Ballycotton History
1826 A Silver Medal was awarded to Dennis Cronen for rescuing the master from the wrecked ship Britannia.
1829 A Gold Medal was awarded to Lieut Samuel Lloyd RN and Silver Medal to John Hennessy for rescuing 10 men from the brigantine Capricho.
1858 The RNLI established a lifeboat station; the first lifeboat had eight crew and six oars and was launched down a steep cliff.
1872 A new boathouse and slipway were built by the harbour.
1911 Coxswain W Harding died while supervising the launch of the lifeboat on service.
A Silver Medal was awarded to Coxswain R Harding and the Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum to Honorary Secretary Rev EF Duncan for rescuing nine crew from the steamship Tadorna.
1936 A Gold Medal was awarded to Coxswain Patrick Sliney, Silver Medals to Second Coxswain John Lane Walsh and Motor Mechanic Thomas Sliney, and Bronze Medals to Crew Members Michael Coffey Walsh, John Shea Sliney, William Sliney and Thomas Walsh for the service on 11 February when the Daunt Rock lightship broke away from her moorings. The seas were so mountainous that spray was flying over the lantern of the lighthouse 196ft high. The lifeboat was away from the station for 79 hours and at sea for 49 hours; the crew had no food for 25 hours and they only had three hours sleep. The eight crew were rescued after the lifeboat went alongside the vessel more than a dozen times. This was one of the most exhausting and gallant services in the history of the RNLI.
1941 A Bronze Medal was awarded to Coxswain Patrick Sliney for rescuing eight crew from the sinking steamship Primrose.
1943 A Silver Medal was awarded to Coxswain Patrick Sliney; Bronze Medals to Second Coxswain Michael Lane Walsh, Motor Mechanic Thomas Sliney and Assistant Motor Mechanic William Sliney for rescuing 35 crew from the steamship Irish Ash during a 30-hour rescue on 23 and 24 December 1942.
1950 Former Coxswain Patrick Sliney retired after 39 years on the lifeboat, having been coxswain for 28 years and saving 114 lives.
1958 A Centenary Vellum was awarded to the station.
1979 A special framed certificate was awarded to the Coxswain and crew for their services to several yachts in difficulties during the Fastnet Race on 14 August.
1998 The Trent class lifeboat was placed on service on 5 March.
2002 A Silver Medal was awarded to Crew Member Fergal Walsh for saving a young man who had been swept off the rocks on 18 August 2001; Peter Cuthbert was awarded a Framed Letter of Thanks. Fergal took a line attached to a buoy as he swam through the large surf and Peter held onto the other end of the line. Both Fergal and Peter were injured by the heavy seas breaking onto the rocks but Fergal still recovered the young man. The Coastguard cliff rescue team then recovered all three men. Fergal Walsh also received the Maud Smith Award for the bravest act of lifesaving during 2001 and the James Michael Bower Endowment Fund Award as the only Silver Medallist during 2001.
A new boathouse was completed in December.
2007 The Trustees voted that an anniversary Vellum be awarded in 2008 to commemorate the station's 150th anniversary.
Station honours
At Ballycotton lifeboat station the following awards have been made:
Framed Letter of Thanks 1
Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum 1
Bronze Medal 8
Silver Medal 7
Gold Medal 2
