Ireland – Clifden and Achill

Leaving Galway we headed west to the Galway Coast and the town of Clifden.

Clifden Lifeboat Station

This station has two buildings, one just outside the town centre nestled between houses and one further down the beach road where their Atlantic 85 Lifeboat is housed.

We stopped briefly at the old station building and took a photo before heading to the Clifden Beach location.

The boathouse doors were open and as we arrived they were being closed up and we managed to catch a couple of crew members who were about to leave. They very kindly showed us around the station and the inshore lifeboat.

Out on a far mooring lay their Shannon Class lifeboat, it was a long way out due to their normal mooring being cleaned.

The station was first established in 1988. Demolition of a residential building on The Quay in 1992 provided a location to construct a station building, capable of housing the small inshore lifeboat and launch vehicle, along with a workshop and crew facilities. The new station was constructed on Clifden Beach in 1998 and a new B-Class was allocated.

Their current inshore lifeboat is Atlantic 85, Joyce King (B-869) joined the station in 2013. However, this boat was away for maintenance and they had a relief B-Class, Pride of Fred Olsen (B-913) in service.

Clifden also has Shannon Class lifeboat which joined the station in 2022. She is named St Christopher (13-43). Even before arriving on station, the lifeboat had carried out its first call, whilst on passage to Ireland, responding to a Coastguard alert, and escorting a small fishing vessel into Newlyn. The lifeboat had been funded in two ways, firstly, from the legacy of Mr Christopher Harris, and secondly, from the donations received to place 10,000 names within the numbers on the boat, known as the "Launch-a-Memory" campaign.

We thanked the crew for their time and let them get back to their work as we set off on the long drive to Achill Island. No ferry to get to this Island as it is linked by a road bridge to the mainland, it is also the largest of the Irish Isles

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Achill Island

Another stunning location for a lifeboat station and we started by taking a photo of their Trent Class lifeboat on its mooring overlooked by Carrickkildavnet Castle

At the station we parked the car and met some visitors just leaving the station. They were interested it what we were doing and we chatted for a while with them. They very generously gave us a donation before they left.

We were greeted at the station by Coxwain Dave, Crew members Francis and Orlagh, Mechanic Michael and LOM Ciaran. We had a lovely chat with them all before taking a tour of the lovely station building. The station was established in 1996 starting with a portakabin and storage containers before the new building was constructed in 2004. This year the station celebrates its 30^th anniversary and has many events planned throughout the year. They receive great support from the local community on the island.

Their current lifeboat is a Trent Class, funded from the bequest of the late Mrs Ada Moody, named 14-28 Sam and Ada Moody

Having said our farewells we wished the crew well and headed further onto the island to some incredible cliff and sandy cove views. Then it was off to our accommodation in Belmullet.