Kingstown lifeboat disaster

[2] The Palme,[3] a 1,114 ton barque, was owned by the Eriksson family of Mariehamn, Finland, then part of the Russian Empire.

On 18 December, she set sail from Liverpool bound for South America to import hardwood.

The sea was so heavy that waves were crashing over the lighthouse at the end of the East Pier of Dún Laoghaire.

A new lifeboat, Civil Service Number One had recently been delivered to Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire).

Then, in full public view, the lifeboat was raised by a mighty wave and then capsized.

The older lifeboat Hannah Pickard, under Coxswain Horner, then went to sea.

On Christmas Day, 25 December, crowds watched and prayed as the Palme was being broken by the gales.

On St. Stephen's Day 26 December, the Irish Lights steamer Tearaght under Captain McCombie managed to reach the Palme and rescue all twenty on board.

At noon every Christmas Eve there is a procession along the East Pier, led by a piper.