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Papers: List of recent meetings |
De La Salle by Paddy Sexton |
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History of Skerries Lifeboat |
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Sam Shiels gave a very informative talk on the origins and history of the Skerries Lifeboat to a very interested audience. The first lifeboat was in operation from 1833 -1834. It was encased in cork. The two nearest main stations were at Clogherhead and Howth - so it was most necessary to have a station at Skerries. On occasions the Skerries Lifeboat was called to Balbriggan and sometimes to Rush. Ten horses were used to pull the boat by carriage to these rescues. Many dedicated and brave men served on the lifeboat. A Mr. Hamilton (from Balbriggan) featured in many rescues and received a silver medal followed by a gold medal. In February 1873, the lifeboat was called to a ship in distress off the Cardy Rocks in Balbriggan. The ship called the Sarah Runcorn went down with all aboard, and six members of the Skerries Lifeboat also drowned. In the early 1900s Samuel Evans was the coxwain for eleven years. He was also Harbour Master at Skerries. |
The station closed in 1930 and wasn't reopened until 1981. The re-opening was due to the initiative of many hard-working people, who kept pressing - through many years of fund-raising with dances, collection boxes in pubs, bicycle rallies, golf and football tournaments - for a lifeboat and station to be manned continuously. The whole community helped including the local trawlermen, who donated boxes of prawns which raised £500.
Finally on 31st July 1981, John Boland officially opened the station and Skerries got a new lifeboat, the D176.
The Skerries people can be very proud of their Lifeboat and we have come a long way since the early 19th. century.
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