DORNISH BUOY GOES TO RED BAY
by Joseph Ferris, Honorary Secretary of RNLI Red
Bay Lifeboat Station
The coastline of Ireland is beautiful. The mighty cliffs and headlands that guard our shores have inspired poetry and song from past generations of romantic souls. In many instances nature's work has been enhanced by buildings of substance in the form of lighthouses and lifeboat stations that are scattered here and there in remote and often dangerous spots.
The RNLI Red Bay Lifeboat Station near Cushendall, Co Antrim, is a relatively new building, built in 1995, standing at the head of a public slipway and visited by thousands of people every year. The crew takes a professional pride in their station and spends a significant amount of time cleaning and maintaining equipment as well as keeping the immediate environs neat and tidy.
Our most recent project was to make a request to Irish Lights for an old navigational buoy to act as a collection box for the RNLI as well as providing an attractive nautical feature that would interest a curious public. The Commissioners were most generous and after months of hard work we now have in place Dornish Buoy, standing as a proud reminder to seafarers of the hidden dangers surrounding the coastline of Ireland and of the associated work carried out by Irish Lights and the RNLI.
Conical buoy No 131 was built in 1969 spending most of its life moored in Clew Bay, Co. Mayo, opposite Inishgort Lighthouse. It warned mariners to keep clear of the shingle bar at the northern end of Dorinish More. Usurped for a younger model, in retirement the buoy spent a few years on land at the Ferris Point Depot, Islandmagee, near Larne. It had become a bit of a rusty hulk with no lantern or radar reflectors but the steelwork was in perfect condition.
The initial efforts of the crew to transport the buoy up from Larne to Red Bay were thwarted due to a lack of appreciation of how to handle a 4 metre tall steel cone weighing in at 1.4 tonne. The solution was simple and obvious. We enrolled the help of our sister lifeboat station at Larne and used their 14 metre Trent to tow the buoy northwards.
Its arrival in Red Bay one bright Sunday morning caused a bit of a commotion amongst the locals, with many of them offering advice on what should be done next? Dillon McCarthy from the Larne Depot was on hand and guided us safely through this phase of the project. Imagine our embarrassment if at this stage of the proceedings the buoy had rolled off our makeshift trailer and crashed into the cars parked nearby?
The first job was to shot blast and clean the surface before cutting off any steps or lifting eyes. We didn't want rowdy youths to be climbing over our new toy. Our local engineering shop cut a door into the side and constructed a respectable collection slot before attaching an official plaque to commemorate our deeds. The green starboard hand paint work was replaced with a new livery of RNLI lifeboat colours with lettering and logos to match. The final task was to prepare the ground with a solid foundation and finish off the surroundings to match. It really looks beautiful. The lantern works and the collection box has its steady trickle of generous patrons.
We still harboured the vain hope that perhaps someday ilv Granuaile would appear over the horizon and pay us an official visit. Sure enough, a few weeks ago Captain George Ball, First Officer Desmond O'Brien, and a shore party arrived in Red Bay. We had a bit of forewarning and managed to organise a welcoming reception at the station.
Lifeboat crew, launching authorities, branch committee members, councillors, and a piper were in attendance to witness a tongue in cheek handing over ceremony. Flags were flying and glens folk came out in respectable numbers to witness the occasion. Our President, Thomas McLaughlin, gave a short dignified speech and Captain Ball reciprocated in similar tones.
An informal buffet reception followed giving us the opportunity to make new friends and discuss the veracity of the name Dornish or Dorinish? Perhaps this could be the excuse to set in place an annual visit to Red Bay by officials from Irish Lights? Thanks to you all. In Salutem Omnium
The coastline of Ireland is beautiful. The mighty cliffs and headlands that guard our shores have inspired poetry and song from past generations of romantic souls. In many instances nature's work has been enhanced by buildings of substance in the form of lighthouses and lifeboat stations that are scattered here and there in remote and often dangerous spots.
The RNLI Red Bay Lifeboat Station near Cushendall, Co Antrim, is a relatively new building, built in 1995, standing at the head of a public slipway and visited by thousands of people every year. The crew takes a professional pride in their station and spends a significant amount of time cleaning and maintaining equipment as well as keeping the immediate environs neat and tidy.
Our most recent project was to make a request to Irish Lights for an old navigational buoy to act as a collection box for the RNLI as well as providing an attractive nautical feature that would interest a curious public. The Commissioners were most generous and after months of hard work we now have in place Dornish Buoy, standing as a proud reminder to seafarers of the hidden dangers surrounding the coastline of Ireland and of the associated work carried out by Irish Lights and the RNLI.
Conical buoy No 131 was built in 1969 spending most of its life moored in Clew Bay, Co. Mayo, opposite Inishgort Lighthouse. It warned mariners to keep clear of the shingle bar at the northern end of Dorinish More. Usurped for a younger model, in retirement the buoy spent a few years on land at the Ferris Point Depot, Islandmagee, near Larne. It had become a bit of a rusty hulk with no lantern or radar reflectors but the steelwork was in perfect condition.
The initial efforts of the crew to transport the buoy up from Larne to Red Bay were thwarted due to a lack of appreciation of how to handle a 4 metre tall steel cone weighing in at 1.4 tonne. The solution was simple and obvious. We enrolled the help of our sister lifeboat station at Larne and used their 14 metre Trent to tow the buoy northwards.
Its arrival in Red Bay one bright Sunday morning caused a bit of a commotion amongst the locals, with many of them offering advice on what should be done next? Dillon McCarthy from the Larne Depot was on hand and guided us safely through this phase of the project. Imagine our embarrassment if at this stage of the proceedings the buoy had rolled off our makeshift trailer and crashed into the cars parked nearby?
The first job was to shot blast and clean the surface before cutting off any steps or lifting eyes. We didn't want rowdy youths to be climbing over our new toy. Our local engineering shop cut a door into the side and constructed a respectable collection slot before attaching an official plaque to commemorate our deeds. The green starboard hand paint work was replaced with a new livery of RNLI lifeboat colours with lettering and logos to match. The final task was to prepare the ground with a solid foundation and finish off the surroundings to match. It really looks beautiful. The lantern works and the collection box has its steady trickle of generous patrons.
We still harboured the vain hope that perhaps someday ilv Granuaile would appear over the horizon and pay us an official visit. Sure enough, a few weeks ago Captain George Ball, First Officer Desmond O'Brien, and a shore party arrived in Red Bay. We had a bit of forewarning and managed to organise a welcoming reception at the station.
Lifeboat crew, launching authorities, branch committee members, councillors, and a piper were in attendance to witness a tongue in cheek handing over ceremony. Flags were flying and glens folk came out in respectable numbers to witness the occasion. Our President, Thomas McLaughlin, gave a short dignified speech and Captain Ball reciprocated in similar tones.
An informal buffet reception followed giving us the opportunity to make new friends and discuss the veracity of the name Dornish or Dorinish? Perhaps this could be the excuse to set in place an annual visit to Red Bay by officials from Irish Lights? Thanks to you all. In Salutem Omnium