Sailing with the Saints | Hwylio gyda'r Seintiau
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A mosaic of St Andrew that survives in St Patrick’s Church in Rosslare remembers the ‘saints’ that sailed between Wales and Ireland for the first sixty years of the crossing. Four vessels were initially commissioned by the Great Western Railway: the St George, which was built at Birkenhead, and the St Andrew, St Patrick and St David, which were all built at Clydebank. Each of the boats was about 2500 tons, and took a little less than three hours to make the crossing.
The first sailings were made on 30 August 1906, when St Patrick sailed from Rosslare and St David sailed from Fishguard. The St George was used as a relief vessel and the St Andrew entered service in 1908. As it was seldom required, St George was sold to the Great Eastern Railway in 1913 and it operated out of Harwich. The three ships were replaced between the wars by vessels that were given the same name. The original boats were all used as hospital ships in the First World War, and the replacement vessels were requisitioned again in the Second World War. Only one of them survived, as the St Patrick (II) was bombed on 13 June 1941 and sank ten miles from Strumble Head, and the St David (II) was also bombed and sank off the Italian coast in January 1944 at the time of the Anzio landings. The St Andrew picked up many of its survivors.
The two lost ships were replaced after the war, although the St Patrick (III) only remained in use on the route until 1948 and was transferred to Weymouth. The St Andrew (II) was repaired and refitted after the war and returned to service in 1947 with the St David (III). Both remained in service until the 1960s, serving various routes from Harwich and Weymouth as well as the routes between Holyhead and Dún Laoghaire and Fishguard and Rosslare.
The St Andrew was broken up in Antwerp in 1967–8. A mosaic of St Andrew in opus sectile was saved from the vessel, having hung in the main vestibule of both ships of that name. The technique consists of a mosaic of painted glass pieces, placed together in the manner of stained glass, but designed for an opaque background.
The mosaic was placed in St Patrick’s Church as a memorial to all those who were lost when the St Patrick and St David were sunk, and to all others who lost their lives near Tuskar Rock. The dedication of the church remembers the tradition that Patrick, the patron of Ireland, also had churches dedicated to him in Pembrokeshire. A large baptistry window at the west end of the church depicts Patrick baptising a royal figure, with boats in the background. The window was made by George Walsh, who made a whole scheme of windows for the church in 1969.
Other saints also roamed the Irish Sea, such as the St Brendan, which operated between Rosslare and Fishguard. The St Columba, built in Denmark, was the largest Sealink ship on the Irish Sea at 7,836 tons when she began the crossings between Holyhead and Dún Laoghaire in May 1977. A mural commissioned for the Forward Lounge is now in the Maritime Museum at Holyhead.
Mae mosaig o Sant Andreas sydd wedi goroesi yn eglwys Sant Padrig yn Rosslare yn cofio'r 'seintiau' a fu’n hwylio rhwng Cymru ac Iwerddon am drigain mlynedd cyntaf y croesiad. Comisiynwyd pedair llong yn wreiddiol gan y Great Western Railway: y St George, a adeiladwyd ym Mhenbedw, a'r St Andrew, y St Patrick a’r St David, a adeiladwyd i gyd yn Clydebank. Roedd pob un o'r cychod tua 2500 tunnell, a chymerai ychydig yn llai na thair awr i gwblhau’r croesiad.
Hwyliodd y llongau am y tro cyntaf ar 30 Awst 1906, pan hwyliodd y St Patrick o Rosslare a’r St David o Abergwaun. Defnyddiwyd y St George fel llong wrth gefn a dechreuodd y St Andrew wasanaethu ym 1908. Gan nad oedd ei angen yn aml, gwerthwyd y St George i’r Great Eastern Railway ym 1913 a bu’n hwylio allan o Harwich. Disodlwyd y tair llong rhwng y rhyfeloedd gan longau a gafodd yr un enw. Defnyddiwyd y cychod gwreiddiol i gyd fel llongau ysbyty yn y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf, ac atafaelwyd y llongau newydd eto yn yr Ail Ryfel Byd. Dim ond un ohonynt a oroesodd, wrth i'r St Patrick (II) gael ei fomio ar 13 Mehefin 1941 a suddo ddeng milltir o Ben-caer, a chafodd y St David (II) hefyd ei fomio a'i suddo oddi ar arfordir yr Eidal ym mis Ionawr 1944 adeg glaniadau Anzio. Y St Andrew a gododd lawer o'r goroeswyr.
Disodlwyd y ddwy long a gollwyd wedi'r rhyfel, er mai dim ond tan 1948 y parhaodd y St Patrick (III) i gael ei defnyddio a chafodd ei throsglwyddo i Weymouth. Atgyweiriwyd ac ailwampiwyd y St Andrew (II) ar ôl y rhyfel gan ddychwelyd i wasanaethu ym 1947 gyda'r St David (III). Arhosodd y ddwy mewn gwasanaeth tan y 1960au, gan wasanaethu gwahanol lwybrau o Harwich a Weymouth yn ogystal â'r llwybrau rhwng Caergybi a Dún Laoghaire ac Abergwaun a Rosslare.
Chwalwyd y St Andrew yn Antwerp yn 1967–8. Achubwyd mosäig o’r St Andrew mewn opus sectile o'r llong, ar ôl hongian ym mhrif gyntedd y ddwy long o'r enw hwnnw. Mae'r dechneg yn cynnwys mosäig o ddarnau gwydr wedi'u paentio, a’r rheiny’n cael eu gosod gyda'i gilydd yn yr un dull â gwydr lliw, ond wedi'u dylunio ar gyfer cefndir anhryloyw.
Gosodwyd y mosaig yn eglwys Sant Padrig fel cofeb i bawb a gollwyd pan suddwyd y St Patrick a’r St David, ac i bawb arall a gollodd eu bywydau ger Creigiau’r Tuskar. Mae cysegriad yr eglwys yn cofio'r traddodiad fod gan Padrig, nawddsant Iwerddon, eglwysi wedi’u cysegru iddo yn Sir Benfro hefyd. Mae ffenestr bedyddfa fawr ym mhen gorllewinol yr eglwys yn darlunio Padrig yn bedyddio ffigwr brenhinol, gyda chychod yn y cefndir. Cafodd y ffenestr ei chreu gan George Walsh, a wnaeth gyfres gyfan o ffenestri i’r eglwys ym 1969.
Bu seintiau eraill hefyd yn crwydro Môr Iwerddon, fel y St Brendan, a fu’n gweithredu rhwng Rosslare ac Abergwaun. Y St Columba, a adeiladwyd yn Nenmarc, oedd llong fwyaf Sealink ar Fôr Iwerddon, gan bwyso 7,836 o dunelli pan ddechreuodd groesi rhwng Caergybi a Dún Laoghaire ym mis Mai 1977. Mae murlun a gomisiynwyd ar gyfer y Lolfa Flaen bellach yn yr Amgueddfa Forwrol yng Nghaergybi.