The fisherman and father-of-seven who rescued two cousins adrift in the Atlantic on paddle boards said his paternal instinct had driven him to rush out and begin searching.
Last month Sara Feeney (23) and her 17-year old cousin Ellen Glynn captivated the country after disappearing from Furbo beach in Galway.
Quickly swept out to sea, they spent the night enduring horrendous weather conditions before being plucked to safety by local fisherman Patrick Oliver and his 18-year old son Morgan.
Mr Oliver admitted that his paternal instinct had played a large part in his decision to take out his fishing boat and join in the search as the country desperately awaited news in a situation that looked ominous.
“When I heard first thing [the next] morning...[Sarah’s] mother on the beach, just watching them disappear into the distance…as soon as we heard we just left,” he said on Friday’s Late Late Show where all four were once again reunited.
In all, the cousins spent 15 hours in the water. Their discovery and rescue the following morning captivated the nation, a conspicuous good news story in the middle of seemingly endless pandemic developments.
The father and son rescue team were widely praised for using their local knowledge to estimate their location.
“When we got out on the water we read the conditions the two of us. We took turns from when we left the docks, driving the boat and looking around,” Mr Oliver said.
“The night before northerly wind was coming off the north shore. It was an offshore breeze. Literally the girls are sitting on the boards; they are two corks on the water and the wind just carried them straight.”
They plotted a line from Furbo Beach with the wind toward Inis Oirr, heading for the south sound between the island and the Cliffs of Moher, eventually sighting their oars waving in the air.
The cousins admitted that before realising how serious their predicament was they had been slightly embarrassed at the prospect of needing to be rescued.
However, Mr Oliver paid tribute to their stoicism given the challenging weather conditions during the night. The women had lashed their paddle boards to a lobster pot which prevented them drifting out into the Atlantic and their life jackets played a major part in the survival story.
“We found them but they saved themselves,” he said.
Describing their moment of salvation, Ellen said it was a bit of a blur.
“When they were coming towards us it was just like I can’t believe this is real, they are actually coming for us,” she said.
