Hookers have long held a unique grasp on the Irish psyche. Unfortunately their numbers have suffered a continuing decline, until now only a few remain, kept mainly for recreational use.

Once they were considered a necessity. In fact they were essential to an important segment of the population, those native Irish speakers inhabiting the stern fastnesses of the Aran Islands off the west coast.

They brought life to the islands which they served on a regular basis. Their arrival at Inis Mean or Inis Thiar was always an important event. Men congregated to welcome them, and when they departed both men and women sadly watched them go.

The hookers were their only link with the outside world. They carried with them news and letters from relatives and friends, and when they left they often took with them young men and young women bent on seeking their fortune in far away places.

They also transported provisions, goods and livestock, between island and mainland.

The single-masted Irish sailing ship, the Galway hooker, was ideally designed for the role it played on the western seaboard with its ability to withstand rough seas and high winds, and survive nature's pummelling year in and year out.

The advent of steamship service spelled the demise of the hooker, and last month one of the most famous met its end.

As told in a story in the The Irish Times:

"The St Patrick, the first and only Galway hooker to cross the Atlantic and to sail as far north as the Arctic circle, was smashed up on rocks off the Cork coast earlier this week. It had got caught in a storm. No one was on board the vessel when its mooring chain broke in Glandore harbour in a south-easterly gale.

Its owner and skipper, Mr Paddy Barry, told The Irish Times that it was swept over onto rocks to the north-west of the harbour, directly under the local coast and cliff rescue station.

Mr Barry had been taking the vessel to Connemara, where it spent every summer.

In 1912, the leader of the Easter Rising, Patrick Pearse, travelled on the vessel. He took a trip from Rosmuc to the Aran islands during his efforts to form the Irish Volunteers.

The St Patrick had been owned by Mr Barry for the past 29 years. It was built in 1910 as a working vessel by the Casey brothers in Mweenish, Carna, Co Galway, and was rebuilt by Mr Colm Mulkerrins in 1988-89.

Mr Barry bought it in Goleen in 1973, and in 1986 it was the first and only Galway hooker to sail to the US. In 1987, he took it north to the Faroe islands, and to Spitsbergen in 1990. He sailed it to Greenland in 1993 and to the Baltic in 1996.

He was awarded the prestigious Blue Water Medal by the Cruising Club of America and the Tilman medal by the Royal Cruising Club of Britain for his Arctic voyages.

Both medals have been recovered from the wreck, which has since been pounded into pieces.

Canadian readers can sympathize with the loss. They have had their own glorious seafaring association with the famous Bluenose schooner, the pride of Nova Scotia, whose exploits became legendary, celebrated in maritime history and on postage stamps.