Arklow Lifeboat Station

Arklow Lifeboat Station is located at South Quay in Arklow, County Wicklow, a harbour town at the mouth of the River Avoca, approximately 72 km (45 mi) south of Dublin, on the east coast of Ireland.

Arklow Lifeboat Station
Arklow Lifeboat Station
Arklow, County Wicklow
General information
Type	RNLI Lifeboat Station
Address	South Quay
Town or city	Arklow, County Wicklow, Y14 HW11
Country	Ireland
Coordinates	52°47′31.0″N 6°08′42.5″W
Opened	RNIPLS 1826–1830 RNLI 1857–
Owner	Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Website
Arklow RNLI Lifeboat Station

A lifeboat was first placed at Arklow in 1826 by the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS). It was the first lifeboat station in Ireland, but lasted just 3½ years, and closed in 1830.^[1]

The station would be reopened by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1857.^[2]

The station currently operates a Shannon-class lifeboat, 13-53 Roy Holloway (ON 1360), on station since 2025.^[3]

History

Following a request from Capt. J. Dombrain, Dublin Inspector of Coastguard, who highlighted a number of shipwrecks in the area, a lifeboat was first placed at Arklow by the RNIPLS. A 24-foot lifeboat built by William Plenty of Newbury, Berkshire, costing £130, arrived on 30 November 1826. She was stored in a boathouse rented from the coastguard at £7 per annum. It would be the first lifeboat station in Ireland.^[4]

Only 3½ years later, having never been launched on service, and at the recommendation of Capt. Samuel Sparshott, Deputy Inspector General of Coastguard, the lifeboat was relocated to Newcastle, County Down in April 1930, and the station at Arklow was closed.^[4]

Arklow Lifeboat Station was reopened by the RNLI in 1857 after a series of local maritime disasters.^[5] An order was placed with Forrestt of Limehouse for a 30-foot self-righting 'pulling and sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with sails and (10) oars, costing £158. A boathouse costing £120 was constructed with a slipway, for the boat to launch directly into the river. The boat was transported from London free of charge by the British and Irish Steam Packet Company, arriving in Arklow of 7 June 1857.^[4][6]

On 26 December 1865, the Arundel Venables was launched to the aid of the vessel Tenessarian, on passage from Liverpool to Calcutta, ashore on Blackwater Bank. With great skill in dreadful conditions, the lifeboat rescued 34 men. Coxswain Peter Kavanagh was awarded the RNLI Silver Medal.^{[7][8][9][10]}

A cholera outbreak in Arklow in 1868 claimed 60 lives. One of the victims was Coxswain Peter Kavanagh. Kavanagh, who had served as coxswain since the station reopened in 1857, and left a widow and eight children.^[4]

In 1912, a motor-powered lifeboat was announced for Arklow, and modifications were made to the 1873 boathouse to accommodate the new boat However, it would by 1915 before the boat arrived, John Taylor Cardwell (ON 642), a 40-foot self-righting lifeboat, with a single 40-hp engine, delivering a speed of 7½ knots.^[11]

A case of rum was awarded to the crew of the Arklow lifeboat Inbhear Mor in 1956. The award was made by the Sugar Manufacturers Association (of Jamaica), for the "longest winter lifeboat service". The Arklow lifeboat had been on service to the MV Gansey of Castletown, Isle of Man for over 17 hours.^[12]

Arklow Trent-class lifeboat 14-19 Ger Tigchelaar (ON 1223)

The 42ft Watson-class lifeboat William Taylor of Oldham (ON 907) was launched to the aid of the trawler Jadestar Glory on 16 January 1974, ashore on Roney Rock. In extreme gale-force conditions, six men were rescued from two life-rafts. Coxswain Michael O'Brian was awarded the "Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum".^[13]

In 2023, it was announced that the Trent-class lifeboat 14-19 Ger Tigchelaar (ON 1223), on service at Arklow since 1997, was to be replaced with a new €2.85 million Shannon-class lifeboat. The new Shannon-class All-weather lifeboat 13-53 arrived on station at Arklow, at exactly 13:53, on Sunday 13 October 2024.^[14][15]

Arklow Shannon-class lifeboat 13-53 Roy Holloway (ON 1360)

At a ceremony on Saturday 21 June 2025, the €3.1million lifeboat was formally accepted by RNLI Chief Executive Peter Sparkes. A service of dedication was held by Fr. Padraig O'Cochlain, Rev. Michael Anderson, Rev. Jack Kinkead and Pastor Soloman Aroboto. Music for the ceremony was provided by the Arklow Saint Colmcille’s Pipe Band, Arklow Revival Gospel Choir and the Arklow Shipping Silver Band.^[16]

John Bermingham, Lifeboat Operations Manager, formally received the lifeboat on behalf of the station, noting that the lifeboat had already been called on 10 occasions since formally entering service in February 2025. The lifeboat was named 13-53 Roy Holloway (ON 1360), in memory of a quietly spoken music teacher from Kingswinford, the primary donor of the vessel, with a £1.4million bequest to the Institution.^[17]

Station honours

The following are awards made at Arklow.^[8][12]

• RNIPLS Silver Medal

James Dillon, Boatman, H.M. Coastguard, Arklow – 1848

• RNLI Silver Medal

Peter Kavanagh, Coxswain – 1866

Capt. Edward Kearon – 1867

John Cummings, Coxswain – 1870

William Manifold, Second Coxswain – 1877

• The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum

Michael O'Brien, Coxswain – 1974

• A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution

Edward Dillon, Coxswain – 1997

• A Case of Rum from the Sugar Manufacturers Association (of Jamaica)
  for longest winter service 1955-1956, 22/23 December 1955.

Arklow Lifeboat Crew – 1956

Roll of honour

In memory of those lost whilst serving Arklow lifeboat.^[12]

• Died in the lifeboat on its return from exercise, 30 December 1902

John Dunne

Arklow lifeboats

Pulling and Sailing (P&S) lifeboats

ON[a]	Name	On Station[18]	Class	Comments
Pre-123	Unnamed	1826–1830	24-foot Norfolk and Suffolk	[Note 1]
Station Closed 1830–1857
Pre-310	Unnamed	1857–1863	30-foot Peake Self-righting (P&S)	[Note 2]
Pre-294	Arundel Venables	1863–1873	36-foot Self-righting (P&S)	[Note 3] Previously Eleanor Cecily at Lytham
Pre-580	Out Pensioner	1873–1890	37-foot Self-Righting (P&S)	[Note 4]
281	Frances and Charlotte	1890–1915	39-foot Self-Righting (P&S)	[Note 5]

Pre ON numbers are unofficial numbers used by the Lifeboat Enthusiast Society to reference early lifeboats not included on the official RNLI list.

Motor lifeboats

ON[a]	Op. No.[b]	Name	Built	On Station[19]	Class	Comments
642	–	John Taylor Cardwell	1914	1915–1938	40-foot Self-Righting (motor)	[Note 6]
807	–	Inbhear Mor	1938	1938–1968	41-foot Watson
897	–	St Andrew (Civil Service No.10)	1951	1968–1973	41-foot Watson
907	–	William Taylor of Oldham	1954	1973–1986	42-foot Watson
1006	44-007	Connel Elizabeth Cargill	1967	1986–1990	Waveney
1029	44-011	Augustine Courtauld	1974	1990–1997	Waveney
1223	14-19	Ger Tigchelaar	1996	1997–2025	Trent
1360	13-53	Roy Holloway	2024	2025–	Shannon

1. ON is the RNLI's Official Number of the boat.
2. Op. No. is the RNLI's Operational Number of the boat carried on the hull.

See also

• List of RNLI stations
• List of former RNLI stations
• Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats

Notes

1. 24-foot (8-oared) non-self-righting Norfolk and Suffolk-class lifeboat, built by William Plenty of Newbury, Berkshire, costing £130.
2. 30-foot x 7-foot 6in (10-oared) self-righting (P&S) Peake-class lifeboat, built by Forrestt of Limehouse, London, costing £158.
3. 30-foot x 7-foot 6in (10-oared) self-righting (P&S) Peake-class lifeboat, extended to 36-foot in 1863 by Forrestt of Limehouse, London.
4. 37-foot x 9-foot (12-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, built by Woolfe & Son of Shadwell, costing £403.
5. 39-foot x 9-foot (12-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, built by Woolfe & Son of Shadwell, costing £610.
6. 40-foot 40-hp self-righting lifeboat, built by Thames Ironworks, completed by S. E. Saunders, costing £3,599.