That sea took two on Tuesday.
On that terrible afternoon, the family of a young woman missing from Silver Strand beach near Barna were tormented by sea fog. It made searching the shrouded coastline next to impossible, while a second family grieved after the remains of their loved one was recovered only yards away, from the mouth of Rusheen Bay.
The family and friends of the local woman in her 30s, whose name has not been officially released, stood hopelessly staring to sea at a bank of impenetrable fog from the promenade above the popular swimming spot. Torment.
Her car was still parked nearby, amid a quiet clatter of emergency vehicles. Drones droned overhead. Hope.
News trickled out that the male body recovered was that of 74-year-old musician and regular swimmer, Johnny Duhan.
The simplicity of the message was overwhelming. Coast Guard and Civil Defence volunteers looked away to give this public grief some sheen of privacy. Salthill Gardaí stepped in to give comfort. The calm sea lapped the strand, mercilessly.
The kayakers and paddleboarders silently skimming like wraiths through the flat calm were called in by officials. With visibility down to 25m, it was hard to spot them searching shallows from shore, and with light fading before 5pm, their safety was a concern. The sea had already taken two.
Torches shone out over the black rocks of Barna Bay on Tuesday night, as scouring the coastline continued by those who would not sleep. Volunteers met at Silver Strand and in Spiddal on Wednesday morning to resume the daylight search. If the fog lifts, helicopters may be deployed. Hope fades with the rising sun.
I know a town tormented by the sea,
And there time goes slow
That the people see it flow
And watch it drowsily,
And growing older hour by hour, they say,
“Please God, tomorrow!”
