Name: Conal McKinney
Case Classification: Missing at sea
Missing Since: November 15, 1995
Location Last Seen: Stanton Banks reef area, North Atlantic Ocean
Date of Birth: Unknown
Age: 29 years old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Hair Color: Unknown
Eye Color: Unknown
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown
Dentals: Unknown
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Conal McKinney went missing at sea arising out of the sinking of the Carrickatine on the 15 November 1995. He was the brother of the skipper, Jeremy McKinney. He had worked in computers in the UK but decided to return home and become a fisherman. The Moville man was known as a very good musician who played the guitar.
On board were skipper Jeremy McKinney of Moville; his brother, Conal McKinney; John Kelly of Carndonagh, Derry; his son, Stephen; Terry Doherty of Greencastle and Bernard Gormley, also of Greencastle.
The Greencastle vessel had been fishing on the Stanton banks, some 50 miles north of Malin Head on the day it disappeared. A number of other vessels which had been working in the area returned to port because of adverse weather conditions, and it was assumed the Carrickatine intended to do likewise. The skipper had reported an engine failure and a list in some of his last radio communications that fateful day.
An investigation into the cause of the loss on November 15, 1995, drew no conclusions. However it said, whatever happened was probably “rapid and devastating”, leaving the crew no time to reach the deck.
The investigation found the skipper, one of a very experienced crew, had told another vessel by radio that he had had to stop the engine for a while to clean an oil filter on the gearbox. The engine had “clutched out”, he was reported to have said. When it was running again, the ship had a list, which he said he would need to “sort out”.
He did not specify the extent of the list or whether it was to port or to starboard. There was no further contact with the Carrickatine. The alarm was raised later than night when the vessel failed to return to Greencastle, initiating what may have been the largest and most detailed and comprehensive sea search operation in the history of the State.
Units of the Irish Marine Emergency Service, the Naval Service, Air Corps, Irish Lights, the RNLI and local fishing vessels were involved, with Naval Service patrol ships and the Irish Lights tender, Granuaile, continuing well into 1996.
Outlining possible causes, the report rules out massive structural failure and an explosion on board, but says significance must be attached to the skipper’s report of a list, which could have been caused by several factors. It says it has not been possible to establish whether there were any submarines in the area at the time, but even if there were, proof of a collision would require examination of the wreck.
In a poignant twist to the investigation, crewman William Alan Browne who had not sailed on the ill-fated voyage because he was moving house was asked to identify debris brought from the sea to see if it could possibly belong to the Carrigatine. He was able to establish that a butane gas cylinder and at least one pound board were from the vessel.
Agency Name: Garda Missing Persons Unit
Agency Contact Person: Sergeant Carmel Griffin
Agency Phone Number: +353 1 666 9476
Agency E-Mail: missing_persons@garda.ie
Agency Case Number: N/A
Garda
The Irish Times - Jan. 6, 1996
Irish Independent - Nov. 10, 1998
The Skipper - Nov. 15, 2020
Added: 11/26/2023; Last Updated: 11/26/2023 - By: LS
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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