The RNLB Anna Livia will launch to lay two wreaths on Dublin Bay following a short ecumenical service and will be joined by the station Inshore Lifeboat.
A lone piper will play a lament as the lifeboats proceed to sea for a short distance to the location where the original 'Civil Service No. 7 Lifeboat' capsized during a rescue attempt and the 15 local volunteers were lost. The lifeboats will stop engines as the wreaths are dropped onto the sea.
This annual commemoration is dedicated both to lifeboat crew lost over the years and also to the memories of all lives lost at sea around our
coasts, in whatever circumstances, and their surviving families.
The 1895 crew were lost while attempting to rescue the passengers and crew of the SS Palme that had been driven ashore at the height of the gale.
Although the second Lifeboat based at the harbour launched, none of the first crew could be saved and the second lifeboat also capsized though without loss of life. All on board the Palme were later rescued.
The crew of Dun Laoghaire RNLI Lifeboat Station will hold their annual memorial ceremony for all lives lost at sea on Christmas Eve at 12.00pm. Members of the public are invited to walk the East Pier to the lighthouse where a short service will be held. This is a tradition that started after the 1895 disaster in which the entire Lifeboat crew were lost off Blackrock, Co. Dublin during a fierce gale on
Christmas Eve.
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