Cloughey Lifeboat Station was located on Manse Road, in Cloghy (Cloughey), a small village at the southern end of the Ards Peninsula, in County Down, situated midway between Ballywalter, and the entrance to Strangford Lough, on the east coast of Northern Ireland.

[7][8] When the Cloughey lifeboat attended the barque Beaconsfield, bound for Glasgow with a cargo of teak, when she stranded on the ridge at North Bock on 9 April 1898, only two of the 16 crew would leave the vessel.

[9] With a short spell away from the station for modifications, after concerns were raised about the self-righting capabilities following the Southport and St Anne's lifeboats disaster, the Faith served at Cloughey until 1906, launching 32 times, and saving 54 lives.

She was on passage to Glasgow with a cargo of nickel, when she ran aground on South Rock in hurricane force conditions.

However, the Herbert John (ON 796) was destroyed in a fire at the Groves and Guttridge boatbuilders, whilst awaiting to be shipped to Cloughey.

[14] Before the Herbert John (ON 825) arrived on service, in difficult conditions, and 15 feet (4.6 m) seas, the William Maynard was launched at 22:00 on 17 June 1939, to the Aruntzazu-Mendi of Bilbao, which had wrecked earlier in the day.

The 35-foot 6in Liverpool-class lifeboat, costing £4,054, was funded from the legacies of Mrs S M Poland of Brockham Green, Betchworth, and Miss B.

Herbert John served through the Second World War Cloughey from 1939 to 1952, launched 46 times on service, and saved 67 lives.

[8] On 15 January 1962, the Moelfre lifeboat Watkin Williams (ON 922) was launched at 20:35, to the aid of the Dutch coaster Frida Blokzijl of Vlaardingen, drifting with steering gear failure.

The Cloughey lifeboat Constance Calverley (ON 902) would be launched nearly 2 months later on 7 Match 1962, to the Frida Blokzijl, which had again suffered steering gear failure, this time near Strangford Lough, in a south-east gale, and was using her engines just to stay off the shore.

[16][17][18] Cloughey-Portavogie Lifeboat Station was established in 1965, with the arrival of a larger 41-foot Watson, the Glencoe, Glasgow (ON 857), to be moored afloat at Portavogie harbour, but still operated by the existing Cloughey crew.