£10,000 raised for relatives of Fethard Lifeboat Disaster

Wexford, 27 January 1915 - Just over £9,215 was raised for the Fethard Lifeboat Disaster Fund.

The money was collected by the Lifeboat Institution, the Norwegian Government, the Norwegian shipping community, readers of The Irish Times and The Freeman’s Journal, and various Irish local government bodies.

Almost all of the money was used to buy life annuities for 10 adults and terminable annuities for 16 children, all of whom are dependent relatives of those who died. Some £570 was awarded to survivors, volunteers and lifeboat crews who assisted with the rescue, while £106 was spent on administrative expenses.

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]