Tyrella Lifeboat Station
Tyrella Lifeboat Station was located near Tyrella Beach on the coast of County Down, Northern Ireland. It operated in two periods. The first lifeboat was placed there in 1838 by the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS), but it had ceased operating by 1851. The RNIPLS later became the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1854. In 1860 a donation funded a new station at Tyrella, and in January 1861 a boathouse was built and a 30-foot Peake-class self-righting lifeboat named Tyrella was sent there. In 1866 a larger 10-oared lifeboat arrived, and the original Tyrella boat was renamed Tyrella.
A notable rescue occurred on 29 November 1874, when the Tyrella lifeboat rescued five crew members from the brigantine Donna Maria in Dundrum Bay during a south-east gale. For this service, Coxswain Adam Murphy and Second Coxswain John Gordon were awarded RNLI Silver Medals.
By 1875 the old lifeboat was worn out and replaced with a new 30-foot 8-oared boat funded by Frances and Kate Peach and named Memorial. In 1888 a larger 34-foot 10-oared lifeboat funded by Mrs Cameron was named Louisa Burnaby.
On 12 October 1899 the RNLI decided to close Tyrella Lifeboat Station and establish a new station at Rossglass, near Killough, about 4 miles away. The Tyrella station building still stands in a field near Tyrella House. The lifeboat Louisa Burnaby (ON 159) was taken out of service in 1900; further details are not available.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 07:33 (CET).