The Keepers of the Flannan Isles
On a remote Scottish island, the three keepers of a new lighthouse disappeared, and the light went dark.
What was reported
The Flannan Isles lighthouse on Eilean Mòr was lit in 1899. On 15 December 1900, a passing ship noticed it was dark. When the relief vessel Hesperus arrived on 26 December, the three keepers, James Ducat, Thomas Marshall and Donald MacArthur, were gone. The clock had stopped, and one set of oilskins was still on its peg.
Later tellings, including a famous poem, added an overturned chair and an untouched meal, details not in the original reports.
Explanations offered
The Northern Lighthouse Board's investigator found storm damage at the west landing, high above the sea, and concluded the men had been swept away by an unusually large wave while securing equipment. Why the third man left without his oilskins is still debated, and freak waves at that height are still discussed.
- When
- December 1900
- Where
- Eilean Mòr, Outer Hebrides, Scotland
- Witnesses
- The crew of the relief vessel Hesperus
- Status
- Mostly explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.