The Tramore Coast Guard Station 1874 – 2024 by Ivan Fitzgerald

Although small in scale (94 pages in all) this book packs a punch.

Broken into twelve chapters, it covers the origins of the Coast Guard, the building of the Tramore station, and some of the life-saving operations that were carried out. Residents of the station are highlighted through the lens of the 1901 and 1911 census figures. Its importance as a base of the Naval Reserve is mentioned, as is the reality of life in the area during the First World War and some of those who died in the conflict.

The War of Independence created difficulties at the station – seen as a bastion of the oppressor – and Ivan gives a very detailed description of a foiled attack in June 1921. The station was vacated later that year to protect the Coast Guard men as politicians wrestled to come to agreement, what would later become the Anglo-Irish treaty.

At the outbreak of the Civil War the station was occupied briefly by the Anti-Treaty IRA before the treaty forces took Waterford and hastened to Tramore.  In July 1924 the station became the Garda Barracks for the town. During the Emergency or Second World War the Gardai had a number of challenges to face, including the issue with floating mines coming ashore.

The guards used the station as their base in Tramore from 1924 – 1988 when they eventually moved to their new garda station Market Street.  A long and protracted move, clearly explained. The abandoned old station burned down on the night of Thursday the 26th of October 2000 but was eventually refurbished.

What I liked about Ivan’s book are the many local stories that pepper the pages throughout. I suppose because of my maritime interest it is the shipwrecks, the lifesaving and other incidents around the coast that jump out for me and would probably interest my regular readers.

One of the details I enjoyed reading about was the use of the gun on the Donerail for target practice, which was also used to call out rescuers during times of difficulty in Tramore Bay. Several shipwrecks, tragedies and dramatic rescues get aired, including the wreck of the Monmountshire in 1894.  The vessel was a bark of 1000 tons loaded with coals for South America and it went to shore on Thursday the 4th of January.

One rescue that I particularly liked was an incident on 5th of March 1911. On a very dark night with heavy rain falling the Coast Guard sighted lights in the bay and called out assistance by firing the warning signal of the gun.  On hearing the signal Mr. Edward Jacob of the lifeboat fired a pistol signal from the strand which brought the lifeboat crew and the rocket apparatus onto the beach. A  schooner named Christina Davis bound from Queenstown to Lynmouth with a cargo of fertilizer was in difficulty.

The ship was short-handed with only two men and a boy aboard.  A fourth sailor had been landed in Cork earlier with a broken arm.   Although the vessel was aground, it was believed she could be refloated and with the assistance of the Coast Guard and the lifeboat, they crewed the vessel, laid out extra anchors and next morning with the tide high, they got the ship off.  The lifeboat shepherded them away towards Brownstown Head and once safely offshore, the lifeboat took off the local temporary crew.  Crowds lined the shoreline watching the event.  It’s a straightforward tale, no loss of life, no tragedy but a heroic tale nonetheless and Ivan gives it lots of local colour.

Needless to say, I heartily recommend the book to anyone with an interest in our maritime heritage or with an interest in the history of the Tramore area.  It costs €10 and can be bought, appropriately enough, from the Coast Guard Station, Tramore.

Ivan’s blog can be found on WordPress on Tramore of Yore