from Quilty braved the elements and rowed their open currachs into the storm to rescue the sailors who had taken refuge in the rigging of the ship. I have just written an Irishman's Diary in the Irish Times newspaper about the rescue and the story of the Léon XIII. Read it here.

The legacy of the rescue and the Léon XIII is visible in Quilty to this day. See below photographs of items on display in the local church Stella Maris (Star of the Sea), which was built with money raised after the rescue.

Lifebuoy from Léon XIII.

Bell from Léon XIII

In 2011, 100 years after the church was completed, 17 new stained glass windows were installed. Below, you can see some of the new windows, which tell the story of the rescue of the sailors of the Léon XIII by the local fishermen.