Valentia History
1828 Silver Medals were awarded to Coastguard William Rowe, Joseph Ronowden, William Mark, Richard Jeffers and Nicholas Hanning for rescuing 18 people from the rigging of the wrecked brigantine Veronica.
1861 A Silver Medal was awarded to Coastguard Hugh Cooper for rescuing two men from the wrecked barque Florence Graham.
1864 The RNLI established a lifeboat station and a boathouse was built at Reenard Point on the mainland, facing the Island of Valentia.
1869 The boathouse was moved to Knightstown on Valentia Island as the only crew available lived on the island.
1896 The station closed.
1939-45 An auxiliary rescue boat was placed at Valentia during the war to help aircraft personnel forced down by bad weather, engine failure or injury, as they flew in from the Atlantic.
1946 The RNLI re-opened a new permanent lifeboat station and the lifeboat was kept on moorings off Knightstown.
1963 A Bronze Medal was awarded to Mechanic John Joseph Houlihan for rescuing two men from a canoe that had capsized. The Maud Smith award for Gallantry was also presented for this service.
1970 A Silver Medal was awarded to Coxswain Dermot Walsh and the Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum to Bowman P Murphy and Crew Members J Curtin, J Curran and N Murphy when the lifeboat rescued 10 men from the motor vessel Oranmore that had drifted towards the Kerry Head Shoal.
1983 The Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum was awarded to Mechanic John Joseph Houlihan for rescuing an angler who had been washed off rocks in a strong wind and a very rough sea.
1985 Framed Letters of Thanks were awarded to the Coxswain and crew for recovering five bodies when an Air India Boeing 747 crashed on 23 June approximately 115 miles south west of Valentia.
1989 A Framed Letter of Thanks was awarded to Coxswain Seanie Murphy for a 12-hour service to the trawler Big Cat. The lifeboat was officially off service at the time but the situation was so urgent that the lifeboat launched using one engine in a strong gale and rough seas.
1995 A new boathouse was built providing housing for the boarding boat and improved crew facilities.
1996 The new Severn class lifeboat, ON-1218 John and Margaret Doig, was placed on service on 29 November.
1997 A Framed Letter of Thanks was awarded to Coxswain Seanie Murphy for a search for four people that had been swept into the sea from rocks. Two people, seen swimming outside the surf line, were thrown a line and gently towed into calmer water where they were brought safely aboard and treated for cuts and bruises. The search continued and an unconscious man was recovered but resuscitation attempts sadly failed. The search continued unsuccessfully for the fourth man.
Station honours
At Valentia lifeboat station the following awards have been made:
Framed Letter of Thanks
Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum 5
Bronze Medal 1
Silver Medal 7
