Ireland – Northern Ireland, Done

There are some memories of days and individual visits on this challenge that will live with us forever. Today was going to be one of those days.

From our fantastic accommodation in Donaghadee we set of down the coast of the Strangford Peninsula with amazing views of Dumfries and Galloway over the Irish sea on one side and the beautiful Strangford Lough on the other.

Portaferry Lifeboat Station

We arrived at the small village of Portaferry a little early so took a stroll along the small harbour before knocking on the station door. Well what a fabulous warm welcome we received, hugs all round from Press Officer Lissa. We headed up to the spectacular crew room where Lissa made us a cup of tea and made us raid the chocolate drawer.

Lissa showed us the outside terrace area of the unique station with space for BBQ, picnic table and hot-tubs apparently. We were joined by Operations Manager Heather and crew member Molly. Time flew as we enjoyed a fantastic chat and laugh with the ladies recalling funny stories of some of their more unusual shouts such as Molly and her sheep herding boat skills.

We were then given a tour of the boathouse where their Atlantic 85 rests ready for action. Molly kindly allowed us to hop on board and take some photos. We then headed outside for some photos of the station building.

The station sits across a road from the Strangford Lough Ferry slipway which they share. One of our first questions was what would happen if the pagers sounded and a ferry was on the slipway loading or unloading. The answer was simple – the ferry moves out of the way. This showed a great deal of understanding between the ferry company and the lifeboat station and it helped that crew members were members of the ferry crew as well.

A lifeboat was first stationed at Portaferry in 1980. In the 1970s, concerns were raised about the lack of lifeboat coverage for Strangford Lough, the largest sea inlet in the British Isles, covering an area of 150 square km. In June 2010, the current lifeboat station building was formerly opened in a joint ceremony with the naming of their new Atlantic 85 Lifeboat.

Modelled in the shape of an upturned boat and clad in stone with a copper roof, the station was designed to fit in with surrounding buildings. The station was funded through a local appeal and from the legacy of Ms Elsie Sturgeon, a native of Liverpool, who retired to nearby Killowen.

A 1984 appeal by the children's programme Blue Peter far exceeded its expectations. In addition to replacing four earlier lifeboats, the appeal was able to provide two extra lifeboats, one placed in the relief fleet, and an B-class (Atlantic 21) for Portaferry, which arrived on station in 1986. Ever since, replacement lifeboats have retained the name Blue Peter V, the latest being B-833. As of 2026 this Atlantic 85 and a Trent Class stationed at Fishguard are the last two remaining in service lifeboats bearing the Blue Peter name.

After a lot more banter we said our farewells to catch the next departing ferry across the Lough. We could have stayed all day and enjoy the fabulous hospitality. However, more was to come that day.

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Newcastle Lifeboat Station

After crossing the Lough and a short drive down the coast we arrived at the town of Newcastle overlooked by the highest of the Mourne Mountains, Slieve Donard.

The current station, with its slipway, lies just north of the harbour wall with a disused red roofed station building just on the other side of the harbour wall.  At the station we were met by Launch Authority Nathan and Crew Member Shane who made us very welcome with cups of tea and biscuits. After a good chat with them both, Launch Authority Daniel arrived and then the hilarity ensued. It was all a bit controversial!

Newcastle is one of the oldest stations in Ireland, having its first lifeboat in 1830, however, a station was established by the RNLI in nearby Rossglass in 1826 with Arklow Lifeboat Station being established the same year. The Rossglass station closed in 1835 officially making Arklow the oldest – controversial!

The red roofed station in the harbour was built in 1936 and was used until 1993. In 1992, the RNLI would receive an extraordinary bequest, a sum of £4 million from the estate of Mrs Eugenie Boucher, specifically to be used for the construction of new boathouses. A native of Penza in Russia, eight so named 'Penza' boathouses would be constructed, including one for Newcastle. Built on the site of the tractor house and coastguard hut, the building was completed in August 1993. Then followed the arrival on 11 August 1993, of a new Mersey-class lifeboat, 12-29 Eleanor and Bryant Girling (ON 1188), funded from the bequest of Eleanor Bertha Girling. The following year a D-Class lifeboat was placed on station as a trial to serve alongside the Mersey. In 2022 12-29 was replaced by a slightly older Mersey, 12-20 Leonard Kent previously serving at Margate. Controversially, the plan was to obtain a Shannon Class upon retirement of the Mersey Class from the fleet but the Shannon destined for Newcastle ended up in Kilkeel in 2026. Instead, in early 2026 the last remaining Mersey Class was retired from Newcastle with a sad farewell ceremony watched by thousands online. It was replaced by an Inshore Atlantic 85 Berylium (B-955), which went on service on 18 December 2025.

This story was relayed to us with good humour by Daniel but it was clear that there was a strong crew bond with the station and the boats that they operate despite various setbacks and sadness with the loss of their old faithful.

We had some photos taken and continued the fun and laughter. We could have stayed all day but that would have been controversial!

Sadly we had to say farewell and we thanked Daniel, Shane and Nathan for their time. Heading south we continued on to our final visit of the day to Kilkeel.

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Kilkeel Lifeboat Station

Kilkeel lies on the south east coast of Northern Island just at the mouth of Carlingford Lough. On arrival into the harbour we spotted the new Shannon Class lifeboat, 13-57 Bobby Cameron.

At the station we were met by Coxswain/Mechanic Andrew, Fleet Operations Shaun, Coxswain Martin and Mechanic Shane. They have been working with the local crew to ensure their training on the new all-weather boat was conducted in a safe an timely manner to allow them to go on service. At the time of our visit the Shannon was not on service but they also had an Atlantic 85, Frank William Walton (B-812) that was. She has been on station since 2006.

Shaun explained to us the process for bringing the crew through the training programme before we headed down to the boathouse to take a look at the Inshore Lifeboat.

The station was established in 1986 with the current boathouse being constructed in 1992. With no slipway available the B-Class is launch via a Davit into the harbour.

On 9 April 2025, it was announced that a new Shannon-class would be placed at Kilkeel by the end of the year, replacing the 34-year-old Mersey-class All-weather lifeboat at Newcastle. She arrived at Kilkeel on Wednesday 17 December 2025. The following day, she was visited by her donor, Margaret Cameron. The boat will be formally named after the donor's late brother Robert, at a ceremony later in 2026, and will enter service when crew training is completed.

We could see the team were preparing to carry out more training and were due to go afloat in a short while, so we thanked them for their time and for allowing us to see the station and Atlantic 85.

This visit concluded all of the RNLI Stations in Northern Ireland and left us with just 10 more visits remaining on our challenge.