Dunmore East Lifeboat Station
| All-Weather Lifeboat | |
|---|---|
| Launch Method | Afloat |
| Address | West Wharf, Dunmore East, County Waterford, Ireland |
| Telephone | 051 383268 |
Explore two centuries of RNLI lifeboat history, heroic rescues, and the enduring tradition of saving lives at sea.
Dunmore East Lifeboat Station sits on the West Wharf of the pretty harbour village of Dunmore East, County Waterford, on the western side of the mouth of Waterford Harbour. Established by the RNLI in 1884, its crews have a long record of gallantry stretching back to coastguard rescues of the 1830s, and they played a key part in completing the rescue after the 1914 Mexico disaster. The station operates a Shannon-class all-weather lifeboat.
Between 1834 and 1841, four Silver Medals for gallantry were awarded to coastguards for rescues in the vicinity of Dunmore East. After a visit by the Chief Inspector of Lifeboats in 1882, it was decided to place a lifeboat at Dunmore East, far closer to the open sea than the older Duncannon station across the harbour. A boathouse and slipway were built, and a 37-foot self-righting pulling-and-sailing lifeboat arrived in 1884.
The station’s first motor lifeboat, a converted boat named Michael Henry, came in 1914, the same year its crew helped complete the Mexico rescue. Through the 20th century Dunmore East ran Watson, Arun and Trent-class lifeboats; the Trent 14-17 Elizabeth and Ronald served for 25 years. Dunmore East later gained “the most recently completed new lifeboat facilities in Ireland.” The station received a Shannon-class lifeboat costing over €2.4 million, 13-41 William and Agnes Wray, which arrived on station on 26 September 2021 and provides fast water-jet-driven all-weather cover for the south-east coast.
