The meeting of the North Channel and the Irish Sea just a few miles off St John’s Point creates a phenomenon of dead water on the landward side….consequently there are no natural currents to help sailing ships escape from the Bay when blown in by S, SE or SW winds.

 

These ships were embayed and at the mercy of the wind and tides. The increasing sea commerce that came with the Industrial Revolution meant that ships bound for the four corners of the earth or returning from them to the great cities of Liverpool Glasgow and Belfast faced a harrowing journey passing Dundrum Bay.

 

Many ships were wrecked on the rocks or grounded on the soft sands of the bay. This presentation looks at the ships wrecked and the role of the lifeboats in rescuing the crews and passengers.