Courtmacsherry RNLI welcomes new All-Weather Shannon class lifeboat home

The new Shannon class lifeboat named Val Adnams arrived into Courtmacsherry, led by a flotilla of local boats, at exactly 13.45, which is also the operational number of the lifeboat. Despite the overcast conditions, crowds turned to welcome the crew and see the village’s new lifeboat.

Its arrival marks the start of a new chapter in the story of search and rescue in the south coast. The Shannon lifeboat is the latest in a long line of search and rescue boats provided by the RNLI to Courtmacsherry over the past 198 years. Courtmacsherry along with Arklow are the oldest Lifeboat Stations in Ireland having been founded in 1825. It’s 27 years since the last new Trent class Lifeboat arrived in 1995 and its only the 11th Lifeboat to be stationed in Courtmacsherry since the arrival of the first RNLI boat “The Plenty” in 1825.

A significant proportion of the funding for the new Courtmacsherry Lifeboat has been provided through the very generous donation from Val Adnams who grew up in Preston and Weymouth in the UK and now resides in Idaho in the USA. From a young age Val Adnams was an avid sailor and sportsperson who possessed an early interest in the Lifeboat Service, as she witnessed the callouts of the local Weymouth Lifeboat going to the help of others in distress at sea. At the age of 23, she moved to Washington DC where she worked on Capitol Hill for some years before meeting her lifelong partner in Bandera, Texas and she now resides in Idaho. Val Adnams and some of her family intend travelling to Courtmacsherry in September for the Naming Ceremony of the Lifeboat. She is a very proud lifelong supporter of the RNLI.

Extensive training has been underway all last week in Courtmacsherry by Lifeboat crewmembers and Coxswain Sean O’Farrell had the honour of bringing the lifeboat into the Harbour.

Courtmacsherry voluntary Lifeboat Operations Manager Brian O Dwyer said, “The station has been looking forward to this day for a long time. The past few weeks and months have been spent in preparation and training by all the crew, in order to receive this incredible piece of kit from the RNLI. It is the most technologically advanced lifeboat in the fleet, and it will proudly serve the south west coast for many years to come.”

'We are incredibly honoured to receive it and we are grateful to our donor “Val Adnams” and to all those involved at our Station down through the years, who have made this day possible. We hope to bring many loved ones safely home in this new lifeboat.'

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The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 142,700 lives.

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