Lough Ree Lifeboat Station is situated at Coosan Point, on the eastern shore of Lough Ree, the second largest lake on the River Shannon, located in the centre of Ireland in County Westmeath.
A lifeboat station was established a Coosan Point on 29 June 2012 by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
The station currently operates the Inshore lifeboat, "Tara Scougall" (B-920), on station since 2019.
History.
After representations to the RNLI in 2010 from the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland, supported by the Irish Coast Guard and various local groups, it was decided in 2011, to place a lifeboat at Lough Ree. The lough is approximately long and wide, covering , and for many years had been seeing a steady increase in the amount of leisure activity.
A group of volunteers were selected to be both lifeboat crew and shore based. The relief lifeboat "Dorothy Mary" (B-728), funded by the legacies of Miss Dorothy Mary Rainie and Mr David Stanley Rainie, and previously on service at , was delivered to the temporary base at Lough Ree Yacht Club on 1 March 2012. A period of intensive training then followed, on the water, and with visits to the RNLI Headquarters and training centre at Poole in Dorset.
A site was provided at Coosan Point by Westmeath County Council. The initial setup cost was estimated at £150,000, and some funds were raised towards the project with street collections and various fundraising events in Athlone, and the surrounding counties of Westmeath, Longford, and Roscommon. On 29 June 2012, the station was declared operational.
In 2014, "Dorothy Mary" (B-728) was withdrawn from service and retired. Lough Ree would receive another lifeboat from the relief fleet, Eric Rowse (B-772). The lifeboat had previously served at in Jersey.
The Lough Ree crew would feature in Series 4, Episode 7, of the BBC Television series 'Saving Lives at Sea' in 2019, to rescue a man on one of the islands of Lough Ree, who had suffered a stroke.
The "The Eric Rouse" was withdrawn from service in 2019. Lough Ree would finally get a new lifeboat allocated, and a new larger arrived on station.
A contract for the construction of a purpose built lifeboat station was awarded in September 2020, on a site donated by the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland, and located next to the existing temporary facilities. The station, constructed by Woodvale Construction of Omagh, is of a similar design to other new stations at and .
The station was handed over to the RNLI on the 29 March 2022. The cost of the project was £1.2 million. At a ceremony on 22 June 2022, the station was formally opened by Chief Executive of the RNLI Mark Dowie.
At the same ceremony, the new lifeboat, on station since 2019, was named "Tara Scougall" (B-920) by Eleanor and Edward Scougall, children of the late Tara Scougall, a traveller and explorer in her professional life, part of the team responsible for the creation of Expedia, and who also ran an online yachting and boating magazine. Mark Dowie formally accepted the lifeboat on behalf of the RNLI, from James Scougall, husband of the late Tara, and then handed the boat to the care of Lough Ree Lifeboat Station.