A legend that still lingers among Carbonear people concerns an Irish princess named Sheila NaGeira. Away back in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England the princess was captured in the English Channel by a sea rover named Gilbert Pike. He had captured a vessel belonging to Easton, but a quarrel ensued over some division of spoils and Pike went into piracy of his own. He was enamoured by the dark haired Irish beauty, and she in turn fell in love with the dashing and handsome corsair. She persuaded him to forsake his errant ways, and they came to Newfoundland and made their home at Carbonear. A child was born there, which tradition holds was the first white child to claim birth in Newfoundland.
After his son's birth, Pike himself was abducted, along with other men in the village, in a violent coastal raid by the Dutch and vanished for over fifteen years. It was then that the Irish Princess assumed the cloak of community champion and developed a historic stature of epic proportions. Her strength, her passion and her tenacity in the face of brutal hardship, lead her people through to the eventual return of their lost loves.
In the west end of the town may be seen a large tombstone in a private garden, and on it are engraved names of the Pike family. Beneath this stone was said to lie the ashes of Sheila NaGeira and her pirate lover. They continue to be celebrated as local heroes and inspire great pride in the residents of the region.
Get your own Free Home Page