# Ballycotton Lifeboat Station

Ballycotton Lifeboat Station is the base for Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboat at Ballycotton in County Cork, Ireland. It opened in 1858 and continues to operate today. Its most notable rescue was the crew of the Daunt Rock lightship in 1936 which kept the crew at sea for the best part of three days.

## History

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) was established in 1824. By 1854 there were only 4 lifeboats on the whole coast of Ireland although the RNLI had made a number of medals and monetary to people who had saved people from shipwrecks. For rescues in Ballycotton Bay, Dennis Cronen received a silver medal for saving one person from the Brittania on 21 December 1825 while coastguard lieutenant Lloyd received a gold medal and John Hennessy a silver medal for leading the rescue of 10 people from the Spanish ship Capricho on 25 January 1829.
A snowstorm on 16 February 1855 resulted in a barque running aground. A local ship's pilot tried to muster a boat and crew to rescue the people from the ship but by the time they were ready the tide had gone out and the ship's crew were able to walk ashore. It was around this time that the RNLI began to make a significant expansion in Ireland. It had a small, six-oared lifeboat built for Ballycotton in 1857, although it was 1858 before the boathouse was ready to be occupied. The boat proved too small so was replaced by a larger 10-oared boat in 1866 which required the boathouse to be enlarged.
A new boathouse was built in 1873 and the old one sold. This too was modified, as was the slipway when a larger lifeboat was delivered in 1891. Modern lifeboats are kept afloat, so a new building with crew facilities was opened in 2002.
When the Mary Stamford was presented to the lifeboat station in 1931 it was noted that the village had a population of only 464 people yet 60 were regular subscribers to the RNLI and their fund raising the previous year had amounted to almost 6 s. (30p) per resident. Every member of the lifeboat crew was from either the Sliney or Walsh families.

## Daunt Rock lightship wreck

Hurricane-force winds were blowing on 10 February 1936, so strong that sea spray was being blown over the top of the lighthouse which is 196 feet (60 m) tall. The lifeboat crew made their way too the lifeboat station without being summoned, expecting that some ship or other would require their help. When the time came it was the Daunt Rock lightship that needed aid. The storm had proved too much for its anchors, and it was being blown towards the shore.
Visibility was less than 50 yd (46 m) at times and, after two hours searching in vain, the lifeboat put into Queenstown harbour to see if there was any news of where the lightship had drifted to. The coastguard directed them to a new are and they found lightship which had managed to get an anchor down. Its crew were reluctant to abandon their ship as it would be a navigation hazard if left where it was, so the lifeboat stood by, ready to provide whatever assistance they could. A British warship, the HMS Tenedos was also attending and both tried but failed to tow the lightship back to its correct position.
The warship stayed with the lightship for the night while the lifeboat returned to Queenstown to refuel and give the crew some rest. They returned to the scene in the morning and spent the day warning other ships that the lightship was out of position. A lightship support vessel arrived to assist, so the lifeboat returned to Queenstown again to refuel, although this took longer than expected as the petrol was not immediately available. When it returned to the lightship it had drifted to a more dangerous position and the crew of the lightship would now have to be taken off, a difficult task given the small space now between it and the rocks. It took five attempts to save all the crew; during one attempt the two vessels collided, damaging the lifeboat.
When the lifeboat returned to its harbour the crew had been on call for 76 hours, it was 63 hours since they launched, and had been at sea for 49 hours, many without any food. The RNLI awarded a rare gold medal to the coxswain, Patrick Sliney, silver medals to John Walsh (Second Coxswain) and Thomas Sliney (Motor Mechanic), and bronze medals to the other crew members: John Sliney, William Sliney,Michael Walsh and Thomas Walsh. Patrick Sliney told the story in a radio broadcast on 13 March and again on a local radio programme when the crew was in London to collect their medals on 6 May.

## Other service awards

Nine people were saved from the ss Tadorna which was in trouble in a storm on 15 November 1911. Coxswain Richard Harding was presented with a silver medal for leading the rescue. 12 other people were rescued by rocket apparatus from the shore.
There were two medal services during World War II. On 30 January 1941 8 people were rescued from the ss Primrose which was sinking about 17 nmi (31 km) from Ballycotton. Patrick Sliney was awarded a bronze medal for making the rescue despite thick fog and enemy mines in Ballycotton Bay. Then on 23 December 1942 the lifeboat put out in a gale to save 35 people and the ss Irish Ash, a service that lasted 30 hours. Patrick Sliney now received a silver medal to go with his gold and bronze, William Sliney had his second bronze award while Michael Lane and Thomas Sliney also received bronze medals.
The 1979 Fastnet Race was ripped apart when a storm blew up on 13 August. 306 yachts were taking part and 13 lifeboats, including Ballycotton's, set out to help. The stations all received a special certificate.
The lifeboat's emergency mechanic Fergal Walsh earned a silver medal without the lifeboat when, on 18 August 2001, he went into the sea to save a man who had been swept into the sea by an unexpected wave.

## Ballycotton lifeboats

| At Ballycotton | ON | Op. No. | Name | Class | Built | Comments |
| 1858–1866 | – | – | – | Peake | 1857 | 28 ft (8.5 m) long, 6 oars. |
| 1866–1881 | – | – | St Clair | Self-Righter | 1866 | 32 ft (9.8 m) long, 10 oars. |
| 1880–1891 | – | – | Oliver Goldsmith | Self-Righter | 1880 | 34 ft (10 m). Funded by a relative of the poet Oliver Goldsmith. |
| 1891–1896 | 295 | – | T.P. Hearne | Self-Righter | 1890 | 37 ft (11 m). After it was replaced at Ballycotton it saw further service in Wales until 1909. |
| 1896–1930 | 387 | – | T.P. Hearne | Self-Righter | 1896 | Sold and then used as a yacht.37 ft (11 m). |
| 1930–1959 | 733 | – | Mary Stanford | Barnett | 1930 | Ballycotton's first motor lifeboat. It saw further use as a relief lifeboat until 1969. It is now on display back at Ballycotton. |
| 1959–1985 | 949 | – | Ethel Mary | Barnett | 1959 | Withdrawn in 1988 and now used as a pleasure boat (reported to be at Coleraine in 2023). |
| 1985–1998 | 1067 | 52-15 | Hyman Winstone | Arun | 1980 | Originally stationed at Holyhead and later at Larne, it was sold in 2003 for further service in Madeira. |
| 1998– | 1233 | 14-25 | Austin Lidbury | Trent | 1999 | |