# Youghal Lifeboat Station

Youghal Lifeboat Station is located on The Mall, in Youghal, a town situated on the western bank of the River Blackwater estuary in County Cork, approximately 48.5 kilometres (30.1 mi) east of the city of Cork, on the south coast of Ireland.
A lifeboat was placed here by the Youghal Harbour Trust in 1839. Management of the station was taken over by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1857.
The station currently operates a B-class (Atlantic 85) Inshore lifeboat, Gordon and Phil (B-890), on station since 2016.

## History

Ever since the founding in 1824, awards for gallantry at sea were given by the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS), later to become the RNLI, even if no lifeboats are involved. On 13 February 1828, the sloop Mermaid was driven ashore at Whiting Bay, County Waterford, on passage from Newport to Cork. Five crew, including one boy, were rescued by means of rocket lines. Lt. Richard James Morrison, RN, of H.M. Coastguard, was awarded the RNIPLS Silver Medal.
However, it was the wreck of other vessels, such as the paddlesteamer Killarney at Roberts Cove, County Cork, on passage from Cork to Bristol, with the loss of 24 lives, that prompted calls for a lifeboat to be placed at Youghal.
The Youghal Harbour Trust was set up in 1838, and a 26-foot 6-oared Palmer-class lifeboat was commissioned from Taylor of Limehouse, costing £76, and arriving in Youghal in 1839. On the first recorded service on 23 February 1840, Lieutenant Metherell, RN, took charge of the lifeboat, which was transported 7 miles (11 km) by hand to Ardmore, where the brigantine Medora had been wrecked whilst on passage to Swansea. Metherell, with six other coastguard, and another seaman, then set out into difficult conditions, and rescued the four crew. Lt. Richard Roe Metherell, RN, H.M Coastguard, was awarded the RNIPLS Gold Medal.
By 1856, there had been few other service calls, and a visiting Inspector of Lifeboats found the boat in a yard, in a neglected state. In 1857, the RNLI took over the management of the Youghal lifeboat. A new 30-foot Peake-class Self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with oars and sails, was placed at Youghal. Having always previously been exposed to the elements, the lifeboat would now have a new boathouse, which was constructed at Green Hole, near Green Park, at a cost of £100.
A slightly larger lifeboat was placed at Youghal in 1867. Funded by the people of Leeds, and costing £250, the boat was named William Beckett of Leeds after the president of the local RNLI branch. Taken to Leeds en route to Youghal from London, it was parade around the town, and then placed on display at the Town Hall, where it was formally handed over to the RNLI by the mayor of Leeds. It was then transported via Liverpool, and given free passage to Cork by the steamship company.
Many people had felt that the location of the lifeboat house at Green Hole was poor. It was difficult to launch there in certain conditions, and the RNLI had been looking for an alternative. The new site was found at The Mall, next to the Town Hall, and a new boathouse was constructed at a cost of £275. Although recently modernised, the lifeboat station remains on this same site today.
Lifeboat coxswain Jackie Foley and his crew were dispatched to England in 1931, to collect Youghal's first motor-powered lifeboat. The 35-foot 6in long lifeboat had a single 35-hp Weyburn AE6 Petrol-engine, capable of delivering a top-speed of 7 knots, with a range of 116 miles. Henry Hayes was appointed as mechanic. At a ceremony on 7 July 1931, the lifeboat was named Laurana Sarah Blunt (ON 744), the lifeboat funded by the gift of Dr. G. Vernon Blunt of Birmingham.
After serving for 13 years at North Sunderland, and a period in the relief fleet, the last Liverpool-class lifeboat, built in 1954, would be the last All-weather lifeboat at Youghal. The 35-foot 6in lifeboat was the Grace Darling (ON 927), the crew travelling over to Littlehampton to collect the boat, and arriving in Youghal in July 1971. In 1983, a B-class (Atlantic 21) Inshore lifeboat was sent to the station for evaluation. The Inshore boat required fewer personnel, both to crew the boat and for launching, and was capable of 30 knots, four times faster than the 7.5 knot Grace Darling. In 1984, the Grace Darling was retired, and the Atlantic 21-class Marjorie Turner (B-561) was placed on station. As a medal winning lifeboat at North Sunderland, and the last of her type, Grace Darling (ON 927) joined the RNLI Heritage Collection at Chatham Historic Dockyard.
Successful trials were carried out in 1995, using a Talus MB-764 amphibious tractor launch tractor and Drive Off - Drive On (Do-Do) carriage. Modifications were made to the boathouse, and the slipway rails removed, the work being completed in October 1996. In 2002, a new boathouse was constructed, at a cost of £463,001.
In 2016, Youghal received their latest Inshore lifeboat, the B-class (Atlantic 85) Gordon and Phil (B-890). The boat was funded from the bequest of the late Gwenda J, Bull of Brighton. At a ceremony on 10 September 2016, the lifeboat was named in memory of the donor's parents, E. J. Gordon and Phyllis Bull.

## Station honours

The following are awards made at Youghal.
* RNIPLS Gold Medal
       Lt. Richard Roe Metherell, RN, H.M Coastguard - 1840
* RNIPLS Silver Medal
       Lt. Richard James Morrison RN, H.M. Coastguard - 1828
       Charles Edington, Chief Officer of H.M. Coastguard - 1836
* RNLI Silver Medal
       James Harry Long, Honorary Secretary of the Youghal branch - 1894
       Michael Hannagan, Coxswain Superintendent - 1906
* RNLI Bronze Medal
       Richard Hickey, Coxswain - 1963
* Certificate awarded by the Comhairle na Míre Gaile Council for the Recognition of Deeds of Bravery
       John Murphy, Motor Mechanic - 1968
       Michael Hennessy, Bowman - 1969

## Roll of honour

In memory of those lost whilst serving Youghal lifeboat.
Crushed between boat and door post, as the lifeboat was being pulled from the boathouse, 30 December 1873
       Michael O'Brien, launcher

## Youghal lifeboats
### All-weather lifeboats

| ON | Name | In service | Class | Comments |
| – | Unnamed | 1839–1857 | 26-foot Palmer | [Note 1] [8] |
| Pre-311 | Unnamed | 1857–1867 | 30-foot Peake Self-righting (P&S) | |
| Pre-495 | William Beckett of Leeds | 1867–1885 | 32-foot Self-righting (P&S) | |
| 102 | Mary Luckombe | 1885–1906 | 34-foot Self-righting (P&S) | |
| 564 | Marianne L. Hay | 1906–1931 | 35-foot Self-righting (P&S) | |
| 744 | Laurana Sarah Blunt | 1931–1952 | 35ft 6in Self-righting motor | |
| 825 | Herbert John | 1952–1966 | Liverpool | |
| 872 | J. B. Couper of Glasgow | 1966–1971 | Liverpool | |
| 927 | Grace Darling | 1971–1984 | Liverpool | |
    All-weather lifeboat withdrawn, 1984
    Pre ON numbers are unofficial numbers used by the Lifeboat Enthusiast Society to reference early lifeboats not included on the official RNLI list.

### Inshore lifeboats

| Op. No. | Name | In service | Class | Comments |
| B-537 | Unnamed | 1983–1984 | Atlantic 21 | On station for evaluation. |
| B-561 | Marjorie Turner | 1984–2002 | Atlantic 21 | |
| B-590 | Wolverson X-Ray | 2002 | Atlantic 21 | |
| B-780 | Patricia Jennings | 2002–2016 | Atlantic 75 | |
| B-890 | Gordon and Phil | 2016– | Atlantic 85 | |

### Launch and recovery tractors

| Op. No. | Reg. No. | Type | In service |
| TW14 | 87-D-38843 | Talus MB-764 County | 1996–1999 |
| TW30 | L123 HUX | Talus MB-764 County | 1999–2005 |
| TW42 | 97-G-8631 | Talus MB-764 County | 2005– |
* ↑ ON is the RNLI's Official Number of the boat.
* 1 2 Op. No. is the RNLI's Operational Number of the boat carried on the hull.