Renowned Mary Stanford lifeboat back at spiritual home

The Mary Stanford lifeboat on arrival in Ballycotton, transported by Noel and Hazel Hennessy of Ballycotton Transport. Pic: Denis Minihane

The first lifeboat to receive an award for bravery for its role in one of Irelands most daring sea rescues has been returned to its spiritual home.

The Mary Stanford, saved earlier this year from being scuttled, has been installed on a scenic display plinth overlooking Ballycotton Bay in East Cork, from where she sailed into history almost a century ago.

The complex operation to transport the almost 30-tonne vessel from a warehouse in Midleton to the fishing villages famous cliff walk passed off without a hitch over the weekend.

A meeting is now due to take place tomorrow to plan the restoration of the vessel on site over the coming months.

Stephen Belton, a member of the Save the Mary Stanford Committee, said everybody was delighted to finally have her back home where she belongs.

This was one of the biggest things to ever happen in Ballycotton, he said. We got amazing co-operation from everybody involved.

We would like to thank Noel Hennessy of Ballycotton Transport who did a fantastic job transporting her along the narrow winding roads, and East Cork Crane Hire, who had responsibility for placing her on the permanent display plinth.

We are all really excited about the next phase of this project, with work already under way to plan the restoration.

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Renowned Mary Stanford lifeboat back at spiritual home