673 
Here though, Gary Paine looks at that dark day, Friday, October
The Dublin Daily Express reported that ‘it was while engaged in this duty that John Doyle, coxswain of the lifeboat, William
The episode was witnessed by a large crowd, including J.G. McEntagart, who entered the sea from the beach in a vain attempt to try to save the three individuals.
‘John Doyle was a good swimmer and three times saved life. On the first occasion he was sailing in a small boat with James Doyle and John Evans when she capsized at some distance from the shore. John Doyle took James on his back and placing
In September 2009, Coxswain John Doyle’s granddaughter,
A mighty wave… 1962
t’s a tragedy that we touched on before, with Gary Acheson’s McEntagart Connection 
back in May 2016.
t’s a tragedy that we touched on before, with Gary Acheson’s McEntagart Connection 
back in And we also covered the 2013 unveiling of a plaque to the three Doyles who lost their lives during this vicious harbour storm.
Here though, Gary Paine looks at that dark day, Friday, October 
14th 1892, and just how three members of the Doyle family lost their lives trying to assist the coal schooler, the Mersey.
14th 1892, and just how three members of the Doyle family lost their lives trying to assist the coal schooler, the Mersey.Take it away, Gary…
It was 130 years ago today, on Friday 14th October 1892, that one of the most tragic events in the history of Greystones occurred.
Three members of the Doyle family – including coxswain of the Greystones Lifeboat, John Doyle – were drowned in the harbour whilst trying to assist the coal schooner, Mersey, during a north easterly gale.
The Mersey in calmer waters early 1900s
The photo here shows the Mersey in calmer times at Greystones in the early 1900s, moored along with the Reciprocity, abreast of the Velinheli (closest to the pier).
The Mersey, owned by J.G. McEntagart (proprietor of what is now The Beach House), was in danger of being broken up against the pier. A decision was made to attempt to beach her, which first required her stern hawser (rope) to be cast off from the granite bollard securing it.
The Dublin Daily Express reported that ‘it was while engaged in this duty that John Doyle, coxswain of the lifeboat, William 
Doyle and his son Herbert Doyle lost their lives. A green sea came clean over the pier just as they had cast the rope free and carried them away into the surging water in the harbour’.
Doyle and his son Herbert Doyle lost their lives. A green sea came clean over the pier just as they had cast the rope free and carried them away into the surging water in the harbour’.The episode was witnessed by a large crowd, including J.G. McEntagart, who entered the sea from the beach in a vain attempt to try to save the three individuals. 
Members of the Greystones Coast Guard spent the night searching the shore and the following day, coast guard boatman William Leonard discovered John Doyle’s body on the shore between Drummin Hill and Ballygannon Point. His body was brought from there to Frankfort, the house he had built at Doyle’s Corner (opposite Mooch today).
At the subsequent inquest held in Greystones, it was confirmed that the deaths were due to accidental drowning. Both William and Herbert Doyle were members of the Coast Life Saving Service at Greystones, adept at using its rocket apparatus, whilst the loss of John Doyle was deeply felt by the local lifeboat crew for whom he had served as coxswain for 16 years.
Arthur Hughes’ letter
With the population of Greystones still numbering just 516 per the 1891 census, an appeal was made to support the dependents of those lost. Arthur Hughes, who resided at St. David’s on the seafront and was prominent in local civic affairs during the 1890s, had a letter published in The Irish Times about the plight of the families affected. He stated ‘their means of support depended almost entirely on the precarious calling of fishing. John and William Doyle leave widows and two large families, numbering six and seven respectively, of quite young children who are entirely unprovided for’.
Robert Cathcart Dobbs of Knockdolian on Church Lane, Secretary of the Greystones Lifeboat, wrote to Charles Dibdin, Secretary of the R.N.L.I. The following month a cheque for £50 was appropriated from the legacy of J.J. Tancred to help provide for the widow of Coxswain John Doyle.
That £50 cheque…
an oar under John Evans’ arms, brought both ashore. On the second occasion, a lady, Miss Flood, was in imminent danger of drowning off the ladies’ bathing place when John swam to her assistance and brought her in. On the third occasion, he rescued a lady who fell off the pier.’
Betty Lowe, and great-grandson, Richard Lowe, travelled from Greystones to the R.N.L.I. headquarters at Poole in Dorset for the unveiling of the R.N.L.I Memorial. The sculpture honours the courage of the more than 800 lifeboat crew members lost around the coast of Britain and Ireland while endeavouring to save lives. 
The waved metal band around the sculpture contains the inscription ‘GREYSTONES 1892 – J. Doyle’.
The schooner in question on that ill-fated day 130 years ago today, the 49-ton Mersey, had a long period of service crossing the Irish Sea. Built in Runcorn in 1842 on the banks of the river after which was named, she had been under the ownership of John Nolan of Wicklow since the 1860s, predominantly importing coal into Wicklow harbour. Despite her age, from the late 1880s through to the early 1900s she was a regular visitor to Greystones harbour, importing English, Scottish and Welsh coal, albeit leading a charmed life.
