Castletownbere Lifeboat Station


Castletownbere Lifeboat Station is the base for a Royal National Lifeboat Institution inshore lifeboat at Castletownbere in County Cork on the south west corner of Ireland.
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History

The west coast of Ireland faces the Atlantic Ocean but had sparse coverage from lifeboats until late in the twentieth century. In 1990 there were only four stations but by 2000 seven more had been opened. A lifeboat was sent to Castletownbere in 1997 to evaluate it as a suitable harbour and it was confirmed as a permanent station in October 1998. Poorly-located temporary crew facilities were in use for many years but a new building and moorings were brought into use on 19 May 2013 which significantly reduced the time taken for the lifeboat to put to sea.
The lifeboat was launched on 10 October 2018 to aid the Clodagh O, a trawler which had broken down and was being blown onto rocks in a Force 9 storm. The lifeboat crew managed to get a line onto the trawler and towed it back to the harbour, saving its crew of six people. The rescue was led by coxswain Dean Hegarty who was awarded an RNLI bronze medal, the first Irishman to be recognised in this way in over 10 years.

Area of operation

The RNLI aims to reach any vessel in distress up to from the coast within 2 hours of launching. The Severn-class lifeboat at Castletownbere has a range of and top speed of. Adjacent lifeboats are stationed at to the north and to the east.

Castletownbere lifeboats

On stationNameClassBuiltComments
111852-36Roy and Barbara Harding1987First stationed at. Sold in 2004 for further use as a lifeboat in Iceland.
2004114452-42Murray Lornie1988First stationed at. Sold in 2005 for further use as a lifeboat in Iceland until 2023 when it was sold again for use as a workboat in Greenland.
2004–127717-44Annette Hutton2004