Ireland – Ballyglass to Bundoran

We stayed in a lovely hotel overlooking the beautiful Belmullet Sound. We were just a short drive from the lifeboat station at Ballyglass so we headed there for our first visit of a busy day.

Ballyglass Lifeboat Station

We were greeted at the station by some of the crew who had kindly taken time out of their day to come and meet us. The first thing we noticed was that the lifeboat station had no slipway on which to launch their D-Class lifeboat. Instead, they tow the lifeboat to several locations depending on where the tasking takes them.

We had a lovely chat with Allen, Robbie, Matthew, Seamus, Hughie, Martin and Rachel and they gave us a tour of the station and bought the D-Class out onto the forecourt to allow us to take photos.

The station was established in 1989 and has two locations, the one with the Inshore Lifeboat and one overlooking Broadhaven Bay for the All-Weather Lifeboat. The inshore station was built in 2007. The location allows the boat to be launched to the north east, into Broadhaven Bay, or to the south west, into Blacksod Bay, both linked by Carter's Canal. A third option is to transport the boat approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) due west, to launch directly into the Atlantic Ocean.

After several photos and a good chat we then had the opportunity to visit the All-Weather lifeboat station about 10km away. This station houses a boarding boat and crew facilities for their Severn Class Lifeboat moored in the bay. It was opened in 1995.

The two currently lifeboats are D-823, Clann Lir on station in 2018 and Severn Class 17-15 Bryan and Gordon. At the time of our visit they had a relief boat 17-17 as theirs was away for maintenance.

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Sligo Bay Lifeboat Station

After a couple of hours of driving through more stunning scenery, we reached the beautiful Sligo Bay and its Lifeboat Station. Unfortunately, there were no crew available to meet us but that was absolutely fine. We took our evidence photos and enjoyed the view over the bay. We were just about to leave when someone came out of the station and we said hello. He very kindly let us nip in and take a photo of the Atlantic 85 Lifeboat, B-888, Sheila and Dennis Tongue on station in 2016.

Mr and Mrs Dennis Tongue left a generous legacy to the RNLI in recognition of the vital life-saving work of the charity and as a ‘thank you’ for the happy days they spent living on the coast at Exmouth.  The couple were born in Birmingham in the 1920s and on Dennis’s retirement they moved to Devon where they lived until their eighties, overlooking the coast. The couple did not have any children and it was during their retirement that they came to know and admire the work of the RNLI and recognise its place in the life of the communities it served. We have now seen all four lifeboats funded by this amazing legacy.

The station was established in 1998, the current boathouse being built in 2002.

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Bundoran

The town of Bundoran was just a short drive from Sligo and we arrived at the station in good time. We were warmly greeted by Regional Assessor Sean and Treasurer Joe. In the crew room, several crew members were undergoing assessments and so as not to disturb them we had a cup of tea and awaited the arrival of other crew members who were coming down to meet us.

We were soon joined by LOM, Daimon who gave us a comprehensive tour of the station and the boathouse.

A lifeboat station was first established in the town in 1972 before the management of the station was taken on by the RNLI in 1992. Soon after a new boathouse was completed and the arrival of their first inshore lifeboat. In 2009 the boathouse underwent alterations to accommodate the larger Atlantic 85.

Following his death in 1989, Mr John Grover Liddington of Daventry left a legacy to the RNLI, sufficient to pay for two new B-class Inshore lifeboats, and to be named after his late parents. The first was named Annette Mary Liddington (B-838), which was assigned to Beaumaris. The second was assigned to Bundoran and named William Henry Liddington (B-834) at a ceremony in 2010.

The crew took a brief break from their training to have a photo and we are so very grateful to them all for their time to meet with us. Thank you to Pauric, Oisin, Mairead, Sean, Daimon, Rory, Joe, Tomas, Conor and Mark. Also a huge thank you to LPO Breffni.