The mystery of the Irish fishing boat “Syracuse” grows

It was about 15 months ago that we learned about an Irish fishing boat named after the Syracuse Orange.

It was a CNN story about the boat standing up to the Russian Navy and left us with a lot of questions. TNIAAM endeavored to contact Captain Alan Carleton and much to our surprise we were greeted with a response this week.

According to Captain Carleton, this is what we learned about the origins of the fishing vessel:

The man that built the boat originally was French and he named it after where he proposed to his wife. That what the owners whom bought it of him and we bought it from them”

Frankly the response left us with more questions. We discovered that the Syracuse was built in 1987.....which is a very interesting year in Orange athletics history.

Could this original owner have been enamored by Don McPherson leading the undefeated Orange on the gridiron? Maybe they became a dedicated follower of a tall Greek Lebanese player named Rony Seikaly helping his basketball squad make the Final Four? What about the debut of the Gait brothers or Felisha Legette and Sue Ludwig helping the Orange women in the midst of a run of six-seasons with a winning record?

Did the owner get engaged in the Carrier Dome during one of these games? Could the proposal have taken place on Marshall Street- perhaps in Chuck’s or 44’s? Did the Irish connection begin with a Tipp Hill engagement?

So many unanswered questions, but we do know that at a length of over 22 meters this Syracuse could cover the middle of the zone like no other.

Tony Muldoon

Got any tips. Email us at tniaam@gmail.com and our investigative team will get to work.