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 east of the city of Cork, on the south coast of Ireland.

A lifeboat was placed at Youghal 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 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 lifeboat was commissioned from Taylor of Limehouse, costing £76, arriving at Youghal in 1839. On the first recorded service on 23 February 1840, Lieutenant Metherell, RN, took charge of the lifeboat, which was transported 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 self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with oars and sails, was transported, from London to Cork free of charge by the Cork River Steamer Company, and then onwards to 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. The Duke of Devonshire, a principal landowner in the town, was one of the main contributors to the cost of the lifeboat station.

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 , with a range of . 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 , and a period in the relief fleet, the last of the lifeboats, 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 arrived back in Youghal in July 1971.

In 1984, the Grace Darling was withdrawn and retired, and the Marjorie Turner (B-561) was placed on station. As a medal winning lifeboat at , and the last of her type, Grace Darling (ON 927) is now preserved in the RNLI Heritage Collection at Chatham Historic Dockyard.

Inshore lifeboat In 1983, a 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 , four times faster than the Grace Darling.

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 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, Youghal – 1840 RNIPLS Silver Medal Lt. Richard James Morrison RN, H.M. Coastguard, Youghal – 1828 Charles Edington, Chief Officer of H.M. Coastguard, Knockadoon – 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 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 Youghal Harbour Trust lifeboats Name Built Class Comments 18391839–1851 26-foot Palmer x (6-oared) Palmer-class lifeboat, funded by the Youghal Harbour Trust, built by Taylor of Blackwall, London, costing £76.Condemned in 1851, and sold in 1857.

Pulling and Sailing (P&S) lifeboats ON Name Built Class Comments Pre-311 1857 1857–1867 30-foot Peake self-righting (P&S) x (10-oared) Peake-class self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, funded by the RNLI, built by Forrestt of Limehouse, London, costing £158.Found decayed, and broken up in 1867. William Beckett of Leeds 1867 1867–1885 32-foot Prowse self-righting (P&S) x (10-oared) Prowse-class self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, funded by the Leeds LB fund, built by Woolfe of Shadwell, London, costing £250.Sold in 1885. 102 Mary Luckombe 1885 1885–1906 x (10-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, legacy of Mrs M. Luckombe of Brighton, built by Forrestt of Limehouse, London, costing £355.Broken up in December 1906. 564 1906 1906–1931 x (10-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, legacy of Col. J. A. Hay of Cheltenham, built by Thames Ironworks of Blackwall, London, costing £839.Sold in 1931. Last reported as Marion in 1934. Pre ON numbers are unofficial numbers used by the Lifeboat Enthusiasts' Society to reference early lifeboats not included on the official RNLI list.

All-weather lifeboats ON Name Built Class Comments 744 Laurana Sarah Blunt 1931 1931–1952 35-foot 6in self-righting (motor) 825 Herbert John 1939 1952–1966 Previously at . 872 1949 1966–1971 Previously at and . Transferred to the Relief fleet, later at . 927 Grace Darling 1954 1971–1984 Previously at All-weather lifeboat withdrawn, 1984 More post-service details can be found on the respective lifeboat class pages.

Inshore lifeboats B class Op.No. Name Class Comments 1983–1984 On station for evaluation. B-561 Marjorie Turner 1984–2002 B-590 2002 B-780 Patricia Jennings 2002–2016 B-890 Gordon and Phil 2016–

Launch and recovery tractors Op.No. Reg.No. Type Comments TW14 1996–1999 TW30 L123 HUX Talus MB-764 County 1999–2005 TW42 97-G-8631 Talus MB-764 County 2005–

See also List of RNLI stations List of former RNLI stations Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats Talus Atlantic 85 DO-DO launch carriage

Notes

References

External links Youghal RNLI Lifeboat Station