Arklow Lifeboat Station
| All-Weather Lifeboat | |
|---|---|
| Launch Method | Afloat |
| Address | South Quay, Arklow, County Wicklow, Ireland |
| Telephone | 0402 32850 |
Explore two centuries of RNLI lifeboat history, heroic rescues, and the enduring tradition of saving lives at sea.
Arklow Lifeboat Station, at the mouth of the River Avoca in County Wicklow, holds a unique place in history as the first lifeboat station ever established in Ireland, in 1826. That first station was short-lived, but the RNLI returned to Arklow in 1857, and the station has served the County Wicklow coast ever since. It operates a modern Shannon-class all-weather lifeboat.
Following a request from the Inspector General of the Irish Coastguard, who highlighted the many shipwrecks in the area, the RNIPLS placed a 24-foot lifeboat at Arklow on 30 November 1826 — the first lifeboat station in Ireland. It lasted just three and a half years, the boat being moved to Newcastle, County Down, and the station closing in 1830. After a series of local disasters, the RNLI re-established Arklow in 1857, a 30-foot pulling-and-sailing lifeboat arriving by steam packet that June.
The station ran sailing and then motor lifeboats through the following century, long associated with the Kavanagh and Dillon families, several of whom served as coxswain. In 1997 the Trent-class Ger Tigchelaar arrived, serving until 2024, when she was replaced by a new €3.1 million Shannon-class lifeboat. The 13-53 Roy Holloway arrived at Arklow at exactly 13:53 on 13 October 2024, named after a Kingswinford music teacher whose £1.4 million bequest funded her, and entered service in early 2025.
