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RNLI Lifeboat News From Ireland
Three Fishermen Rescued After Boat Sinks off Donegal Coast
#rnli – Lough Swilly RNLI in county Donegal has assisted three fishermen this afternoon after their boat sank off the Inishowen peninsula. The volunteer crew was requested to launch both their inshore and all weather lifeboats at 1.30pm following a…
Arklow RNLI Hosts Summer Solstice Fundraiser
#RNLI - Arklow RNLI supporters are being asked to come out and walk or jog a midnight mile - four laps of the running track at Coral Leisure Centre - in Arklow this Friday 21 June. The walk/run will take…
Portaferry RNLI Rescue Two Men In Drifting Dory
#RNLI - Portaferry RNLI launched on Saturday afternoon 15 June to go to the rescue of a small craft which had lost power in Strangford Lough, Co Down. The volunteer lifeboat crew was alerted at 1.10pm following a call that…
Minister Pays Tribute to Work of Lifeboat & Coastguard in Wake of Tramore Bay Tragedy
#tramoredrownings – The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD has expressed his deep shock and sadness on hearing of the deaths of Paul, Kenny and Shane Bolger in a tragic accident yesterday at Tramore Bay. The…
Tragedy Unfolds off Waterford as Lifeboats Recover Three Bodies
#rnli –  RNLI lifeboat crews from Dunmore East and Tramore were launched this evening (Wednesday 12 June) to search for three men who were reported overdue when their small fishing punt failed to return. Dunmore East RNLI and the Coast…
Galway RNLI Rescues Man From Boat At Barna Rocks
#RNLI - Galway RNLI came to the rescue of a man whose 25ft sailboat almost hit rocks off Barna in Galway Bay on Sunday morning (9 June). The alarm was raised by a member of the public who spotted the…
Sligo Bay RNLI Celebrates 15th Anniversary This Weekend
#RNLI - Sligo Bay RNLI will celebrate its 15th anniversary this Sunday (16 June) with an open day at the lifeboat station in Rosses Point. There will be an opportunity to chat to the crew, have a look around the station, visit…
Baltimore Lifeboat Assists Fishing Boat
#rnli – Both RNLI Baltimore lifeboats were called to assist a disabled fishing boat at 18:19 this evening. The Hardy 20 half decker with 2 persons on board was departing Sherkin Island when they experienced engine failure. The disabled vessel…
Lifeboat Rescues Lone Yachtsman off Grounded Vessel
#rnli – Rosslare RNLI launched in the early hours of this morning (11 June) when a lone yachtsman issued a Mayday call after his vessel grounded. Unable to give his exact position the lifeboat crew searched the area before they…
Crash With Turbine Caused Strangford Lough Yacht Dismasting
#RNLI - A collision with a tidal turbine was to blame for the incident that caused the dismasting of a yacht in Strangford Lough on Sunday 9 June. As reported yesterday on Afloat.ie, Portaferry RNLI's lifeboat crew was dispatched to…
Crosshaven RNLI Stands by Disabled Motor Cruiser off Roches Point
#rnli – A 36' motor cruiser on passage from Kinsale to Crosshaven with two people on board, lost one of its two engines with the second engine showing alarms. As the vessel was off Ringabella and on a lee shore,…
Four Brought To Safety By RNLI In Two Separate Incidents On Lough Erne
#RNLI - Enniskillen RNLI today (10 June) brought four people to safety in two separate incidents on Lough Erne in Co Fermanagh. In the first call-out of the day, the volunteer lifeboat crew retrieved a man and women from their…
Dog Rescued After Dramatic 200ft Cliff Fall at Howth Head
#rnli – Howth RNLI rescued a dog after he fell 200 feet from a cliff in north county Dublin yesterday. The alarm was raised at approximately 4.30pm by a member of the public who was walking along the cliff path…
Fire on Cork Harbour Yacht, Crosshaven RNLI responds
#rnli – While performing an exercise at yesterday's lifeboat station Open Day in Crosshaven, Cork harbour, Valentia Coast Guard contacted the lifeboat by radio alerting them to a yacht with possible fire on board in the Owenabue river upstream of the Royal…
Family Towed to Safety By Lough Derg Lifeboat
#rnli – Lough Derg RNLI Lifeboat launched to assist a family in difficulty after their 17ft motor boat broke down and drifted into Cloondavaun Bay, south of Portumna, on the Galway shore of Lough Derg. At 14.30hrs this afternoon Valentia…
Bundoran Lifeboat Search Ended as Child Found Safe & Well
#rnli – Bundoran RNLI were tasked to assist in the search for a child feared to be missing in the water at Rossnowlagh Beach on Sunday afternoon (9th June 2013). The 6 year old child was reported missing following a…

Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) in Ireland Information

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is a charity to save lives at sea in the waters of UK and Ireland. Funded principally by legacies and donations, the RNLI operates a fleet of lifeboats, crewed by volunteers, based at a range of coastal and inland waters stations. Working closely with UK and Ireland Coastguards, RNLI crews are available to launch at short notice to assist people and vessels in difficulties.

RNLI was founded in 1824 and is based in Poole, Dorset. The organisation raised €210m in funds in 2019, spending €200m on lifesaving activities and water safety education. RNLI also provides a beach lifeguard service in the UK and has recently developed an International drowning prevention strategy, partnering with other organisations and governments to make drowning prevention a global priority.

Irish Lifeboat Stations

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland, with an operational base in Swords, Co Dublin. Irish RNLI crews are tasked through a paging system instigated by the Irish Coast Guard which can task a range of rescue resources depending on the nature of the emergency.

Famous Irish Lifeboat Rescues

Irish Lifeboats have participated in many rescues, perhaps the most famous of which was the rescue of the crew of the Daunt Rock lightship off Cork Harbour by the Ballycotton lifeboat in 1936. Spending almost 50 hours at sea, the lifeboat stood by the drifting lightship until the proximity to the Daunt Rock forced the coxswain to get alongside and successfully rescue the lightship's crew.

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895.

FAQs

While the number of callouts to lifeboat stations varies from year to year, Howth Lifeboat station has aggregated more 'shouts' in recent years than other stations, averaging just over 60 a year.

Stations with an offshore lifeboat have a full-time mechanic, while some have a full-time coxswain. However, most lifeboat crews are volunteers.

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895

In 2019, 8,941 lifeboat launches saved 342 lives across the RNLI fleet.

The Irish fleet is a mixture of inshore and all-weather (offshore) craft. The offshore lifeboats, which range from 17m to 12m in length are either moored afloat, launched down a slipway or are towed into the sea on a trailer and launched. The inshore boats are either rigid or non-rigid inflatables.

The Irish Coast Guard in the Republic of Ireland or the UK Coastguard in Northern Ireland task lifeboats when an emergency call is received, through any of the recognised systems. These include 999/112 phone calls, Mayday/PanPan calls on VHF, a signal from an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) or distress signals.

The Irish Coast Guard is the government agency responsible for the response to, and co-ordination of, maritime accidents which require search and rescue operations. To carry out their task the Coast Guard calls on their own resources – Coast Guard units manned by volunteers and contracted helicopters, as well as "declared resources" - RNLI lifeboats and crews. While lifeboats conduct the operation, the coordination is provided by the Coast Guard.

A lifeboat coxswain (pronounced cox'n) is the skipper or master of the lifeboat.

RNLI Lifeboat crews are required to follow a particular development plan that covers a pre-agreed range of skills necessary to complete particular tasks. These skills and tasks form part of the competence-based training that is delivered both locally and at the RNLI's Lifeboat College in Poole, Dorset

 

While the RNLI is dependent on donations and legacies for funding, they also need volunteer crew and fund-raisers.

© Afloat 2020