Ireland – Kerry and Clare

After a day of sightseeing it was time to leave Killarney and head to the final station in County Kerry and on to the only station in County Clare

Fenit Lifeboat Station

The small village of Fenit lies on the estuary of Tralee Bay, sheltered on the southern side by the Slieve Mish Mountain Range. The lifeboat station itself is in the harbour at the end of a pier and is accessible to vehicles. We parked outside the station and were soon welcomed by Launch Authority, Fergus. He showed us around the station building and crew facilities built in 2000. The station is, however, one of the oldest on the west coast being established in 1879. The station was closed in 1969 before being re-opened in 1994.

Fergus kindly provided us with life jackets and took us down to the two lifeboats currently on service. The first was a unique floating boathouse containing a D-Class called Lizzie (D-860) on station since 2022. We believe this is the only floating boathouse for a D-Class. We have seen similar setups for Atlantic 85 lifeboats however.

We then went along the pontoon to see the Trent Class, Robert Hywel Jones Williams (14-27) on station since 1999. This lifeboat is due to be replaced later in the year by a new Shannon Class, Roy Barker VII (13-60), currently undergoing sea trials in Poole Dorset.

Fenit also holds the accolade of the first female ALB Coxwain in Ireland.

Thanking Fergus for his time we headed to our next visit of the day via the Shannon Ferry.

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Kilrush Lifeboat Station

We arrived into the town of Kilrush a little early and decided to grab a sandwich from a lovely little bakery on the main street. Sitting outside in the sun enjoying our lunch and a gentleman walking past said hello to us by name. We had been in communication for a few weeks with Jamie who is a fundraiser for the Kilrush Station. He was on the way down to the station when he spotted us. So we sat and had a chat and then gave him a lift to the station – we were headed that way anyway!

At the station Jamie opened up and made us a cup of tea but also produced a delicious chocolate cake and a loaf of Guiness bread he had baked that morning for us. What a lovely touch. Jamie took some photos of us with the boat and in front of the boathouse for our evidence photos.

The station was established in 1993 to serve the Shannon estuary which had seen a dramatic increase in commercial and water-sport activities. The Atlantic 21 inshore lifeboat became operational in April 1996. The current Atlantic 85 joined the station in 2010, called Edith Louise Eastwick (B-844)

After a tour of the station and lifeboat we were joined by Lifeboat Operations Manager, Shauna. We had such a great chat and laugh with her as she spoke fondly of the station and the crew.

Thank you to Shauna and Jamie for your amazing hospitality and good craic

After more photos and a good giggle we headed off to our overnight stay near to the inland Loughs in a beautiful small town, Killaloe.