Fenit History
1850 A Silver Medal was awarded to Chief Boatman John Town of Castle Gregory Coast Guard station, who waded into the surf to help save 10 out of 12 crew from the wrecked brigantine Enrichetta.
1879 A lifeboat station was established and a boathouse was built at Outward Fenit.
1892 The lifeboat station name, known at the time as Tralee Bay, was changed to Fenit.
1920 A Bronze Medal was awarded to 12-year-old John F O'Mahony for bravely attempting to save a friend at Lighthouse Point, Fenit.
1928 The lifeboat was placed on moorings in the harbour.
1930 Bronze Medals were awarded to John Nolan, John Cahill and Joseph Cahill, fishermen of Tralee, for saving the crew of three of the steamship Co-operator.
1933 Silver watches were presented to Coxswain Thomas Crowley and Mechanic John Doyle for an arduous 17½ hour service searching for the steamship Heilo.
1969 The station was closed.
1993 The RNLI’s Committee of Management made a decision to re-establish an all weather lifeboat station for 12 months evaluation.
1994 The Arun class lifeboat Ralph and Bonella Farrant was placed on service on 19 August.
1996 Framed Letters of Thanks were awarded to Deputy Launching Authority Gerard O’Donnell, Assistant Mechanic Niall Hickey and Deputy Second Coxswain John Moriarty for their prompt actions when they launched the boarding boat to rescue a young man who had fallen from a viaduct. The man was found unconscious. He was quickly pulled into the boat and resuscitated but on reaching the pier steps his pulse ceased. He was successfully revived and taken to hospital where he fully recovered.
1999 A new Trent class lifeboat, ON-1239 Robert Hywel Jones Williams, was placed on service on 28 February. This lifeboat was funded from the generous bequest of Robert Hywel Jones Williams.
An inshore lifeboat (ILB) station was established for evaluation trials and a D class was placed on station on 22 June.
2001 The D class lifeboat, D-561 Cursitor Street, was placed on service on 11 March.
2002 A Centenary Vellum was awarded to the station to commemorate 100 years as a lifeboat station.
Station honours
At Fenit lifeboat station the following awards have been made:
Framed Letter of Thanks 3
Bronze Medal 4
Silver Medal 1
