Barras' squadron in the great French naval campaign of autumn 1781, which led to the capture of Yorktown and the establishment of the United States of America. Another Cork MacCarthy w as a leading shipowner in the great French port of Nantes: he often visited Cork, where a son was born to him who became the Colonel to whom Napoleon was to dictate his final orders for the battle of Waterloos, and who in his turn, had a son, Oscar, a famous explorer and designer of the modern port of Algiers. Yet another Cork McCarthy (so spelled by him), Charles, was on his own showing a 'founder' of the great mutiny of the British navy at the Nore in 1797, and proved co be an adroit and humane negotiator. In the seven years war between France and Britain, 17 56-63, the names of the crew of a privateer fitted out by Cork shipowners, have survived. They include Thomas Reilly, master; Thom as Sheehan, cook, James McCracken, steward; John Shannon, quarter master, and Charles Flanagan, armourer. Edward Bransfield of Cork was 'impressed' into the British navy whilst serving on a Cork-owned coaster. He proved such a remarkable seaman during many years at sea in the Napoleonic war that he w as advanced to the rank of Master or navigating officer. It is now generally recognized that in a great voyage of exploration in 1819, in which he charted the South Shetland Islands, where many features bear his name, he w as the first man ever to sight the Antarctic continent. Other Huguenot seeders in Cork city included the Besnard family who founded one of history's most successful sail-cloth factories in Dougl as and provided at least one able m as ter-mariner. The Hardy family also pro duced shipowners and seamen and a number of amusing and moving let ters exchanged between them, have found their way into archives in University College, London. Among contemporary mariners who have shed lustre on the name of Cork though their forebears came from far away, have been Chief Petty Officer (retired) Loci of the Naval Service, whose family originated in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, and served the former Austro-Hungarian Empire in various maritime capacities, and Lieutenant Commander Niall Brunicardi and his m as ter-mariner son, Daire, whose origins were in Italy but who have themselves not only served Ireland with distinction ac sea but have also done much to throw new light on Cork's great maritime history.
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Cork City and County Archives SM994
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