By Dan Walsh
Kilmore Quay RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat was launched at 2.37pm on Saturday afternoon to assist two people aboard a 32-foot yacht with engine failure close to the Saltee Islands.
The lifeboat was under the command of Coxswain Eugene Kehoe with five crew members on board and it arrived on scene just north of the Great Saltee island at 3pm. Sea conditions at the time were described as “moderate with a two-metre swell and were not suitable for the yacht to return to the harbour under sail.”
The two people aboard the yacht were safe. With the tow established the lifeboat made its way back to Kilmore Quay, arriving at 3.30pm.
The call out came on a weekend where members of the crew also attended a commemoration service at the Memorial Garden in Kilmore Quay to mark the 100th anniversary of the loss of the SS Lismore six miles off the coast between Kilmore Quay and Hook Head on July 11th, 1924. One survivor made it to shore 28 hours after the vessel went down and raised the alarm. Despite extensive searches by lifeboat crews and coast guards at the time, none of the remaining 18 crew on board were ever found.
Speaking following the service on Sunday, Kilmore Quay Lifeboat Operations Manager John Grace said; “Today’s service is a sobering reminder of the perils of the sea. In this year that sees the 200th Anniversary of the establishment of the RNLI, it is more important than ever that we commemorate those that have lost their lives at sea, reinforcing our resolve to save others from facing the same fate.”
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