Maritime column: Lifeboats vital to saving lives at sea

I was on Ballycotton Pier on St Stephen’s Day as the lifeboat crew boarded their Shannon Class RNLB Austin Lidbury to carry out a memorial service for those lost at sea.

It was a cold, grey morning with a rolling sea offshore, at a time of the year when memory is notably part of life in a coastal community.

History has shown that Christmas time can be challenging, difficult, and dangerous at sea, particularly in the old days of sail, when ships had no other source of power than using what nature provided — the wind, though that too could be precipitous — as the Hurricane of 1825 showed.

That was 33 years before the establishment of the lifeboat station at Ballycotton in 1858. What had happened in the terrifying hurricane underlined the need for coastal rescue services.

Over its 167 years since 1858, the Ballycotton station has a great heritage.

It holds the historic record of the legendary 49-hour rescue of the Daunt Rock lightship crew in 1936 off Cork Harbour, saving eight lives in a massive storm, an event that earned the station unique gallantry awards.

The lifeboat used then, the Mary Stanford, continues to be part of the community’s memory, displayed on the cliffside above their village. 

The people of Ballycotton fought long and hard against those who would have allowed the boat to deteriorate to its destruction and succeeded in preserving it. They staged a long and successful campaign which ensured that the Mary Stanford would not be destroyed, but maintained for modern generations to appreciate what lifeboat crews do.

Laying of wreath

I visited the station as the crew got geared-up for the laying of a wreath which was done off Power Head, also known to sailors as Poer Head, a few nautical miles east of Roche’s Point.

It was a particularly good occasion for me as one of them was my grandson, Rowan, who has recently become one of the Ballycotton crew. He is our family’s second lifeboat man. Our youngest son also named Rowan, is the only Irishman on the staff of the Norwegian sea rescue service, Redningsselskapet, the RS, the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue.

The historic record of Ballycotton RNLI is recorded on several display boards inside the station. There were no emergency call-outs for the crew this Christmas, a seasonal time when weather can be challenging.

It was particularly so at Christmas of 1825, hit by the “terrifying storm” known as “the Hurricane of 1825”.

The Cork coastline was reported in newspapers of the time to be “strewn with wreckage, boats, quays, buildings, washed away, loss of life and loss of vessels”.

The Britannia of Padstow was blown ashore and hit rocks off Ballyandreen Bay near Ballycotton on December 19. It was dashed to pieces, “totally lost”. The only survivor was the Master.

Other vessels in trouble were:

The Elizabeth, blown ashore also at Ballycotton. Crew saved;

Schooner June of Waterford, carrying cargo of oats, washed ashore. No loss of life;

Customs Cutter smashed against quay at Cobh;

Sloop Expedition of Dungarvan blown ashore near Cork Harbour entrance;

Brig Ceres of Cork; Sloop Louisa; Schooner Union, all blown ashore in Cork harbour area; Sloop Resolute, also ashore with “much damage”;

Portugese crew “surviving aboard schooner Diligent” blown ashore withpart of hull stoved in;

Courtney, a Galway hooker blown ashore, no loss of life reported.

The storm extended onto the Waterford coastline with six shipwrecks and loss of life.

Andrew Doherty, in his blog Tide & Tales, records from Cork eastwards that: “The Flora of Brixham was lost with all hands at Tramore on December 20. The sinking was seen from the shoreline by onlookers who could do nothing in the weather conditions to help.”

The Esther was driven ashore at Dungarvan Bar while en route from California to Liverpool and had rounded Cape Horn safely. The crew were saved but the ship was a total loss;

Royal Oak was also in trouble at Dungarvan;

The brig Endeavour was blown ashore at Stradbally with loss of life. The Captain and Mate survived, grabbing a plank of wood as she sank and were washed ashore. Bodies of the crew were later washed ashore and buried locally;

The Bolton was lost with all hands west of Tramore;

Sloop Catherine was blown ashore at Ardmore. Crew were saved.

“All of that puts the vagaries of weather in the days of sail into perspective,” says Andrew Doherty.

“It also underlines the importance of modern weather forecasting and the assurance of so many rescue services being available in modern times, so many staff and volunteers were on standby throughout this Christmas that must be praised for their dedication.”

LAST (Lost at Sea Tragedies) organisation was founded by Noel McDonagh of Dunmore East, Co Waterford in 2013.

A safe and happy new year to all readers.

• The first 2026 episode of my podcast — Seascapes — is on social media platforms and on tommacsweeneymaritimepodcast.ie;
• Email: tommacsweeneymarine@gmail.com