Gillian Howe, daughter of Sidney and Breeda,  and Ellen Danagher, daughter of Thomas and Anne Marie, have a lot in common, despite their approximate ten years age difference.   They are both from Youghal, born and bred.   They both live in the same area of Youghal,  in Cork Hill. They attended the same schools, and they probably had the same teachers for some of the time.   They each have relatives whose livelihoods depended on the seas. Denise FitzGerald Reports Photo: Michael Hussey www.youghalonline.com

Gillian’s grandfather, Billy Riordan, was a salmon fisherman (in those halycon days when one was permitted to fish,) and is very well known and popular in the town of Youghal.   Ellen’s Dad, Thomas, spent approximately seventeen years serving in the Navy.  Gillian and Ellen also share a great love and respect for the sea which they both contribute, in part, to growing up listening to their Dad/Grandad telling their seafaring stories and adventures.

Two years ago, they each decided separately to join the Youghal RNLI as volunteers, and it was here that they really got to know each other.   Volunteers are known as Shore Crew, and for the past two years, they have been involved in the everyday running of the Lifeboat Station.  Their duties included refuelling and maintenance of the boats, cleaning and familiarising themselves with the equipment, and wearing pagers to answer any calls of distress.   Each girl has been out on several exercises on the boats, and they each attended one call to a rescue.

The East Cork Journal have been informed, however, that the main criteria needed for volunteers is a total commitment and dedication to becoming a member of the RNLI.   Training is highly expensive, and the volunteers have to be absolutely certain that they still want to dedicate themselves to the saving and rescue of lives at sea.  This is the reason for the two year period, which is somewhat like a trial period, to ensure that the volunteer is genuine, committed and dedicated.  And this is where Gillian and Ellen have even more in common.   They both have this total commitment.  They are both dedicated to being a member of the Youghal RNLI, and to achieve this, they are together setting off to complete an intensive, difficult and exhaustive training course in the Lifeboat College which is situated in Poole, Dorset, U.K.

This intense course will last for five days.  The Lifeboat College is the home of crew training in the RNLI.  Approx 2,000 crew pass through the College annually to participate in one or more of the 36 curse currently on offer. This is not a course for having a good time, or taking a week off to relax.  In fact, some of the exercises which the girls will cover on the course include Chart work, Boat Handling, Tough Water Training and Capsize Drill.   The training is hard and relentless and only the best succeed.

When the East Cork Journal asked the girls how they felt about doing the course, Gillian said she had the full backing of her family, and she was looking forward to going to Poole to learn as much as she could.  She laughingly said it could not be as hard as some of the things in her life at the moment, as she has so much going on that it’s not funny.   Ellen, on the other hand, said she loves everything to do with the sea and the water, which isn’t anything as scary or boring as doing her Leaving Cert this year.

Noreen Varney,   Youghal Lifeboat Press officer, told the East Cork Journal that “this training is what turns a volunteer from someone who is willing to save lives, into someone who can do it safely and well.”  There is no doubt that these two exceptional Youghal girls, Gillian Howe and Ellen Donagher, intend to do just that.