Clogherhead Lifeboat Station is situated at Clogherhead, a village north east of Drogheda, in County Louth, Ireland.

A lifeboat was first stationed at Clogherhead in 1899 by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), when operations were moved from .

The station currently operates the All-weather lifeboat, 13-31 Michael O'Brien (ON 1338), on station since 2019.

History In 1899, with the number of calls on the lifeboat in decline, due to fewer sailing vessels being at the mercy of the weather, it was decided to close one of the two Drogheda lifeboat stations located on the River Boyne estuary. was closed, and operations were transferred to a new station at Clogherhead village, on the Clogher Head peninsular.

A galvanised-iron boathouse was constructed on a concrete base on the south side of the headland, and a self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with sails and (10) oars, was built by Hollwey, of Windmill Lane, Dublin, costing £582. The boat was funded, as was the previous Drogheda No.1 lifeboat, from the legacy of £1,898-14s-8d from the late Mr. C.R. Whitton of Wimbledon, London, and was similarly named Charles Whitton (ON 428).

The first service for the lifeboat would come on 24 January 1900, when six men and the fishing boat Irish Girl were saved. The lifeboat would then not be required again until 1914, when four men were rescued from the fishing boat Cecilia of Balbriggan.

On 1 May 1916, Charles Whitton (ON 428) was launched to the steamship Isle of Arran of Glasgow. All 18 crewmen were rescued.

In 1927, the self-righting (P&S) lifeboat John Dunn (ON 638) was transferred to Clogherhead, following the closure of the Drogheda No.2 Lifeboat Station lifeboat station in 1926. In four years at Clogherhead, the boat was never called.

Clogherhead would see the arrival of their first motor-powered lifeboat in 1931. A 35-foot 6in self-righting (motor) lifeboat, built by J. Samuel White of Cowes, and costing £3,791, was funded from the legacy of Dr. Vernon Blunt of Birmingham, and named Mary Ann Blunt (ON 748). In her 19 years at the station, the lifeboat would be launched 20 times, and save nine lives.

Mrs Maire C. Hoy was appointed Honorary Secretary for Clogherhead Lifeboat Station in 1961, following the death of her husband, who had held the position since 1953. She would be the first female to hold this role in the RNLI, and carried out her duties for the next 20 years, until her retirement in December 1981.

In 1993, the All-Weather lifeboat (ALB), 12-31 Doris Bleasdale (ON 1190) was assigned to Clogherhead, and the boathouse was rebuilt to accommodate the new boat and tractor.

Clogherhead lifeboat was launched at 20:35 into south-east gale force 7 conditions on 28 November 2000, to the aid of the fishing trawler March Sod, which had lost power, and was drifting in Dundalk Bay. By the time the lifeboat arrived, the trawler had been driven onto the rocks, and holed. With extreme care in the rough conditions, using his local knowledge, the coxswain managed to navigate the rocky shore, and bring the lifeboat alongside. Two lifeboat crew boarded the vessel with a salvage pump, but it was quickly realised that efforts to pump out the water were futile. The vessel was abandoned, and the fishermen landed at Port Oriel at 21:24. By the following morning, the vessel had vanished, destroyed by the sea. For this service, Coxswain Noel Sharkey was accorded 'The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum', with 'Vellum Service Certificates' awarded to the crew.

On 1 June 2019, Clogherhead lifeboat station welcomed the arrival of a new lifeboat, number 13-31, timed to arrive exactly at 13:31.

At a ceremony on Saturday 31 August 2019, the new €2.5 million lifeboat, funded from the legacy of Wexford farmer Henry Tomkins, was formally named 13-31 Michael O'Brien (ON 1338), after the former lifeboat coxswain, and friend of Mr Tomkins.

Station honours The following are awards made at Clogherhead.

RNIPLS Gold Medal Robert Kirkpatrick Thompson, Chief Officer, H.M. Coastguard, Clogher Head – 1839 RNIPLS Silver Medal Thomas Lamb Wood, Chief Officer, H.M.Coastguard, Dunany – 1826 Robert Kirkpatrick Thompson, Chief Officer, H.M. Coastguard, Clogher Head – 1837 Addeley Barnard, Chief Officer, H.M. Coastguard, Clogher Head – 1852 Addeley Barnard, Chief Officer, H.M. Coastguard, Clogher Head – 1852 (Second Service Clasp) 'The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum' Noel Sharkey, Coxswain – 2001 Vellum Service Certificates Padraig Rath, Deputy Second Coxswain/Mechanic – 2001 Barry Faulkner, Second Coxswain – 2001 Sean Reilly, Second Mechanic – 2001 Gerald Sharkey, crew member – 2001 Ronan Faulkner, crew member – 2001 Lisa Levins, crew member – 2001 James Byrne, crew member – 2001

Clogherhead lifeboats Pulling and Sailing (P&S) lifeboats ON Name Built Class Comments 428 1899 1899–1927 x (10-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, legacy of Mr C. R Whitton of Fawley, built by Hollwey of Windmill Lane, Dublin, and costing £579.Sold in 1927. Renamed Benaghmore, Maeve and Poolbeg. Last reported semi-derelict at Arklow (2019), maybe broken up (2025). 638 John Dunn 1914 1927–1931 35-foot self-righting (P&S) x (10-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, legacy of Miss Jane Dunn of Belfast, built by Thames Ironworks of Blackwall, London, completed by S. E. Saunders of Cowes, costing £1,327 when new.Previously at . Transferred to .

Motor lifeboats ON Op. No. Name Built Class Comments 748 – Mary Ann Blunt 1931 1931–1950 35-foot 6in self-righting (motor) 877 – 1950 1950–1974 862 – Thomas Corbett 1948 1974–1981 Previously at and . 882 – B. H. M. H 1951 1981–1984 Previously at . 985 37-18 Valentine Wyndham-Quin 1967 1984–1988 Previously at . 942 J. G. Graves of Sheffield 1958 1988–1991 37-foot Oakley Previously at . Returned to the relief fleet, later at . On display in the RNLI Heritage Collection at Chatham Historic Dockyard, December 2025. 978 37-11 1964 1991–1993 37-foot Oakley Previously at , and . 1190 12-31 Doris Bleasdale 1992 1993–2019 1338 13-31 Michael O'Brien 2019 2019– Built by All-weather Lifeboat Centre (ALC), Poole, Yard No.19. Launched 8 January 2019. Arrived at Clogherhead 13:31 on 1 June 2019. "On station" at 13:31 8 July 2019. More post-service details can be found on the respective lifeboat class pages.

Launch and recovery tractors Op.No. Reg.No. Type Comments T16 YW 3377 Clayton 1927–1929 T23 PP 7515 FWD Co. 1929–1951 T28 EYT 780 Case L 1951–1955 T27 DGP 909 Case L 1955–1964 T49 FGO 975 Case LA 1964–1978 T57 NYE 351 Fowler Challenger III 1978–1983 T56 MYR 426 Fowler Challenger III 1983–1988 T105 E837 XNT 1988–2001 T104 88-LH-3977 Talus MB-H Crawler 2001–2010 T97 85-D-8571 Talus MB-H Crawler 2010–2013 T98 Talus MB-H Crawler 2013–2019 HD68 VBJ SLARS (SC Innovation) 2019–2024 GX71 CUW 2024–

See also List of RNLI stations List of former RNLI stations Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats

Notes

References

External links Clogherhead Lifeboat Station Website (RNLI)