Castletownbere Lifeboat Station
| All-Weather Lifeboat | |
|---|---|
| Launch Method | Afloat |
| Address | Castletownbere, Bantry Bay, County Cork, Ireland |
| Telephone | 027 70999 |
Explore two centuries of RNLI lifeboat history, heroic rescues, and the enduring tradition of saving lives at sea.
Castletownbere Lifeboat Station sits on the north shore of Bantry Bay, beneath the Slieve Miskish Mountains, in one of Ireland’s busiest fishing ports on the Beara Peninsula of west County Cork. Established in 1998 to improve cover along the wild Atlantic-facing south-west coast, it guards the waters between Mizen Head and Kenmare Bay. The station operates a Severn-class all-weather lifeboat, the largest in the RNLI fleet.
Through much of the 20th century the west coast of Ireland had sparse lifeboat cover, and as commercial fishing and leisure boating grew, the RNLI moved to fill the gaps; in 1990 there were just four stations on the coast, but by 2000 seven more had opened. After a public meeting in Castletownbere, the RNLI placed an Arun-class lifeboat at the harbour in October 1997 for a 12-month evaluation. The trial proved the value of a station, and Castletownbere was confirmed as a permanent RNLI lifeboat station in October 1998.
For many years the crew worked from poorly located temporary facilities, until a new two-storey boathouse and adjoining pontoon, costing €950,000, were opened in May 2013, greatly reducing launch times. The Severn-class lifeboat 17-44 Annette Hutton, placed on station in 2004, lies afloat in the harbour and provides long-range cover up to around 50 nautical miles offshore, working alongside the neighbouring stations at Valentia and Baltimore.
