Leyden of Coney Island
The Leyden Brothers- Jim, Michael, John and Stephen, were born in Grange, but came to live on Coney with their widowed mother, who was a Haren from the Island.
Jim sailed on several vessels in both the foreign and coastal trades. He was a Quarter-Master on the liner Arandora Star which was torpedoed off the Donegal Coast in 1940 with a big loss of life. He survived and later took up employment with Irish Lights and became a Principal Keeper. He was drowned in a boating accident in Sligo Bay in 1972. Two other young local seamen, Michael McLoughlin of Clematis Lodge and Michael Kilgallon of Lower Rosses, were also drowned.
Michael sailed out of Sligo on a Greek grain ship, as a cabin boy, in 1940. After a period on American vessels he became a Bosun on a supertanker. He is now retired and divides his time between his homes in Liverpool and Coney Island, where he takes a keen interest in the history of John McGowan’s public house.
John went to a Maritime Training School at Gravesend and later sailed as an officer on American ships in the foreign trade. Now retired, he lives in Texas.
Stephen emigrated to Australia, became a Bush Pilot and died in an air crash some years ago.