Memorial to be unveiled to mark 40th anniversary of fishing boat tragedy

A memorial will be unveiled in Kirkcudbright this month to mark the 40th anniversary of a fishing boat tragedy.

The trawler Mhari-L sank in the Irish Sea on February 20, 1985. All five men on board – William Maxwell, Stuart and Keith Campbell, George McKend and Mark Amos – lost their lives.

Mark’s daughter, Donna McKnight, has been working with other family members on a ceremony and the unveiling.

• Picture: Painting of the Mhari-L by Kirkcudbright artist Jane B. Gibson

Donna, who lives in Dalbeattie, said: “I was really annoyed on the 30th anniversary it wasn’t mentioned anywhere and I was adamant it wouldn’t happen for the 40th anniversary.

“There’s presently no memorial for the men. There is the Mother and Child statue in Kirkcudbright but that’s not just for the Mhari-L.

“I contacted someone from each of the other families and asked if they minded if I organised this and a ceremony for the anniversary and they were fine with that.

“You can put a plaque on the harbour master wall but when I was speaking to (Kirkcudbright stone mason) Dougie Swan, I said it was a whole boat of men and didn’t feel a plaque was enough.

“He’s come up with the idea of a boulder, which is going to go in front of the wall.”

The ceremony will take place at Kirkcudbright Harbour Square at 2 pm on Saturday, February 22 and everyone is welcome to attend.

Among those speaking at it will be Marian Dixon, who was the Fishermen’s Mission superintendent in Kirkcudbright for many years before retiring, and current mission area office Louise Liddell.

Donna added: “The ceremony is open to everyone – it’s a small town and there were five men on that boat, everybody would have known them.”

A fundraiser has been set-up to help cover the £2,000 cost of the memorial at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mhari-l

Anything raised over the target will be donated to the Fishermen’s Mission and Kirkcudbright RNLI.

• Full story at the Galloway News