Shipwrecked on the way to save the Pope

[barbara lee]

My ancestor's cousin, Moses Donohue, is said to have been drowned aboard the ship "Avatuskey" while on the way from Dublin to Rome with other volunteers to fight for the Pope against Garibaldi.

The only source for this is "The Ballad of Moses Donohue" collected in "Songs of the Wexford Coast" by Rev. Joseph Ranson (1907-1964) and published in 1948. The relevant verse is:

On the twenty-ninth of April in the year of Sixty-nine,
We sailed away from Dublin Bay, God sent us a fair wind,
Upon the Avatuskey, that ship of noble fame,
In hope to meet those infidels upon the battle plain.

It then goes on to say the ship was rammed by "a brig" and went down. The crew got off in lifeboats but the volunteer soldiers all drowned. Fr Ranson said "I have not been able to check up the correctness of the name Avatuskey, nor have I been able to verify the statement that Irish volunteers went to the defence of the Papal States in 1869."

The Folklorist website suggests it may have been a Polish ship with a name that an Irish balladeer had heard as "Avatuskey" and comments " Newspapers in Galway and London for the dates may reveal the facts".

Moses definitely existed. He is mentioned on the family gravestone of Peter Donohoe in Killincooly Old Graveyard, Wexford as "Also his son Moses Joseph died May 12th 1869 aged 24"

Anyone any ideas about how I could add some shred of fact to this wonderful story? Any Irish newspapers available on line?

Barbara

[Coromandel]

So far I've not been able to turn up anything about a shipwreck. However, I did find this on Google Books:

'We have spoken several times of volunteer expeditions, and the last point now to be considered is - what course the State ought to pursue towards them. As the State ought to preserve strict neutrality in foreign disputes, so it should allow its subjects to quit its territories, and take part on either side. This is what we have done with regard to Italy, where English volunteers have joined Garibaldi, and an Irish legion has gone to defend the Pope.'

From The Westminster Review, Vol. 91 (1869), in an article called 'National Duty'

which does at least put some Irish volunteers in the right place at the right time.

[cristol]

Hi barbara

Do you have access to 19th Century British Newspapers ? I get it through Hertfordshire libraries.
There is a report on 13th May 1869 in the Bradford Observer !!?? re a shipwreck with the loss of 33 lives under the heading “The Papal States” It says that
“intelligence has been received of the loss of the steam packet “General Abbatucci” “
in which amongst others 15 Papal recruits on the way to Civita Vechia perished.
It’s the right time period and “Avatuskey” could be an Irish/English attempt at its pronunciation .......?
It doesn't actually mention them being Irish but I will dig a little further if you think it could be right.
Lesley

[barbara lee]

I knew this forum would turn something up! Brilliant!

Thanks to Coromandel for the reference from the Westminster Review, and kudos to you, Cristol, for finding that reference to the "General Abbatucci". That could very well be the ship in question. There's a lot of stuff on the web about the wreck being found off Corsica and lots of noblemens' treasure and Papal gifts being salvaged. The name and date seem to fit. There is even a reference to its being in a collision with a "brigantine", which matches the "brig" from the ballad. No mention of an Irish Legion, though.

Many thanks to you both - I think you have it!

Barbara

[cristol]

Hi Barbara
Glad you think it is the right one - it did sound right - even down to the date. But despite a lot of googling etc there is very little more to be had re a possible Irish contingent. All references seem to be about the finding of the wreck not so long ago and the many treasures that were salvaged - quite a haul. The newspaper site has a lot more detail about the accident and even a quite detailed report of the sinking but despite there being many articles most are duplicated all over the country word for word. And there are continual references to a couple of high profile passengers - a French general and a Papal consul - but no detail. The rest are always just noted as 16 french soldiers and 15 papal recruits.But there is no mention of an Irish connection even in a couple of Belfast newspaper articles. But possibly other Irish papers of the day might have coverage? Also as it was a french undertaking maybe we should be looking at French Archives !! Too rich for me I'm afraid !
Lesley

[cristol]

Hi barbara

This site has some of the reported details - from the Times Newspaper and also some great pics of the salvaged treasure

sonistics.com/smer_update_ind.php?id=37 (preceeded by www)

[barbara lee]

I've been googling about it too. Yes, lots of lovely pictures of the cargo. It was auctioned at Christies and raised over a quarter of a million pounds. Some of the buyers are still re-selling on eBay, and I hovered over a ring for a few moments! But the jeweller's blurb for the stuff mentions it all being found amongst "the twisted metal hull and skeletal remains ... ". I wonder what the salvage company did with the remains. One set might have been my g grandfather's cousin, the gallant and quixotic Moses Donohue. I hope they left them where they were, as little disturbed as possible.

Barbara

[cristol]

But the jeweller's blurb for the stuff mentions it all being found amongst "the twisted metal hull and skeletal remains ... ". I wonder what the salvage company did with the remains. One set might have been my g grandfather's cousin, the gallant and quixotic Moses Donohue. I hope they left them where they were, as little disturbed as possible.

Barbara

Yes, what a sobering thought. But I have to say that the title of your thread struck me as one of the most intriguing I have seen on Brit-Gen- and what a temptation to own a bit of that history - if a reasonable price?
there were conflicting reports that the noblemen and women threw their jewellery and valuables to the crew to hasten their evacuation or that they threw it off saying that they should not go to meet their maker thus adorned - sad either way and apparently none of the ladies on board were saved......