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Your Memories of Dopey Dick
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Did you see Dopey Dick in Lough Foyle? Tell
us what you remember about his visit and the efforts to lure him
back out to sea.
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Name: Karl Hamilton
Location: waterside / londonderry
Memories: I was ten years old then i saw the
whale. i was with my twin at the time.
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Name: Greg McGowan
Location: England
Memories: My mates and I used to walk from St.
Brecans, down the Quarry and over the Craigavon Bridge to the
buses in Foyle Street every school day afternoon. I recall that
Dopey Dick was always upstream of the old bridge and imagined
that this was the navigational / mental barrier that stopped him
getting back to sea. Being 1977 the local kids seemed to enjoy
lobbing half house bricks at the poor craytur!
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Name: Chris
Location: Aberdeen
Memories: Although I was only born 6 months earlier
and obviously have no recollection of the event itself, I remember
the stories and everytime we crossed the Craigavon Bridge, looking
to see if Dopey had returned (Not knowing he had died). My wife
looks at me like I'm Dopey when I tell her of Dopey Dick so I'm
glad others are remembering the tale.
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Name: Ronan
Location: Edinburgh
Memories: I was 4 and it was one of earliest
memories. My mum took me along to stand on the bridge and watch
Dopey - I was obviously awe struck as the memory has stayed with
me clear for so many years.
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Name: John
Location: Michigan
Memories: I was six, my dad took me for a walk
(it seemed forever) from the bog, up the flyover, down abercorn
road to the bridge to watch. It is one of my earliest memories.
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Name: Bernard
Bubble
Location:Waterside
My Memories: I was thinking about jumping into
the Foyle when I first seen the black and white beast...she scared
me so much that i was glad i didn't jump in fear of being eaten!
to cut a long story short...i ended up moving to Iceland and studying
the killer whale in action...mmm penguins!!
Name: Terence
Location: Derry
My Memories: I was at St Peters at the time,
at lunchtime one day a friend and I could see Dopey Dick from
the banking just below High Park, as our excitement increased
our height above sea level decreased until eventually we were
standing at the edge of the Foyle. About half an hour after we
should have been back in class reality sank in and we had to run
up southway to get back to school. Mr Mc Gilloway didn't appreciate
our love of the natural world and strapped us. It's taken a long
time but i knew i would eventually get him back.
Name: Ronan
Location: Belfast
My Memories: Hi All, In case any of you are interested
there is a new four-part series starting on 大象传媒 1 NI this Sunday
(30th of November) at 6.15pm that features never before seen footage
of Dopey Dick that was shot by a local man. Tune in and relive
the memory!!!!
Name: Philip Cunningham Jnr
Location: Derry
Memories: I as fishing out the line with my daddy
when I was nine and he hooked something very heavy, then Dopy
Dick rose to the surface and splashed about. We were very scared
and my daddy's rod was bending very much as the whale swam down
the Foyle. Whenever my daddy wound in his line, there was a big
wellington boot caught on the hook and I was very happy that it
wasn't the big dopy fish.
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Name: Niall Gormley
Location: New York
My Memories: how could i ever forget, it was
one of the highlights of my time at rosemount primary school.
I was in primary 6 and Mr Martin, who was always trying differant
ways to educate us by doing things outside the classroom decided
he would take us all down to the foyle for a look at Dopey Dick.
So of we all went, heading down to the foyle in a single file
from rosemount and were delighted to see him surface from the
water as if he was doing it especially for us. Of course after
a while when we got bored looking at him, we all decided that
in good derry fashion that we would start throwing stones at him
and a few days later when he left we claimed the glory for getting
him to leave because he was afraid of the stones. Then , when
we found out he was dead we were all very sad and wondered if
it was our fault. A very fond memory indeed.
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Name: William
Location: Londonderry
Memories: The killer whale was fist spotted above
Craigavon Bridge on Sunday 6th November 1977, and was soon became
known as Dopy Dick. Foyle Fisheries Commission staff monitored
his movements (from the size and shape of its tail it was a male).
He remained in the River until the 14th November and was last
seen in Lough Foyle by a fisherman near the Coal Pier at Moville
the following day.
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Name: Mary Josephine
Devlin
Location: Co. Donegal
My Memories: Thank you for reviving the memory of Dopey
Dick. He certainly was the talk of the town and many people from
Co.Donegal made the pilgrimage to see this great star, in November
1977.
It may be silly to say now, we were on talking terms with Dopey
Dick but he responded to voices, twisting now and again, and then
finally swimming off in triumph. It was a lovely memory. My
poem was the imaginary last message received from Dopey Dick.
Every success with the website.
Name: Natalie
Location: Derry
My Memories: I was only a wee lass at the time
but I remember dopey dick capsizing a boat and being on the news.
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Name: Steven
Location: Strabane
My Memories: I was only 5 at the time, but I
remember it clearly, particulary on the news at the time. It was
in the opening credits to one of the local news shows, I can't
remember which though.
Name: John
Location: Derry
My Memories: I remember sailing at Upper Foyle
Sailing Club while Dopey Dick was in the vicinity. At the start
of a race, one dinghy took a very violent capsize. Many of us
were convinced that Dopey Dick had overturned this boat. Whether
this was the real reason for the capsize, or not, it certainly
added nervous excitement to our subsequent races.
Name: Kevin
Location: Dublin
My Memories: I was at St Columbs and we had a
great view from the huts. If we got bored during class, someone
would shout, there he is and the whole class would jump up and
spend 10 minutes waiting to see dopey Dick again. I remember the
day he left there was a boat race on and he swam away himself,
not so dopey after all.
Name: Barry
Location: Belfast
My Memories: I was in P1 in Newbuildings PS.
My sister and I were taken out of school to go and see this wonderful
creature. My dad took pictures, it was a lovely day with lots
of people lining the river to laugh at all the people in boats
trying to turn Dopey around. That day was the first and last time
I was ever aloud off school unless ill.
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Name: Louise
Location: Belfast
My Memories: I was a pupil at the Nazareth House
Primary School on Bishop Street and was about 8 at the time. I
remember our class was taken to a balcony at the back of the school
where we had a fantastic clear view of the river. I saw the whale
very clearly and it's huge dorsal fin sticking out of the water.
There was an army boat close to it with what I think was a big
lump of meat. They were obviously trying to coax it back up the
river and out to sea. The Craigavon bridge was packed with buses
and people cheering every time they saw it. I also remember crying
when I heard it had died a couple of days later.
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Name: Priya Nair
Location: Milton Road
Memories: I had loads of fun playing Dopey Dick
and I would play it again sometime. see ya.
听
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