Paddy "Billy" Power
Notable Incidents

Patrick (Paddy-Billy) Power died on 25 June 1980, leaving behind him a unique reputation — for he was one of only five men (and the only Irishman) to have been awarded the RNLI’s bronze medal for gallantry on four occasions. He was born in 1903 and reared at Portally, the fishing village immediately to the west of Dunmore. He left Ireland for a time with Billy Bates of Kilmore Quay to work for a salvage company in Scarborough. He never married but, from the mid-twenties, lived with his sister, Annie, in Dunmore.

Paddy-Billy joined the lifeboat crew in 1925, retiring in November 1966, having been coxswain for twenty years and, before that, second coxswain for twelve years. He was a lifeboat man par excellence and his example will long be remembered in Dunmore East.
—John Tod

AT 11.45 on 28th February 1941 the motor lifeboat C. & S., of Dunmore East, was launched to the help of the Belgian motor trawler Ibis. A gale from the south-south-west had been blowing the night before, with a very heavy sea. When the lifeboat put out, the gale had dropped to a strong breeze but a heavy ground sea was running. There was a sea mist.

The Ibis had been caught by the gale on a lee shore and had dropped three anchors; they had dragged and she had been carried upwards of seven miles, with her anchors down. When the lifeboat reached her at 13.00 she was only two hundred yards from the rocky shore and the seas were breaking right over her. Not only was she in a place of extreme peril for herself but in a place where it was most difficult for the lifeboat to get near her.

She was close to Green Island, a large rock surrounded by many smaller rocks and she was sheering wildly on her cables. It was only possible for the lifeboat to approach her from the weather side and, as her trawl-boards were hanging over her weather quarter and one of her cables was over her weather bows, the only part of her approachable was amidships.

Among those rocks, in those seas and with the trawler sheering so violently, the lifeboat could not approach her direct. The Second-Coxswain Power, who was at the wheel, ran her towards the beach, turned her and came up to the trawler’s weather side from astern of her. He brought the lifeboat alongside amidships, held her there for so long as it took a man to jump and then sheered off to save the lifeboat from being caught under the trawler’s cable. Five times altogether he carried out this manoeuvre until all seven of the trawler’s crew had jumped into the lifeboat. Then he brought her out again and reached Dunmore East, with the rescued men, at 14.40.

The second-coxswain, who was at the wheel the whole of the time, handled the lifeboat with courage and fine seamanship and the Institution made the following awards:

To Second-Coxswain Patrick Power, the bronze medal for gallantry, with a copy of the vote inscribed on vellum;

To the coxswain, second-coxswain and each member of the crew, a reward of £1 in addition to the ordinary scale reward of 19s.

1950

On the night of the 14th December, 1950, fishermen returning to Dunmore East reported that they had seen flares about two miles away; and one of the local fishing boats, the St. Declan, with five men on board, had not returned. The news reached the lifeboat station just before 20.00 and twenty minutes later the lifeboat Annie Blanche Smith slipped her moorings. Since noon the barometer had steadily increased. It was now blowing a gale from the south-east, with squalls of snow. The tide was flowing against the wind and the sea was rough.

Searching’s Along the Shore

The lifeboat went to the position given, nearly a mile and a half from the shore but she saw no lights. The gale was blowing dead on shore, so the coxswain turned again towards the shore, reaching it just west of Red Head. He put the second-coxswain at the wheel and himself went forward on the lookout, searching the shore with his searchlight. He searched for nearly a mile, until he recognised Portally Head. Then he ceased to follow the shore and made towards the dreaded Falskirt Rocks off Swines Head. There he found the St. Declan. She was not more than two cables from the rocks. The second coxswain brought the lifeboat close alongside and the coxswain then saw that the fishing boat had thrown out her fishing nets to act as an anchor, but that she was still drifting rapidly stern first towards the rocks. She would strike them in two or three minutes; the nets would close round her; a rescue would be impossible.

A Dangerous Manoeuvre

As the lifeboat lay, the tide was carrying the fishing boat and the nets towards her. The coxswain told the second-coxswain to go round the fishing boat — so that the lifeboat would have the tide behind her — and to bring her bow-on to the fishing boat amidships. He himself stood ready in the bows with a line. He knew that were there any delay in throwing the line on board, or were the tow-rope to part, it would mean the certain loss of the fishing boat and her five men.

To get the lifeboat near enough for the line to be thrown was a difficult and dangerous manoeuvre. It had to be done in the teeth of the gale, in extreme darkness, in heavy seas which were surging and boiling round the rocks. The second-coxswain brought the lifeboat’s bow close to the fishing boat; the coxswain threw the line; the line was seized; the lifeboat went slowly astern. To the heaving line the coxswain bent a rope, to the rope the anchor chain, to the chain the cable. The fishermen made the chain fast to their stern and cut away the nets; the coxswain veered out nearly eighty fathoms of cable; and the lifeboat drew the fishing boat clear of the rocks. In this way, stern-first, lifeboat and fishing boat moved slowly out to sea for nearly a mile. Then the tow was changed to the lifeboat’s stern and the fishing boat’s bow and they made for Dunmore East, where they arrived at midnight.

The Institution made the following awards:
To Coxswain Patrick Power, for the perfect judgment with which he conducted the search and directed the rescue, knowing that he had not a moment to spare, a bar to the bronze medal which he won in 1941, with a copy of the vote inscribed on vellum;

To Second Coxswain Richard Power, for the superb seamanship with which he handled the lifeboat, the bronze medal for gallantry, with a copy of the vote inscribed on vellum;

To the coxswain, second-coxswain and each of the four members of the crew, a reward of £2 in addition to the reward on the ordinary scale of £1 10s.

1960

At 18.20 on the evening of 4th October, 1960, the honorary secretary of the Dunmore East lifeboat station, Mr. A. Westcott-Pitt, learnt from the coxswain, Patrick Power, that two barges, which had been sheltering in Dunmore, had sailed. The weather was growing worse and the coxswain was of the opinion that the help of the lifeboat would probably be needed. At that time the weather was still fine and there was not more than a fresh breeze blowing, its direction being east-by-south but an imminent gale was forecast. A heavy ground sea was coming in from the south-south-east. It was shortly after high water and off Dunmore the ebb tide from the river was setting along the shore to the south-west.

The lifeboat Annie Blanche Smith left her moorings at 18.30. Several of those on board were not regular members of the crew. Soon after the lifeboat passed the lighthouse on the pierhead flares were seen to the north-east of the harbour. After the lifeboat had gone half a mile Coxswain Power recognised the vessel in distress as one of the two barges which had been sheltering.

The barge’s engine was out of action and she was lying across the wind, parallel to the shore and very near the rocks. The low-lying Wexford coast, some two and a-half miles across the bay on the eastern bank of the Waterford river, offered little lee and the seas were about six feet high. The barge, which was light, was drawing 18 inches forward and 30 inches aft; by this time she had drifted into about eight feet of water.

The barge was being rapidly driven ashore inside the Laweseh Rock by the wind and ebb tide and, if she came inside the rock, Coxswain Power knew it would be impossible for him to bring the lifeboat alongside her. He therefore decided his only chance of taking off the one man who was on board the barge was to put the bow of the lifeboat into the barge amidships before the barge grounded and broke up.

With the sea astern and the wind on the starboard quarter, he had some difficulty in manoeuvring the lifeboat for the run in. At the third attempt he succeeded. Guided by the searchlight and with one man stationed on either side of the stem head standing outside the guard chains, he approached the barge. As soon as the man on board came within reach, he was hauled over the bow of the lifeboat.

Barge Crashed Against Her

The barge had a freeboard of two feet six inches and no guard rails of any sort. The man on board had only the tiller to hold on to. As the lifeboat approached, the barge, which was labouring heavily in the backwash, crashed against her and some damage was done to the stem of the lifeboat and to the fender on the starboard side. But Coxswain Power succeeded in bringing the lifeboat out astern. The time was then 18.45.

The second barge, which had no engine and had originally been in tow of the first barge, had been cut adrift when the man who was later rescued had realised that he could not make the shelter of the Wexford coast. Because she had 40 tons of ballast she had not drifted at the same rate as the barge with the man on board and Coxswain Power was able to put two men on board the drifting barge and take her into Dunmore.

The lifeboat returned to her station at 20.45. The necessary repairs were carried out without delay.

Second Clasp to Medal

For this service a second clasp to his bronze medal for gallantry was awarded to Coxswain Patrick Power.

Medal service certificates were granted to the other members of the crew: Acting Second Coxswain Maurice Power; Acting Mechanic John Power; the honorary secretary, Mr. A. Westcott Pitt, who acted as assistant mechanic; and members of the crew, Jeff Power, Edward Power, C. H. Hassell and M. Westcott-Pitt.

Coxswain Power was also awarded the Maud Smith award for the bravest act of life saving in 1960.

Coxswain Patrick Power of Dunmore East, County Waterford, has achieved the remarkable distinction of winning the Institution’s bronze medal for the fourth time. His award was for the rescue of six men from the Dutch motor vessel Jan Brons of Delfzijl, early on the morning of 11th March, 1964.

The first news that a ship was in distress reached the honorary secretary of the Dunmore East lifeboat station, Mr. A. Westcott-Pitt, from the Waterford harbour pilots at 03.55. The ship was reported on the rocks off Ardnamult Head, about one mile north-east of Dunmore East harbour. Maroons were fired five minutes later.

Took Boarding Boat

A near gale was blowing from the south-east and there was a rough sea. The weather was cloudy and it was half an hour after high water. At 04.20 the Dunmore East lifeboat, Annie Blanche Smith left her moorings. She took her boarding boat in tow.

It was only a quarter of an hour before the lifeboat reached the Dutch vessel but Coxswain Power realized that he could not bring the lifeboat alongside. The first attempt to reach the Dutch vessel was with the boarding boat but this had to be abandoned because of the extremely severe conditions. The wind had now increased to a full gale and the tide was ebbing at 2–2½ knots.

Coxswain Power came to the conclusion that the rescue would have to be carried out by breeches buoy. The lifeboat was therefore anchored up tide from the Dutch vessel but, when the cable was veered, the anchor began to drag and the coxswain could not maintain station. He therefore reanchored in three fathoms to windward of the Dutch coaster and veered down until the lifeboat was some 90 feet off her. A rocket line was fired and the breeches buoy gear rigged.

Two Volunteered

An attempted rescue was made over the stern of the lifeboat but the boat was sheering so badly that it was decided to use the boarding boat to maintain a spread in the veering lines. Second Coxswain Stephen Whittle and Assistance Mechanic John Power both volunteered to man the boarding boat, which was secured to the lifeboat with a nylon line. One by one they took four survivors from the Dutch coaster into the boarding boat. About 18.40 one of the veering lines fouled the coaster’s propeller and had to be cut.

Injury to Ribs

While the gear was being rigged again the four men who had been rescued were taken to the lifeboat. Later two more survivors were taken off the Dutch vessel by breeches buoy and taken aboard the lifeboat. The master, mate and chief engineer decided to remain on board the Jan Brons to await the arrival of a salvage tug. They were eventually rescued by the coast lifesaving service’s cliff ladder equipment.

The Dunmore East lifeboat reached her station at 08.40 and landed the survivors. She then put out again and stood by the coaster until 10.15, returning to her moorings 10 minutes later. Throughout the rescue the lifeboat had been labouring heavily and Mr. A. Westcott-Pitt, the honorary secretary, who was on board, had three of his ribs broken.

Three Medals

Three bronze medals were awarded for this service, one to Coxswain Patrick Power, one to Second-Coxswain Stephen Whittle and one to Assistant Mechanic John Power.

Certificates for Seven

Medal service certificates were issued to the other members of the crew: Mechanic Richard Murphy, Bowman Stanley Power, Captain C. H. Hazell, William Westcott-Pitt, Sir Brian Warren, Dr. Michael V. McCabe and A. Westcott-Pitt.

"In looking back over the long arc of Patrick “Paddy-Billy” Power’s life, what emerges most clearly is not merely a record of medals earned or rescues completed, but the quiet, steadfast character of the man himself. His four bronze medals for gallantry — an achievement unmatched by any other Irish lifeboatman — speak loudly of courage, but those who knew him understood that his true greatness lay in something deeper: a lifetime of service carried out without fuss, without vanity, and without expectation of praise.

From his early days in Portally to his decades at the helm in Dunmore East, Paddy-Billy belonged to a generation for whom the sea was both livelihood and destiny. They worked it, endured it, and when required, defied it. Year after year, through wartime gales, winter darkness, and sudden emergencies, he answered that piercing call of the maroons without hesitation. His seamanship was instinctive, his judgment trusted, his leadership calm and absolute. Crews followed him not because of his reputation, but because of the quiet confidence with which he faced every peril.

The stories recorded in the Institution’s reports capture only a fraction of the man, yet they remain a testament to what one person, guided by duty and courage, can accomplish.

When Paddy-Billy passed away on 25 June 1980, Dunmore East lost one of the last great links to an era when lifeboatmen relied on instinct, grit, and raw bravery as much as the boats beneath their feet. His example continues to echo through the generations who followed him to sea — a reminder that heroism is often found not in single moments, but in a lifetime of answering the call.

Today, his story stands not just as part of Dunmore East’s maritime heritage, but as an enduring tribute to all who launch into danger so that others may live. Paddy-Billy Power did not seek a legacy. And yet, as long as lifeboats launch from this harbour, he will have one."

"Thanks to David Carroll for supplying this article."