Kilmore Quay RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat was launched Saturday afternoon (July 6) to assist two people aboard a 32-foot yacht with engine failure close to the Saltee Islands.
The Coast Guard requested that the all-weather Tamar class lifeboat, Killarney, launch at 2.37 pm on Saturday. The lifeboat was under the command of Coxswain Eugene Kehoe with five crew members on board and it arrived on scene just north of the Great Saltee island at 3:00pm. Sea conditions at the time were described as moderate with a two-metre swell and were not suitable for the yacht to return to the harbour under sail. Having checked that all on board were safe and well, it was decided that the safest course of action was establishing a tow to bring the yacht back to the nearby harbour. With the tow established the lifeboat made its way back to Kilmore Quay, arriving at 3.30 pm.
The Kilmore Quay RNLI lifeboat crew involved in the call-out were coxswain Eugene Kehoe, mechanic Philip Walsh and crew members Nigel Kehoe, Adam Kelly, Michelle Devereux, and Robbie Connolly.
The call-out came on a weekend when members of the crew also attended a commemoration service at the Memorial Garden in Kilmore Quay to mark the 100th anniversary of the loss of the SS Lismore six miles off the coast between Kilmore Quay and Hook Head on 11 July 1924. As Afloat reported, one survivor made it to shore 28 hours after the vessel went down and raised the alarm. Despite extensive searches by lifeboat crews and coast guards at the time, none of the remaining 18 crew on board were ever found.