Blackrock Lifeboat Station was located just off Coast Road, on the southern headland at Blackrock, a village overlooking Dundalk Bay to the south Dundalk, in County Louth, on the east coast of Ireland.[1]
The lifeboat station was originally known as Dundalk Lifeboat Station, and was established by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1859, following the Mary Stoddard disaster. It is one of two stations that have been home to the 'Dundalk lifeboat', the other being at Giles Quay.[2]
After operating for 75-years, with a brief closure between 1879 and 1880, Blackrock Lifeboat Station.[3]
History
A storm, which is described in the Shipwreck Inventory of Ireland as 'one of the worst storms to have hit the coastlines of County Louth', began on Tuesday 6 April 1858, and did not subside until the following Sunday. The barqueMary Stoddart was seen in distress in Dundalk Bay on the 6 April 1858. Numerous attempts were made over five days to rescue the crew, and four men lost their lives in the rescue efforts. The Captain and nine crewmen were finally rescued by H.M. Coastguard Chief Boatman Robert Shankey and his boat crew from Giles Quay on the 9 and 10 April, but seven crewmen of the Mary Stoddart had been lost.[4][5][6]
No fewer than 10 RNLI Silver Medals were awarded for the rescue efforts, and a memorial was erected in Roden Place, Dundalk, in memory of those men who gave their lives.[7]
In Memory of Captain James Kelly Gerald Hughes James Crosbey and James Murphy who lost their lives in a Noble and Humble Effort to rescue the crew of the Barque Mary Stoddart wrecked in Dundalk Bay on 9 April 1858
As a result of this disaster, the RNLI promised to place a lifeboat in the Dundalk area, on finding a suitable location. Lord Clermont had a lifeboat house built at his own expense at Blackrock, and a 30-foot self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with sails and (6) oars, was placed there by the RNLI in 1859.[8]
Memorial, Roden Place Dundalk
A first service for the Blackrock lifeboat came on 19 September 1859, giving assistance to the vessel John James of the Isle of Man. A call on 22 August 1861 to the barqueFrederick, on passage from Dublin to the West Indies, but wrecked at Dundalk harbour entrance, resulted in 21 lives being saved.[9]
Funded by children attending Sunday School, a new lifeboat Stockport Sunday Schools was placed at Blackrock in the summer of 1867. This boat was launched on the 2 July 1873, to the Glasgow barque Prince of Wales (recorded locally as the Princess of Wales), aground 1 mile (1.6km) south of the lighthouse, and rescued 16 people. The wreck was a hazard to shipping for 20 years, and was eventually blown up.[10][11][12]
At certain times of the day, the tide was preventing any launch of the lifeboat from Blackrock. Following a visit by the second Assistant Inspector of Lifeboats in 1876, a site at Giles Quay (now Gyles' Quay), on the north side of Dundalk Bay, was considered for the relocation of the lifeboat, "in which position the boat would be two miles from the bar, but to windward of it, and able to launch at any time of tide."[13][14]
RNLB Stockport Sunday Schools was transferred over to the new station in 1879, and Blackrock lifeboat station was closed.[15]
Almost straight away, the decision was reversed, and in 1880, it was decided to reopen the Blackrock station, but also to retain the new Giles Quay station, where a new boat, James Thomas, was placed on station. Before the lifeboat Stockport Sunday Schools was transferred back to Blackrock, a race was held between the two station boats, Blackrock emerging victors, after a restart.[12][16]
A new boat was placed at the station in 1885, the General R. Dudley Blake (ON 95), a 34-foot 6in self-righting (P&S) lifeboat. In 1891, the Dundalk No.2 Station was renamed Blackrock Lifeboat Station.[17]
As is the way, the lifeboat was not required for 10 years, but then required for two rescues on the same day, 24 December 1895. The first, to the steamshipParagon, beached at Dunaney Point, required 3 hours of hard rowing to make the 2 miles (3.2km) to the beached vessel, rescuing 11. The second, to the barqueArdendee of Liverpool, where another 11 people were rescued. It would then be another nine years before the lifeboat was once again needed. On the same day of 24 December 1895, all 15 crew of the Kingstown No.2 Lifeboat were lost in the Kingstown Lifeboat Disaster, whilst answering a call to the Russian barquePalme, on passage from Liverpool to South America.[12][18]
A new boathouse was constructed at Blackrock in 1900, at a cost of £400.[19]
In 1909, the lifeboat was replaced with a 35-foot lifeboat, given the same name, General R. Dudley Blake (ON 593). On a call just before Christmas 1909, both lifeboats from Blackrock and Giles Quay stood by, until a tug came to tow the steam dredger Thames to harbour.[12]
With more powered vessels at sea, there were fewer and fewer calls on the lifeboat, and Blackrock would not be required again until 1923. In the last call out on 8 April 1923, the lifeboat brought ashore two passengers from the Fetlar, aground on the sand, but in no immediate danger.[12]
Blackrock lifeboat was called just five times between 1909 and 1935. With a motor-powered lifeboat placed at Clogherhead in 1931, at a meeting of the RNLI committee of management on Thursday 11 July 1935, it was decided to close Blackrock Lifeboat Station. Launched 39 times since opening, the Blackrock lifeboat had rescued 75 people.[3][12]
The 1900 lifeboat station building still stands, somewhat neglected, but is reported as being used as an art studio. The lifeboat on station at the time of closure, General R. Dudley Blake (ON 593), was sold from service. As of 2023, the boat was in storage, and awaiting restoration, at Ardee, Co.Louth.[20]
↑ Brady, Karl (1 October 2008). Shipwreck Inventory of Ireland – Louth, Meath Dublin & Wicklow. Stationery Office, Dublin. ISBN9780755776184.
1 2 Cox, Barry (1998). Lifeboat Gallantry. Spink & Son Ltd. p.118. ISBN0907605893.
↑ "Blackrock Lifeboat". Dundalk Democrat. 25 September 1858.
↑ Bourke, Edward J. (1 March 1998). Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast Vol.2 932–1997. ISBN0952302713.
↑ "Loss of the Princess of Wales". The Times. No.27778. London. 26 August 1873. col E, p.6.
↑ "Royal National Lifeboat Institution". Huddersfield Chronicle. No.1873. Huddersfield. 8 August 1873.
1 2 3 4 5 6 McKenna, Patsy (1995). from the Boynes to the Mournes. A History of the County Louth Lifeboats 1856. Direct Print (Dublin) Ltd. pp.17–25. ISBN0952223503.
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