Where Was Our Very First Coast Guard Station?
this time finding out who exactly was Greystones’ first ever coastguard…The first Coast Guard station was
located in Blacklion, oddly enough. Although, in the 1820s, there was nothing but fields between the houses there and the few cottages down at the sea by the Grey Stones and a path is shown on maps of the time leading down to the rocks and flagstaff from where they would watch activities on the coast. Their brief at the time was
more about preventing smuggling and collecting duty and other taxes than about saving lives or vessels. From a newspaper notice, it seems that an existing building (opposite what is now the Blacklion Pet Hospital) was modified to form the original Coast Guard station.From the Coastguard Establishment Book 1820 to 1822, some details of the Greystones station. (I’ve made some notations where I think the
personnel were possibly local men. Based on some information seen while looking at my family history in West Cork about the same era, these stations seemed to have been manned by a mix of locals and men ‘from away’.)Chief Officer Thomas Lamb Wood posted from Kent
11 1822 when he was removed for drunkenness. He was replaced by William Smith from Skerries.
William Dawson
William Morris (The Morris family lived in Windgates.)
A notation states the station is provided with “1 six-hand galley”. previous post