# Courtown Lifeboat Station

Courtown Lifeboat Station is the base for a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) inshore lifeboat at Courtown on the east coast of County Wexford, Ireland.
The RNLI first stationed a lifeboat at Courtown in 1865 but the station was closed in 1925. It was reopened in 1990 for an inshore lifeboat.

## First station

Local people approached the RNLI to request a lifeboat for Courtown. After a visit by their inspector, the RNLI agreed to build a lifeboat station in September 1865. The institution's Manchester branch offered £300 to pay for the lifeboat which arrived in December 1865.
A slipway was built for the lifeboat on the north side of the harbour in 1885. The boathouse was replaced by a new one in 1911 which cost £740.
A motor lifeboat was stationed at Arklow in 1915 which was able to cover a larger area than the earlier sailing lifeboats. It was decided in June 1925 to close the station at Courtown.
During World War II the British Air Ministry was concerned about aircraft coming down after flying in from the Atlantic but were unable to deploy rescue launches around the Irish coast as the country was neutral. The government concerned that there were too few lifeboats around the Irish coast when aircraft were flying in from the Atlantic. It was agreed that the RNLI could station additional lifeboats in Ireland but was unable to build new so modified motor fishing boats from 1942. These were known as 'auxiliary rescue boats' and one was stationed at Courtown until the end of the war.
The RNLI decided in 1990 to station an inshore lifeboat (ILB) at Courtown. A crew was trained and a lifeboat ready on 15 May 1990. The old lifeboat station was bought back by the RNLI and modified to house the ILB, the work being completed in May 1992.

## Description

The boathouse has covered accommodation for the ILB and launch equipment along with a gift shop on the ground floor. The first floor houses an operations room and crew facilities. It has snecked blue limestone walls with red brick decorative bands and grey granite quoins, with three round-headed windows with red brick voussoirs let into the side walls. The roof is slated .

## Area of operation

The inshore lifeboat at Courtown has a range of 3 hours and top speed of 25 kn (46 km/h). Adjacent RNLI lifeboats are at Arklow to the north, where an all-weather lifeboat is stationed, and Wexford with an inshore lifeboat to the south. There is also an independent inshore rescue service at Cahore.

## Courtown lifeboats

Between 1865 and 1925 the station was home to sailing lifeboats of the RNLI's standard self-righting design and equipped with 12 oars. Since 1990 it has been the base for a D-class inshore lifeboat.
| At Courtown | ON | Name | Class | Length | Built | Comments |
| 1865–1876 | — | Alfred and Ernest | Self-Righter | 36 ft (11 m) | 1866 | |
| 1876–1888 | 301 | Alfred and Ernest | Self-Righter | 36 ft (11 m) | 1876 | |
| 1888–1903 | 199 | Three Sisters | Self-Righter | 37 ft (11 m) | 1888 | |
| 1903–1914 | 262 | Robert Fitzstephens | Self-Righter | 37 ft (11 m) | 1890 | Previously stationed at Carnsore and at Burry Port. |
| 1917–1925 | 662 | Ernest Dresden | Self-Righter | 35 ft (11 m) | 1876 | Withdrawn from Port Isaac in 1933, now restored and at Migennes in France. |

### Inshore lifeboats

| At Courtown | Op. No. | Name | Model | Comments |
| 1990 | D-333 | — | EA16 | First deployed as a relief lifeboat in 1987. |
| 1991–1999 | D-412 | BP Service | EA16 | |
| 1999–2009 | D-548 | Star of the Sea | EA16 | |
| 2009–2020 | D-711 | Cairde an Chuain | IB1 | |
| 2020– | D-846 | Frank | IB1 | |