Ireland’s leading maritime newspaper covering the Coastal, Fishing and Maritime Communities
MARINE TIMES NEWS December 11th:
Even more RNLI lifesavers prepare to answer the call this Christmas
Continuing from yesterday’s report, as the RNLI comes to the end of its milestone 200th year, the charity is launching its annual Christmas fundraising appeal, we focus on more of the volunteer crew members who are preparing to spend Christmas on call.
Adam and Luka pictured with their Mum Karen Harris
On average, RNLI lifeboats launch over 100 times during the Christmas period* every year. Whatever weather winter throws at them, RNLI crews including those at Dunmore East, Tramore and Helvick Head, are ready to battle the elements to save lives at sea. These rescues, and others all year round, are only made possible by the RNLI’s generous supporters, helping to fund the essential kit, training and equipment needed to keep crews prepared and protected.
Christmas is a time for family and friends, but the RNLI’s volunteer crews are ready to leave their own celebrations this festive season and answer the call for help. Just one of the thousands of crew members preparing for a Christmas on call is Dunmore East RNLI’s resident adventurer Adam Sweeney. Adam returned to Ireland last Tuesday on his 21st birthday having summited Ama Dablam in the Himalayas.
Part of an all-Irish team made up of seven mountaineers, Adam was the only member of the team to make it successfully to the summit of the Himalaya's most challenging peaks, which stands at 6,812 metres. Adam is on a journey with an ambition to become the youngest Irish person to climb Mount Everest, a mammoth challenge he plans to take on in 2026.
For now though, he is back in Dunmore East and planning for another Christmas on call.
Adam joined the lifeboat crew three and a half years ago at the age of 17. He was inspired by station team who responded to the Lily B, a 100m general cargo vessel carrying 4,000 tonnes of coal and a crew of nine, which lost all power just two nautical miles from Hook Head. The vessel’s crew faced either running aground on rocks or capsizing in severe force nine gusts and wave heights of between 8-10m.
‘I remember watching that from the station at the time and seeing the big waves and that kicked things off for me and that’s when I decided I would give it a go to help people,’ Adam explains. ‘There is also a strong family connection; my mum Karen Harris and uncle John O’Sullivan are Launch Authorities at the station while my brother Luka and cousin Hugh O’Sullivan are also on the crew.’
Adam says it is rewarding to be involved: ‘I think the reward is the sense of community, it is so nice to see the community get together and the rescues are huge. It is a great feeling to be able to help bring someone back to their family, there is a great sense of achievement in that for everyone at the station.’ Adam says his RNLI skills and training did help prepare him for reaching the Ama Dablam summit: ‘I think mentally it has helped me. The late nights, spending six hours at sea and the rogue waves, it does all give you that mental strength and helped me get to the top.’
As he looks ahead to a Christmas on call, Adam along with his fellow crew members, are ready: ‘There’s no feeling quite like bringing someone home safe to their families – especially at Christmas. Even at this time of year, people still get in trouble in the water, and like all RNLI crews, we at Dunmore East, Tramore and Helvick Head, are prepared to leave our own celebrations to help others.
‘But as volunteer lifeboat crew we couldn’t launch without kind donations from the public which fund the kit, training and equipment we need to save others and get home safely to our own families.’
Whatever weather winter throws at them, RNLI crews including those at Achill Island and Ballyglass, are ready to battle the elements to save lives at sea. Among the thousands of volunteers preparing for Christmas are brother and sister Brandon and Kayley Geraghty at Ballyglass RNLI and husband and wife Francis and Orlagh Blake-Dillon at Achill Island RNLI.
Brandon and Kayley Geraghty
Kayley, 19, and Brandon, 22, joined the crew together earlier this year and follow in the footsteps of older brothers Ryan and Kyle who are already on the crew. Francis and Orlagh meanwhile are originally from Dublin but made the move to Mayo following the Covid pandemic.
‘We joined the team in Achill Island about nine months ago,’ Orlagh explains, ‘and the training under Coxswain Dave Curtis has been beyond good. We received our pagers on Friday, and I had my first call out on Monday. It was to a medical evacuation off Clare Island. When my pager went off for the first time, I nearly fell out of the bed, my heart was racing. But we have an area ready for our clothes, so I was able to quickly throw on a base layer and make my way to the station. Once I got down, the Coxswain briefed us and from there it went smoothly as the training and the brief kicked in as you know what you need to do.’
For Kayley, it was growing up on the water and then watching her older brother Ryan run out of the house to respond to his pager, that inspired her to get involved with the lifeboat in Ballyglass.
‘Dad has a RIB so I have a background of always being out on a boat to the islands since I was a child,’ Kayley explains, ‘There is eight years between Ryan and I, and when there was a shout, I would always know he was gone by the way he ran out the door. I knew my brothers were going to help when someone was in need so I said I would do the same.’
As she looks ahead to her first Christmas carrying a pager, Kayley along with her three brothers and her fellow crew members, are ready: ‘I know for the crew there’s no feeling quite like bringing someone home safe to their families – especially at Christmas. Even at this time of year, people still get in trouble in the water, and like all RNLI crews, we at Ballyglass and Achill Island are prepared to leave our own celebrations to help others.
Also amongst the thousands of crew members preparing for a Christmas on call is Clogherhead RNLI Coxswain Gerald Sharkey. A crew member for the last 35 years and a Coxswain for 15, Gerald will retire from his sea going role in July next year.
Gerald Jnr, Gerald and Barry Sharkey at Clogherhead RNLI
His brother Noel has also been a Coxswain while Gerald’s son Barry is the station mechanic, and his son Gerald Jnr, a Coxswain Mechanic at the station for many years is now a staff Coxswain Afloat Mechanic.
‘My father was a mechanic there years ago and I have been fishing all my life, so I just got involved,’ Gerald explains. ‘When I was young, we used to see the maroons go up and we would get down to the station to watch. I was also rescued myself many years ago while out fishing when our boat ran aground at the Drogheda Bar. The Clogherhead lifeboat stood by as we were airlifted to safety by helicopter.’
Gerald has seen many changes over the years, most notably the intensity in training as the lifeboats the station operated became faster and more sophisticated. He recalls a time when the crew in Clogherhead were predominantly made up of fishermen in the community but how now there are very few among the team as people from all walks of life volunteer, train and acquire the skills required to save lives at sea.
Among the rescues Gerald has been involved in, was one where he and six fellow crew members were accorded the RNLI’s Vellum Service Certificate for their role in rescuing three people from the fishing vessel March Sod which was aground on rocks near Port Oriel on the night of 28 November 2000. His brother Noel who was the Coxswain on the shout, was awarded the Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum.
While he can now look forward to a break from the pager, Gerald says he will miss the camaraderie that comes with being on the crew: ‘When you carry a pager, it is always on your mind,’ he says, ‘it is a bit like watching the speedometer in your car, it is there, and you are watching it. I will miss the craic and the social side of things; we are a bit like a football team, and it is not serious all the time.’
But he will also relish the satisfaction from playing his part: ‘I recall a rescue out to a chap who was a windsurfer when he got into difficulty round the head, and we picked him up. When we were coming back, I remember seeing his wife and young child who would have been about the age to start school, and it was rewarding to know you were bringing him back to them. It has also been good to be there for people when things go wrong. Very often when a boat gets into difficulty, it is not just one problem but two or three and it is nice to be in a position to help.’
As he looks ahead to his final Christmas on call as a Coxswain, Gerald along with his fellow crew members, is ready: ‘There’s no feeling quite like bringing someone home safe to their families – especially at Christmas. Even at this time of year, people still get in trouble in the water, and like all RNLI crews, we at Clogherhead are prepared to leave our own celebrations to help others.
To make a donation to the RNLI’s Christmas Appeal, and enable the charity to continue its lifesaving work, visit: RNLI.org/WinterAppeal
