I'm taking a break from my 2017 look back to show the best of my shots from yesterday at the annual memorial for the loss of the crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat on Christmas Eve 1895. They were attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme – a Finnish/Russian sailing ship travelling from Liverpool to South America to import hardwood. Check the Dun Laoghaire  Lifeboat's home page for a detailed account of how fifteen lifeboatmen were lost when their boat overturned. In a terrible irony, the nineteen people on the SS Palme were later saved.

The memorial was held by the current volunteer crew, the Irish Coastguard and the Civil Defence, at noon on the East Pier in Dun Laoghaire. The gathering was addressed by Fergal Keane of RTE who narrated the story of the disaster. The crew of Rescue 116, lost off Co. Mayo earlier this year were also remembered with a fly past by a Coastguard helicopter. Rector Asa Bjork Olafsdottir O’Hanlon and Fr. Paddy Dundon conducted an ecumenical service. There was a big attendance of RNLI and Irish Coastguard members, and local people, as well as  Minister of State, Mary Mitchell O'Connor TD and Councillors Cormac Devlin and Barry Ward.

There's also a few shots at the end of this post of the memorial stone with the men's names on Queens Road opposite the RNLI station.

High-resolution copies of my pictures are available to download here and these have also been donated to the RNLI and the Irish Coastguard. For any other use of the images, please contact me at [email protected] 

If you wish to download individual images for personal use here, please consider donating at least €10 per image to the RNLI HERE,  or whatever you can afford. And if you don't want any of them why not DONATE anyway!!

001-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMemorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 002-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMemorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 003-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMemorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 004-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMemorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 005-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMemorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 006-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMemorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 007-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMemorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 008-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMemorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 009-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMemorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 010-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyNarator Fergal Keane addressing the memorialby the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme 011-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyRector Asa Bjork Olafdottir O'Hanlon and Fr. Paddy Dundon conduct an ecumenical service at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme 012-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyRector Asa Bjork Olafdottir O'Hanlon addresses the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 013-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyRector Asa Bjork Olafdottir O'Hanlon addresses the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 014-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyPaul McNally of the Dublin Fire Brigade Pipe Band at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 015-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMembers of the Irish Coasguard at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 016-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMembers of the Irish Coasguard at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 017-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyA member of the Irish Coasguard at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 018-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyAn Irish Coastguard helicopter at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. The crew of Recuse 116, lost earlier this year were also remembered. 019-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMemorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 020-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMemorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 021-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMemorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 022-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMemorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 023-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMemorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 024-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMemorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 025-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMemorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 026-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyLaying of wreaths at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 027-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyLaying of wreaths at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 028-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyLaying of wreaths at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 029-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyLaying of wreaths at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 030-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyLaying of wreaths by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 031-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyLaying of wreaths at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 032-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyIrish Coastguard members at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 033-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyIrish Coastguard members at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 034-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyIrish Coastguard members at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 035-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyPaul McNally of the Dublin Fire Brigade Pipe Band at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 036-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneySailpast at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 037-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneySailpast at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 038-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneySailpast at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 039-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneySailpast at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 040-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneySailpast at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 041-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneySailpast at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 042-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneySailpast at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 043-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneySailpast at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 044-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneySailpast at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 045-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneySailpast at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 046-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneySailpast at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 047-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneySailpast at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 048-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneySailpast at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 049-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneySailpast at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 050-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneySailpast at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 051-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneySailpast at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 052-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneySailpast at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 053-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneySailpast at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 054-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneySailpast at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 055-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyWatching the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 056-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMicahel & Kay Casey from Foxrock at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 057-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyCouncillor Cormac Develin (r) at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 058-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyCouncillors Barry Ward & Cormac Develin by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 059-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyRector Asa Bjork, Olafsdottir O'Hanlon and Minister of State Mary MKitchel O'Connor, TD at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 060-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyEvie Conway at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 061-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyRTE covering the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 062-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMembers of the Irish Coastguard at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 063-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyAfter the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 064-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMembers of the Irish Coastguard at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 065-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyThe Irish Flag flying over the East Pier Lighthouse at the memorial by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 066-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyThe Irish Flag flying over the East Pier Lighthouse by the current crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat and the Irish Coastguard to the loss of the lifeboat crew on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 067-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMemorial on Queen's Road to the crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat lost on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 068-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyMemorial on Queen's Road to the crew of the Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat lost on Christmas Eve 1895 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme. 069-20171224-RNLI-Memorial-Dun-Laoghaire-©-2017-John-CoveneyRNLI Lifeboat Station at Dun Laoghaire