Hundreds gather to mark 130th anniversary of 15 men who drowned on Dún Laoghaire lifeboat
Sarah Slater
Hundreds of people gathered at Dún Laoghaire Harbour to remember all those lost at sea and, in particular, a lifeboat crew who perished on Christmas Eve 130 years ago.
On December 24th, 1895, the Finnish barque SS Palme ran aground in gale-force winds in Dublin Bay.
The Kingstown No 2 Lifeboat, named Civil Service No 7 went to its aid, however all 15 men on board the lifeboat perished.
The lifeboat was violently capsized by mountainous waves and high winds, failing to right itself as designed.
The volunteers, including Coxswain Alexander Williams and his father Henry who were local men lost their lives in sight of shore.
A second lifeboat also capsized but all its crew survived; the Palme crew was rescued days later.
The disaster led to the creation of the Kingstown Life-Boat Disaster Fund and is honored yearly with ceremonies.
Former RTÉ Liveline host and broadcaster Joe Duffy read an account of the disaster, published at the time of the tragedy.
William Byrne performed the ‘Ballad of the Palme,’ before wreaths were placed at sea off the East Pier by the RNLI Dún Laoghaire Lifeboat.
Local Fianna Fáil TD Cormac Devlin who attended the ceremony added: “Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha”.
