Thirty years ago in October 1995, there was an article written on the Old Head of Kinsale/Seven Heads Coast Guard Rescue Service as it was then known. The journalist on the day was Valerie Robinson and while she is no longer a journalist, she joined the group on the day for a re-enactment photo.

Eddie Butler was the area officer at that time right up to his retirement in June of 2015. The rescue unit was first established in 1988. There were a few other people in the unit, who weren’t in the photo, namely Peter Healy and Joe Manning. There were also some members of the Summercove/Oysterhaven team who were involved in the setting up of the team. There are two people in the photo who are still in the unit. Michael Murray (who was the youngest and is now the officer in charge) and John Cahalane (who is the deputy officer in charge).

In 2013, Old Head amalgamated with Seven Heads Coast Guard unit. The two units work well together and it increases the number of volunteers available for call-outs.

At the recent meeting, the current team wanted to pay tribute to all those retired volunteers who gave of their time and who were often called out in atrocious weather conditions, sometimes in the middle of the night to rescue people in difficulty, and sometimes dealing with serious and tragic situations.

The unit was based at the Old Head and there was a photo taken back then which had nine people in it including (from left) John Cahalane, Jimmy Nyhan, Liam Coughlan, Valerie Robinson, Martin Collins, Eddie Butler, PJ Hunt, Billy Nyhan and Michael Murray. Another photo was taken again 30 years later in the same spot. Unfortunately, Jimmy Nyhan is no longer with the unit, but he was remembered on the day as being a valuable member of the team.

There was also some of the old rescue equipment on display. The current team performed an exercise/demonstration on the day and demonstrated all the new rescue equipment.

The current team at Old Head/Seven Heads has 27 volunteers, who all live in the locality and have a range of different occupations. They train regularly and are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They are a dedicated, well-trained, professional team.

This team often works with other rescue services such as Kinsale RNLI, Courtmacsherry RNLI, Kinsale, Bandon Fire service, Kinsale Gardaí, Beach Lifeguards and the ambulance service who all provide an essential and reliable service.