Arklow Lifeboat Station Longest Serving in Ireland

The Crew of the Arklow Lifeboat

The first lifeboat to be delivered to Arklow was a 24ft. long by 8ft. wide oared boat at a cost of £130 on November 30th 1826. She was housed in a boathouse rented from the coastguard for £7 per week. The decision to station a life boat in Arklow only two years after the founding of the R.N.L.I in 1824 came as a direct result of 4 serious shipwrecks in the previous 3 years. The 24 footer served until 1830 when a decision by the R.N.L.I. was made to close the Arklow station and to move the lifeboat to Newcastle.

A decision was made to reopen the station on November 6th 1856 and the new 30ft. by 7.6" boat arrived at Arklow on June 7th 1857. She was a 10-oared Peake type with self-righting capability and cost £158. She saw action with her first launch on February 26th 1858 when assisted by the Wicklow Lifeboat she went to the assistance of the "Avondale" of the Arklow Bank, beginning a proud tradition that would be repeated down through the years in the pursuit of saving lives at sea.

Over the years some classic rescues have taken place including the 1955 seventeen hour operation by the crew of the 'Inbhear Mor' when she stood by the 'Gansey', earning her the Sugar Manufactures Association of Jamaica's award for the longest service that winter. Following on in their footsteps in 1974 the crew of the 'William Taylor of Oldham' conducted the dangerous and prolonged rescue of the crew of the 'Jade Star Glory'.

The R.N.L.I. has recognised the commitment of the Arklow Lifeboat and its members reflected in their professionalism and dedication to the service and in continuing the station tradition of almost two centuries. The allocation of the new Trent Class boat 'Ger Tigchelaar' was a proud moment for all involved and was best summed up by Honorary Secretary Jimmy Tyrell when stating " All the volunteers at the station have worked hard at their training to become familiar with the new life boat. They are very impressed with the way she handles and they appreciate the trust Mr. Oppenheim and the Institution have placed in our station giving us this new, faster Trent Class Lifeboat".

The operational figures for 1999 include a total of 16 launches saving a total of 7 lives and 3 craft, giving a operational success of 93.8%. Of the 16 launches, 50% were to assist commercial and fishing vessels, 48.8% were involved with pleasure craft with the average distance to the operational incident being 5.6 miles.