THE Battle of Jutland in 1916 was the largest naval conflict during World War I, but it is often forgotten that 37 men from West Cork were among the 9,000 sailors who lost their lives.

Remarkably, three Hickey brothers from Glandore survived this famous battle but the death toll of Cork men stood at 120.

After about ten hours of intense fighting 8,648 sailors were dead and 1,017 sailors were injured.

The 110th anniversary of the Battle of Jutland, which took place off the coast of Denmark between the German High Seas Fleet and the British Royal Navy Grand Fleet, will be marked on Sunday May 31st.

Retired garda sergeant Tony McCarthy from Barryroe has carried out extensive research into the West Cork link over the past 12 years.

This involved trawling through the British National Archives to retrieve naval records and confirming their family details from records here.

Tony, who has an MA in Local History and a diploma in Genealogy from UCC, said that when the first world war broke out, there were several thousand West Cork men employed in both the Royal Navy and the Royal Navy Reserve.

Patrick and John Whelton, Glandore. Patrick died on HMS Defence.
John died on the Western Front in 1918.

‘There had been a large Royal Naval presence in Cork harbour and Kinsale for centuries and its presence had created job opportunities for generations of Cork men,’ said Tony.

‘That steady pay offered young men a chance to escape permanent emigration, unemployment and poverty. They had regular meals, an opportunity to travel and a chance of promotion.’

The Battle of Jutland was the culmination of a naval arms race between Germany and Great Britain which had begun over two decades earlier.

‘There was an expectation earlier on that the Royal Navy would win the war at sea just like they had done against other countries. Before Jutland, the Germany navy tactic was like a kind of guerrilla warfare where they would bombard English coastal towns such as Lowestoft and Yarmouth in the hope of coaxing the Royal Navy ships out so that they could be ambushed by U boats or confronted by the German fleet.’

On May 30th the British received intelligence that the German High Seas Fleet was leaving the port of Jade on another bombardment mission and the Royal Navy Fleet left Scotland to confront them.

The first reports of the battle were covered in The Cork Examiner, while both The Skibbereen Eagle and The Southern Star provided information on the West Cork casualties.

The Skibbereen Eagle, June 1916

‘The notes on June 10th gave a list of survivors and it names about 35 sailors from the Timoleague/Barryroe area who had survived the battle. It also named three Hickey brothers from Glandore and their three Dempsey uncles who amazingly had all come through unscathed.

‘The newspapers also gave eyewitness accounts of the battle who described the intensity, heat and explosions.’

The Easter Rising had taken place just weeks earlier, causing a chain reaction which later led to the War of Independence and the Irish Civil War.

‘The stories of these men who fought in WW1 faded into the background because of that,’ said Tony. ‘Many of them were only one generation down from famine survivors or famine victims.

‘Now in post-colonial Ireland, a new silence surrounded these men, and the tragic circumstances of their deaths were largely only remembered by their heartbroken families.’

Tony said he would love to hear from any relatives of those who died and hasn’t ruled out writing a book on it.

He said he is still learning new information about the brave West Cork  men who lost their lives over a century ago.