In April when Admiral Allen and MCPO Bowen visited the Irish Coast Guard station in Howth they were visiting a service with its origins in smuggling patrols of the 1700’s and which has survived through rebellion, world wars, a civil war and the turbulent formation of the Irish State. Up to 1922 when Ireland was ruled by Britain the service was part of HM Coast Guard. HM Coast Guard itself was formed out of the Preventative Water Guard service in 1822 taking responsibility for saving lives, protecting shipwrecks from looters and preventing illegal trade. To achieve these roles a series of stations were strategically built around the coast of Ireland many of which are still standing today. By 1856 smuggling levels were dropping so the lifesaving role and a Naval reserve role became more significant to the Coast Guard.
On the formation of the Irish Free State, Saorstat Eireann, in 1922 the Coast Life Saving Service was established taking over the life saving duties previously performed by HM Coast Guard. Volunteers used the original equipment left behind by the British. Many stationhouses and living quarters were destroyed by rebels in the struggle for Irish freedom and during the subsequent Civil War as they were seen as symbols of authority. The rescue teams made up of local people were left to use boat houses and rocket cart houses as stations, many of which are still in use today. The service continued unbroken by politics, economics and often the lack of support from an emerging new state. Through many guises the service was subsequently renamed the Coast and Cliff Rescue Service, and later became the Irish Marine Emergency Service before being renamed the Irish Coast Guard in 2001.
The Irish Coast Guard(IRCG) is a vastly different service today. It is responsible for Search and Rescue, pollution and salvage response in the marine environment, the marine communications network and marine safety awareness. The IRCG co-ordinates Search and Rescue(SAR) through its Maritime Rescue Co-Ordination Centre (MRCC) in Dublin and Maritime Rescue Sub-Centres (MRSC) at Malin Head, Co. Donegal and Valentia Island, Co. Kerry. With it's full time staff each MRCC or MRSC is responsible for SAR operations and the day to day running of its allocated Division. The IRCG now contains many declared SAR resources such as the Coast Guard volunteer coastal units capable of search, cliff and coast rescue, lifeboats provided by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution(RNLI) and Community Inshore Rescue Organisations and four SAR medium lift helicopters strategically placed around the coast.
Howth Coast Guard was formed in 1999 after a break of seventy seven years of no Coast Guard service based in Howth. It is one of the network of 55 teams with 1000 volunteers based on the coast and inland waterways of Ireland. Each unit is manned by local crews and has a rescue and equipment capability based on it’s surrounding response area and other resources which are based locally. We in Howth have 26 volunteers on a pager callout system and are part of the '999'(911) first response emergency service. As volunteers we are from all walks of life with full time jobs from which we have to leave when required for Coast Guard emergency duties and are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year with a ten minute response time. We are a search, cliff rescue and patrol boat station and have become one of the busiest units in the country due to our location in Dublin and our proximity to a busy commercial and leisure marine area. We exercise on average once a week and have about 50 callouts a year. We also undertake foot and boat pro-active safety patrols at weekends and busy times. Howth is a popular visitor area during the summer so we have plenty to keep us busy. Callouts range from investigating simple flare sightings to missing person searches and the recovery of bodies.
On station at our disposal we have a 4x4 vehicle, equipment and crew van, an all terrain quad bike and trailer, a 22ft twin engine Rib, full cliff rescue gear and all medical kit needed to assist casualties on the cliff and coast.
It was an honour to have Admiral Allen and MCPO Bowen visit us in Howth and for us to give them an insight to the capabilities and dedication of volunteer crews in the service of local communities. In this short passage I can only give a very brief glimpse of what we do in the Irish Coast Guard service but I hope it sparks your curiosity to investigate further. Check out our unit website at where you'll find lots of information on what we do along with plenty of images of the team in action. If you do make it to Howth come along and visit us and you’ll be made very welcome. Thanks to Admiral Allen for this opportunity to guest on his iCommandant.
Colin Murray
Officer in Charge
Howth Coast Guard Unit,
Howth,
Co Dublin,
Ireland.
