Lough Derg RNLI Lifeboat station open day

Lough Derg RNLI Lifeboat Station would like to invite you to their open day on Sunday September 18th from 12midday until 4pm. Please do come along and meet Lough Derg’s volunteer crew and operations team, have a tour of the station and see what the kit crew wear when out on service in the lifeboat. This is a wonderful family day out. 

The Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue Helicopter (operations permitting) will fly from their base at Shannon airport and carry out an exercise with the lifeboat in Dromineer Bay. The lifeboat station is currently located on the grounds of Lough Derg Yacht Club in Dromineer. 

 

The RNLI is a charity that saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the coasts of Ireland and the UK and on selected inland waterways, including Lough Derg, our sister lake, Lough Ree.  We have an active fundraising committee on Lough Derg, chaired for many years by Niamh McCutcheon. Fundraising is essential as, independent of Coastguard and government, the RNLI depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its essential rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824 its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 141,000 lives.

 

If you’re interested in becoming a volunteer with the RNLI, our open day is an ideal time to chat to crew and get a sense of what it entails. If you cannot make it this time, but would like to speak to a member of the station about volunteering, please call 087-251 4517 - we would be delighted to hear from you. Lough Derg RNLI volunteers are dedicated and committed, and are always delighted to welcome new recruits. 

 

 

 

A brief history of Lough Derg RNLI Lifeboat Station

 

On May 25th 2014, the Lough Derg RNLI Lifeboat Station celebrated its tenth birthday. In those ten years, the lifeboat has launched 236 times, 60 of those at night. Volunteer crews have rescued 322 people and saved the lives of three people.  

 

Lough Derg RNLI Lifeboat Station is one of 44 RNLI Stations operating in Ireland.  A local application to station an RNLI lifeboat on Lough Derg, led by Charles Stanley Smith and Teddy Knight, became reality, when, on May 25th 2004, the Lough Derg RNLI Lifeboat officially began service. In the preceding year and a half, volunteer crews and members for the Operations Committee were recruited and underwent intensive training on the water and in the classroom, with RNLI Divisional Trainer Assessor Helena Duggan - our Trainer Assessor to this day. 

 

The Lough Derg Lifeboat Station began operations from the premises of Lough Derg Yacht Club at Dromineer, halfway down the east shore of the lake in County Tipperary. Liam Maloney, Lough Derg Lifeboat Operations Manager, says that plans for our new permanent station in the village are well underway, and managed by Owen Medland, RNLI Divisional Operations Manager. 

 

For many years the RNLI and the lifesaving work of its volunteers have enjoyed the strong support of the people of Nenagh through the tireless efforts of campaigners in the RNLI’s expanding fundraising committee.  The RNLI is a charity that saves lives; it does not receive Governent grants and relies entirely on the contributions and legacies from the public to continue its vital operations.  

 

Lough Derg is one of three RNLI inland stations in Ireland; the other two are located at Lough Erne Yacht Club, Enniskillen, County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland, and our sister station on the river Shannon, at Lough Ree. 

 

Lough Derg is the lowest, and at 27 miles long, the largest of the series of lakes on the river Shannon, the longest river in the Republic of Ireland. The shores of Lough Derg are bordered by three counties with the most outstanding countryside. It has secluded lagoons that can be accessed by narrow rivulets and many public and private harbours.  

 

In the past Lough Derg was a major conduit for the passage of people and trade goods along the river Shannon. Nowadays the lake is used for pleasure by fishing and sailing boats, cruisers and barges.  By necessity the rescue services must be present and ready to deal with increasing traffic and any possible difficulties that might ensue.  Lough Derg is ready to do that, with volunteers on call 24 hours a day, every day of the year.