Duncannon Lifeboat Archives

26/09/202426/09/2024

Duncannon Lifeboat Rescues 1869-1886

Last month we looked at the foundation of the Duncannon Lifeboat station in 1869. This month we will look at the service record of the station and some of the shouts, which the lifeboat, Richard and Anne Warner (sometimes the Warner was unused ) completed. The decision to close and relocate the station is also discussed.

From the outset the RNLI depends on volunteers and fundraising to sustain the services provided around our coastline. The following are the Hon Secretaries that served at Duncannon during the lifespan of the station: A P Allen 1869, James Haughton 1869-1870, Capt SD Bartlett 1870-1880 and J McGonagil, 1880-1886[I]

Duncannon Lifeboat service record.

Date	ship	origin	description
Jan 25 1873	brig *Waterloo*	Cork	Service not reqd.
Dec 30 1873	barque *Nymph*		Stood by
Jan 19 1875	brig Vittoriso G	Venice	Rescued 9
May 27 1877	schooner *Charles*	Bridgewater	Service not reqd.
Feb 8 1881	brig *Victory*	Cork	Service not reqd.
Mar 3 1881	brig *Dayspring*	Dublin	rescued 1
Dec 27 1882	steamer *Szepary*	Fuime	Service not reqd.
Feb 13 1884	ship *Earl of Beaconsfield*	Glasgow	Rescued 33

Lifeboat shouts – Source: The History of the Duncannon Lifeboat. By Jimmy White.

Interesting to note that even the remark “Stood By, service not required”, still carries significance. Just the fact that a lifeboat is right beside you as you struggle with a disabled ship or shifted cargo into a foreign and unfamiliar port can give you great solace. For example, the brig Waterloo was stranded aground on a sand bar when the lifeboat came to the rescue in a southerly gale. While standing by, a large sea broke over the vessel and she floated free. As the sails and rigging were undamaged the vessel was able to make her own way.[ii]

I found mention of another instance in 1874 but it is not part of the service record. Perhaps this was misreported, but I will include it with that proviso. It involved the case of the timber-carrying barque Nemphen. She was in so perilous a condition coming up the harbour that the lifeboat was reported to have gone to her assistance. Having struck the bottom several times they managed to make it to Ballyhack where it was said she was in a leaky condition with her windlass broken. The article states that the lifeboat shepherded the ship to safe anchorage. On the same day the schooner Love Star was also at Ballyhack, with a damaged mast and 4 feet of water in the hold. The vessel was carrying a cargo of turpentine.[iii]

When the steamer Szepary grounded at Bannow in 1882 the Duncannon lifeboat went overland to assist and was launched with great difficulty into a raging sea and pounding surf. Having battled to the scene of the grounding, it was found that the Fethard Coastguard crew, employing the rocket apparatus, had managed to get the crew of thirteen safely ashore.[iv]

Launching at Duncannon Strand. From an original painting by marine artist KB Cleare.

Now to turn to the three rescues listed. In 1875 nine members of the crew of the brig Vittorioso G were safely rescued by the lifeboat. The Lifeboat Magazine of the RNLI reported it as follows:

At 9 am on January 19th, the Life-boat Richard and Anne Warner was summoned to the assistance of the Vittorioso G, a brig belonging to Venice, which was wrecked in Bannow Bay, on the Selskar rocks, during a moderate S.W. gale. The Life-boat had to be conveyed a distance of seven miles by land, through miry lanes and soft roads, at first only by men hauling on the drag- ropes, though by-and-by, as she pushed on her way, horses came galloping in by ones and twos, and were promptly attached to the boat carriage. It was not till after noon, however, that the panting horses were pulled up on the brink of the sea, at Fethard Strand, the launching- place nearest to the wreck. Amidst the cheers of a large concourse of people the Life-boat was then launched through the surf, and after two hours’ hard work with the oars her crew had the satisfaction of landing with the whole of the crew of the wrecked vessel, consisting of 9 persons.[v]

Locally it was reported that the ship was on a trip from Cardiff to Constantinople with a cargo of coal. The crew were said to be in the care of the Italian vice council in Waterford Mr Goidanich. Captain Bartlett (who ran the paddle steamer from Duncannon at the time and who was listed as Hon Sec of the lifeboat, but presumably acted as Cox on the day?) and the crew of the lifeboat were said to have acted gallantly. [vi] Captain Bartlett was afterwards awarded a silver medal by the Italian Government.

Although only one person was rescued from the Dublin registered brig Dayspring in 1881 it was a fortunate man indeed, for the rest of his crew had already perished before the lifeboat reached the scene. The brig was enroute to Waterford from Newcastle with coal when she grounded off Broomhill. As the tide was rising and the wind SSE the lifeboat needed a tow to get down to the vessel, which was duly provided by the steam tug Resolute. However, the Dayspring had gone to pieces before they could reach the scene, the unnamed captain was taken from the water where he was seen clutching a piece of his shattered ship. His five crew were lost.[vii] The survivor was named as Captain McKener in another account.[viii] (There was a follow up Board of Trade inquiry which tells a very different story of this event – but it’s too long to include here, it might make another blog. If interested email me and I will send it on. The Captain’s name is given as Francis McKevitt)

Again, another shout is reported in a local newspaper in 1881, but was not listed in official reports. Very likely a newspaper error. But it was reported that a brig called the Nancy McSweeney carrying coal to Waterford went ashore on the Waterford side and went to pieces in a hurricane. The report claims that the Duncannon lifeboat went to the scene and rescued the crew. [ix]

The final rescue listed was from a ship I have featured before, and if you want to read the account I have linked it here: Earl of Beaconsfield. This was another overland journey to Fethard and a 26 hr rescue in total.

I ran out of time before publishing to get further information on this award, but will update this when sorted.

On two occasions the lifeboat station was mentioned concerning controversies, that I am aware of. In one the station was acquitted, while the other was a moot point following the loss of the Alfred D Snow– two years after the station had closed- but an interesting what if nonetheless. In that situation it was speculated that if the harbour lifeboat station was still at Duncannon, they may have reached the grounded vessel.

The other controversy involved the loss of the SS Kinsale at the Hell Hole in 1872. A story we have covered previously. Following the loss, an article appeared in the Freeman’s Journal claiming that the locals were little better than wreckers following their conduct. A nasty slur. However, they were stoutly defended by Rev Thomas Doyle, curate of Ramsgrange. In his letter of rebuttal to the newspapers, he asked where was the Duncannon lifeboat. [xi] I’m speculating here, but the fact that he tried to implicate the lifeboat, might suggest the crew were not made up of locals at the time? Or some rivalry between the communities perhaps?

An RNLI inspector, Captain Roberts was dispatched; they launched the lifeboat and visited the scene. Roberts later recorded that because of the shallow nature of the coastline, there was little the lifeboat could have done when grounded in the Hell Hole. Had the alarm been raised when the Kinsale broke down, there may have been a chance. [xii]

An image of the Henry Dodd at Dunmore East – courtesy of Brian Gordon

In 1885 the local lifeboats were inspected. Although the writing was on the wall for the Duncannon station due to the new facility at Dunmore East (1884) and the preparations then underway to move the Wexford station to Fethard. The inspection was reported on and I think it is well worth repeating here.

On Wednesday Lieut Tipping, R.N, visited the Tramore station. The local secretary. E Jacob, Esq of Waterford, has always acted with great energy and taken much interest in forwarding the views of the Lifeboat Institution both at Tramore and elsewhere, On the 9th inst in his steamship Waterwitch the Inspector proceeded from Waterford to Duncannon, where the lifeboat under the coxswain Mr Gleeson was launched from its stage, with the crew on board. He was then taken in tow by the Waterwitch, and against a headwind and sea towed out of the river to Dunmore. Lieut Tipping also visited Fethard, on the Wexford coast, where a new lifeboat house is to be built and a fine boat is now ready for this station. The Dunmore lifeboat of twelve oars was run into the sea from the lifeboat house and manned by a strong capable crew. The local secretary. Rev W Gilmore went aboard with the Inspector (Lieut Tipping) The two lifeboats had an exciting race under oars out at sea. when they then made sail, and cruised about under Lieutenant Tipping’s orders. The boat then returned under sail Duncannon, where she arrived about 10 pm. Major. Mrs. and Miss Florence Wheeler Cuffe took passage in the Duncannon lifeboat. A great number of people witnessed this interesting scene from the shore—the two lifeboats vying with each other. The Duncannon boat had only ten oars and was beaten in the pulling, but sailing back she was in first.[x]

According to Jimmy White, the Duncannon Lifeboat Station was closed in 1886, with the opening of the Fethard Station. He included this press clipping: “Fethard, County Wexford – With the full concurrence of the Committee of the late Waterford Harbour and Duncannon Branch, the Duncannon Life-boat Station has been abolished, and a new Life-boat Establishment in its place has been formed at Fethard, to guard Bannow Bay and the neighbouring part of the coast… The new boat, which is one of the 34 feet 10-oared class, is provided with a transporting carriage. It was sent to its station in July last. The whole cost of this new Life-boat Station has been met from the bequest of the late Mrs. Helen Blake of Handcross House, Sussex, – received through the Lords Commissioners of H.M. Treasury – and the boat is named after the deceased lady.” [xiii]

The RNLB Helen Blake lives still in the memory of the locality following the disaster of 1914 in the bid to aid the stricken Mexico. David Carroll clarified to me that this was the third vessel which carried the name. A generous bequeath indeed.

I’m indebted to Walter Foley for access to original information by Jimmy White for this piece. Kevin Downes who gave me information previously. Also to Liam Ryan, Fethard and David Carroll for their generous assistance. Also, acknowledge the help of Hayley Whiting, Heritage Archive and Research Manager, RNLI. Thanks also to marine artist KB Cleare for the use of his original artwork for the piece. All the errors and omissions are, of course, my own.

To mark 200 years of the RNLI, Cormac Lowth will deliver a fascinating lecture about the institution on Thursday 10th October at 8pm in the Haven Hotel, Dunmore East. Short bio of Cormac – Cormac Lowth is a retired builder who has had a lifelong interest in the sea and maritime history. He spent several years as a merchant seaman on cargo ships and he has been a scuba diver for much of his life. He has been involved in boats since childhood and he was a member of the crew of the Galway Hooker ‘Naomh Crónán’, based in the Poolbeg Yacht Club in Ringsend, for many years. He is a member of the Maritime Institute of Ireland and the Dun Laoghaire Borough Historical Society, and he has served on the committees of both of these organisations, in addition to
that of the Old Dublin Society. He has lectured extensively on maritime matters and he has written a great many articles for historical journals on maritime and diving-related subjects. Many of Cormac’s lectures are given in aid of the R.N.L.I. He has recently published a book entitled ‘Ringsend Sailing Trawlers’. Cormac has an abiding interest in maritime art and he has been known to take up a brush occasionally. He is a member of, Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club. Maritime Institute of Ireland, Dun Laoghaire Borough Historical Society, Irish Maritime Archaeological Society, The Old Dublin Society, Historical Diving Society. Tallaght Historical Society. Dublin Bay Old Gaffers Association.

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The foundation of the Duncannon Lifeboat Station

You can view the previous blog on the foundation of the station at the following link.

30/08/202429/09/2024

The foundation of the Duncannon Lifeboat Station

1869 was an important date in the history of Waterford Harbour. In September of that year, a new lifeboat was placed at Duncannon, Co Wexford on the eastern shore of the harbour. Although it was only in place for 17 years and launched 8 times it saved 43 lives according to the lifeboat records of the RNLI. This blog looks at the station’s establishment and the arrival of the RNLB Richard and Anne. The September blog will catalogue the rescues and the decision to close the station in 1886.

Background

Seafaring has always been a dangerous occupation. Since boats set out on the water, crews have been at the mercy of the weather. According to tradition, Hook Lighthouse originated with a Welsh monk, Saint Dubhán. The monk established a light beacon there for vessels entering Waterford Harbour as early as the 6^th Century. [i]

The Royal National Lifeboat Institute was established in 1824 to assist vessels and their crews in distress. In the absence of a lifeboat in the harbour, locals, fellow seafarers, pilots and Coastguard crews could be counted on in a crisis. It was not until the 1860s that the pressure for a local station started to bear fruit.

New Committee

In September 1868 a local paper expressed relief that a plan to create a new lifeboat station at Duncannon was in place. Stating that “… the want of lifeboat there has been more than once brought home to us…”. Responding to the urging of the Waterford Harbour Commissioners, a local committee was established which included: Sir Robert Paul, Bart, chairman; Hon. Captain Chichester, J P.; Messrs. William Malcomson, Edward Roberts, Hugh Nevins, William Joyce, P. Hare, J.P.; John Farrell, Walter Breen, J P.: Captain Cochrane, Captain Bartlett, assistant sec.; A. Stephens, D. Jenkins, R.N, coast guard officer; A. P. Allen, hon. sec.[ii]

Funding was crucial – when is it not? The article states that “Waterford Harbour Board have given a donation of £1O, and have promised an annual subscription of the same amount. The Waterford Steam Company has also donated £1O and promised an annual subscription of £5. Sir Robert Paul gave £3, and his name is down for £2 annual subscription. No doubt many others will follow the example so nobly set them.”[iii]

Lifeboat Station

A lifeboat would be nothing without a station to house it. The committee managed to secure a site from Duncannon Fort. According to the RNLI archives the lifeboat house was constructed for £170 on a site granted by the War Department.

`Lifeboat station as seen from the Fort`

Arrival to Waterford

A year later, after many meetings no doubt, a new lifeboat arrived in Waterford City. The vessel was carried aboard the Waterford Steam Co steamer Leda. The boat and its equipment were provided from a legacy left by Mrs and Miss Warner of Lyncombe, Somerset. According to the paper, the lifeboat would be called the “Richard and Anne Warner.”[iv]

The boat was described as “…33 feet long, 8 feet wide, and rows 10 oars double-banked…”. It had completed trials in the Regent’s Canal Dock, London. Its “…stability, self-righting, and self-ejecting of water were fully and satisfactorily tested. The water shipped, when the boat was capsized by means of a crane, was self-ejected in about 23 seconds.”[v]

At Waterford, an excited crowd gathered to welcome the new lifeboat. The Cork Examiner reported the event in full. Here’s a brief excerpt. “On Monday evening, the lifeboat… was placed in her carriage and gaily decorated; the crew, which had come up from Duncannon, were on board, and the equipage was drawn through the city, having gone up the Quay, and round through King-street, Broad-street, Beresford-street, and the Mall. It was finally drawn up opposite the Custom House.” There the Countess of Ely named the new lifeboat and made a gift of £12 towards the crew. The lifeboat was subsequently upset to show the self-righting power of the vessel.[vi]

`Lady Jane Ely. Image courtesy of Liam Ryan`

To Duncannon

I can’t find how the lifeboat came down to Duncannon. Perhaps it was towed astern of the paddle steamer (PS Tintern was the regular steamer at this point). The Tintern surely delayed her evening sailing downriver to accommodate the event. As it happened there would be no immediate rush. It would be January 1873 before the first shout for the lifeboat.

To mark 200 years of the RNLI, Cormac Lowth will deliver a fascinating lecture on the institution in Dunmore East in October.

Next month (see below) we will look at the rescues carried out by the lifeboat. We will look at a controversy related to the loss of the SS Kinsale. Finally, we will look at the decision to close the station in preference for Fethard On Sea.

Duncannon Lifeboat Rescues 1869-1886

I’m indebted to Walter Foley for access to original information by Jimmy White for this piece. Kevin Downes who gave me information previously. Also to Liam Ryan, Fethard and David Carroll for their generous assistance. Also to acknowledge the help of Hayley Whiting, Heritage Archive and Research Manager, RNLI. All the errors and omissions are, of course, my own

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25/09/202028/10/2021

A Blighted Barque- Earl of Beaconsfield

When the owners of the four-masted iron hulled sailing barque Earl of Beaconsfield (1883) saw their new ship enter the River Clyde, they must have hoped for a handsome return on their investment. But although fate has a large role to play in anything to do with shipping, the owners could never have foreseen just how blighted, ill-fated if not damned this ship would be and that within the year she would be sunk after several major incidents at sea, and have never successfully made a single trip.

An example of a four masted barque rigged vessel of the era **SV Herzogin Cecilie** . By Allan C. Green 1878 – 1954 – State Library of Victoria. Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10540452

The Earl of Beaconsfield was launched by Russell & Co, Port Glasgow on the 5^th of December 1883 for the firm of A. McAllister & Co, West India Dock Rd, London. The vessel was 269’ 1″ long by ×40’2″×24’3″ and had a tonnage of 1960 GRT and 1893 NRT.[i]

Her maiden voyage started from Glasgow under Captain Kerr and a crew of 31 with freight of coal and general cargo. Her trip would take her down the Irish Sea to the Tuskar Rock along the southern Irish coast where the deep-sea pilot Captain Warden would depart, and then southwards through the Atlantic to Cape Horn and subsequently up the American coast to San Francisco.[ii]

Captain Warden departed the vessel as planned and the ship set her sails for the South Atlantic but the weather had other ideas and as the wind picked up and the seas rose, the crew of the Earl of Beaconsfield found themselves facing a serious test of their new ship. Despite their best efforts, the crew was unable to make any appreciable headway and ultimately they found themselves bearing down on Ballyteigue Bay, Co Wexford on Tuesday evening 12th February. Both anchors were dropped and as the winds continued unabated the ship’s cargo shifted causing a serious list to port which only added to the threat of the mountainous seas that crashed aboard.[iii]

Earl of Beaconsfield following salvage at Buttermilk Castle close to Cheekpoint. Poole. Andy Kelly Collection.

All through the night, the crew battled to stay alive. As the storm persisted the ship became increasingly damaged. The bow was stove in, spars snapped and rigging fell onto the deck. Rockets were shot from the ship into the night sky. Although seen, there was nothing those on shore could do to help except to raise the alarm. A message was sent to the lifeboat station at Duncannon which dispatched the lifeboat overland to Fethard arriving early on Wednesday morning.[iv]

Duncannon lifeboat station. Authors collection.

Duncannon’s lifeboat was a self-righting rowboat called the Richard and Anne. The station was founded in 1869 and served on station for 17 years until 1886. Duncannon was closed as two new stations were then operating at Dunmore East and Fethard on Sea.[v]

The GWRC steamer Waterford passed close by on Wednesday morning and attempted to get close to offer assistance, signals were exchanged but it was deemed too risky to get close. Meanwhile, the Duncannon lifeboat was rowing towards the scene, but because of the gale could not render any immediate assistance. They returned subsequently when the winds moderated and dropped the crew of 32 and a stowaway, to Fethard where they were cared for by locals and an agent for Lloyds.[vi] According to information supplied by Nick Leech author of The Lifeboat Service in Ireland, Station by Station the crew of the lifeboat didn’t get back to Duncannon until almost 9pm on the 14th, a 26 hr rescue. (Although this does not tally with the details I have, I’m also working to try piece together another rescue of the crew of the Stowell Brown. This may account for the discrepancy as this occurred at or around the same time). The crew of the Earl of Beaconsfield were subsequently transported to Waterford and then by the Clyde steamer Skerryvore directly to Glasgow.[vii]

*An oil painting of the Lynmouth lifeboat Louisa, by artist Mark Myers.©RNLI*. *A contemporary craft of the Richard and Anne*

A view of the scene from Fethard Dock recently. Authors collection.

Meanwhile, the Waterford Steam Navigation Co has dispatched the tug Dauntless (which a few years later would play such a courageous role in the failed attempt to save the crew of the Alfred D Snow) and the Duncannon steamer PS Tintern to salvage the wreck. A telegram summoned the tugs Stormcock and Cruiser of the Liverpool Salvage Association too. On arrival at the scene, the Waterford boats were met by a group of Kilmore fishermen who had rowed to the scene and carried out some work on the hatches to help maintain the ship. An agreement was reached between the parties. The anchor cables were so taut from the strain they had endured that extra expertise had to be brought from the Neptune Ironworks in Waterford to release the anchors and then the long tow to Waterford commenced. [viii]

The ship was towed to a safe anchorage at Buttermilk Castle. Having being unloaded and patched up, the Earl of Beaconsfield was subsequently brought back to the Clyde by the tug Stormcock, but this was not without incident. For at 4 am on the 6^th March both the tug and the barque each in turn collided with the schooner J M Stevens. The schooner subsequently sunk in the Firth of Clyde. The crew was saved having managed to scramble aboard the Earl of Beaconsfield.[ix]

Following repairs, the barque was again readied for San Francisco, and a report from the 12^th May 1884 stated that “…She is commanded as formerly by Captain Kerr…and the entire crew, 33 in number, were engaged at Greenock….[she]… carries to the outport about 2,700 tons cargo, principally coal. She is despatched by Messrs T. Skinner Co., Glasgow“[x]

Having negotiated the southern ocean and rounded the Horn, the Earl of Beaconsfield caught fire in the pacific just weeks away from finally reaching San Francisco. On the 13^th of August, the cargo of coal combusted. The vessel was subsequently destroyed by fire in the Pacific Ocean about 600 miles west of Santiago, Chile. The crew took to the lifeboat and were subsequently picked up by a passing vessel and landed at Valparaiso. Amazingly, in recording the demise of the ship, a local paper recorded two other incidents with the ship and bad weather before she ever reached Wexford in February at all. If ever there was a case of an unfortunate vessel, surely the Earl of Beaconsfield has earned the title.[xi]

Following publication of this blog, I got the following email from Kevin Brice:

I just wanted to thank you for your blog entry of the 25/09/20 concerning the barque Earl of Beaconsfield which I only came across recently.

Many years ago, sometime in the early 1970’s, my father brought home a very large book he had found in a skip on his way home from work (he always cycled to and from work so I guess it was always easy for him to see what was in the skips he passed). Anyhow the book, on closer inspection, turned out to be a ships log book written up by the Mate of the Earl of Beaconsfield. Even as a teenager I was fascinated by the beautiful writing and spent a lot of time trying to read the text and understand it.

Obviously this was a time way before the internet so it took a long time to find out any information about the ship. Eventually a query to the National Maritime Museum in London cast some light on her and her voyage, this being the second one in your story, taking coal from Greenock to San Francisco, catching fire off the coast of South America which resulted in the crew being rescued. This info, whilst being really helpful, didn’t really extinguish my desire to know more about the ship and her history.

I’ve kept this log book ever since and, over the years, have found out little snippets of information about the ship from the internet and every so often go back and make another trawl to see if anything extra has been added, so it was wonderful to come across your account of her short but undeniably fascinating life including a photo of her.

How this log book came to be in a skip in Worthing, Sussex some 90 years after the crew were brought safely to Valparaiso in Chile is anybodies guess but it has become one of my treasured belongings so thank you once again for adding another layer to her story.

The cover of the Log Book which was retrieved from a skip. It covers the last journey from Grennock to San Franscico unfortunately, from a local perspective it would have been interesting to have a first hand account of the incident

I would like to thank David Carroll for his help with the details of the Duncannon lifeboat Richard & Anne for this story. David is busy finalising his history of the Dunmore East Lifeboat station, further details here.