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RNLI Service
 The RNLI has a long and distinguished history. Established in 1824 by Sir William Hillary it is the oldest national lifeboat service in the World. Sir Hillary recognised the need for a coordinated lifeboat service and his appeal to the nation led to the foundation of the National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck, later to become the RNLI. The first lifeboat station in Ireland was established in 1826 by the RNLI at Arklow.
One of the most famous recuses carried out by an Irish lifeboat occurred in 1936 when Coxswain Patrick Cliney and the crew of the RNLB Mary Stanford from Ballycotton in Cork completed a seventy six and a half hour service to rescue the crew from a lightship that was drifting out of position in hurricane force winds. The coxswain and his crew performed an enourmous feat of seamanship in appalling conditions to ensure everyone got home safe. The coxswain received the gold medal for this service, the second coxswain and the motor mechanic received silver medals, and the four crew members received bronze medals.
Since its formation in 1824 to the present day, RNLI crews have saved over 137,000 lives at sea.
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