The Samuel Kelly Project

Was someone in your family rescued by the 'Kelly? If so, we'd love to hear from you.

The Project

In the mid 1980s the Sir Samuel Kelly lifeboat lay in a state of disrepair at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. There weren't the funds to restore and maintain her. Past and then-current lifeboat crew from Donaghadee and a few friends who knew and honoured the Lifeboat's story wanted to bring the 'Kelly home. The museum agreed and so the Sir Samuel Kelly was brought to the Marina car park in Donaghadee where she is still found today.


The boat was treated to a few coats of paint but the 'Kelly needed some serious restoration. In 2016, the Donaghadee Heritage Preservation Company was formed and the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum agree to transfer ownership of the 'Kelly to the North Down Museum. The new owners granted Donaghadee Heritage a long lease, allowing our group to begin fundraising and start restoration work. You can find a timeline of our activities here.


Royal visit to the 'Kelly



HRH The Duke of Gloucester unveils a plaque in November 2024

Donaghadee Heritage Preservation Company directors and volunteers were thrilled to share the 'Kelly's story with HRH The Duke of Gloucester. His Royal Highness unveiled a plaque commemorating all those involved in the MV Princess Victoria disaster on 31 January 1953--the lost, the survivors and those who were part of the rescue operation.

Photo shows DHPC Vice Chair Wesley Martin with our royal visitor






We continue to work on the restoration of the Sir Samuel Kelly and also to collect, curate and showcase the other stories of Donaghadee's culture and heritage. Please help us if you can.


Plans in the Pipeline

Shelter from the storm

We continue to improve the housing and exhibition space for the 'Kelly.

Restoring the boat's interior

Mr. John Moore, a Donaghadee painter and decorator took care of stripping and repainting the exterior of the Lifeboat. The next phase will be to strip and repaint the interior of the 'Kelly. Did you know that the lifeboat can hold 95 passengers?

Outreach and Exhibitions

In addition to our exhibition space in Donaghadee, we now have culture and heritage pop-up exhibitions available to share all over Northern Ireland. Contact us if you would like to arrange to showcase our materials or have one of our storyteller visit your school or organisation.

How the lifeboat got her name

Sir Samuel and the Kelly family

Samuel Kelly was born in Castlereagh Street, Belfast in 1867, the son of John Kelly, a coal merchant. Samuel took over the company when his father died in 1904 and became very successful. He was knighted in 1922. By then, he had built two churches in Holywood, Co. Down and was known as a philanthropist. After his death in 1937 his wife Lady Mary continued his charitable work, funding the Sir Samuel Kelly lifeboat in 1950. The Kelly family home is now the Sir Samuel Kelly Memorial Eventide home in Holywood. The Kelly family continue to support the lifeboat, contributing generously to cover the cost of stripping and repainting the exterior of the hull. We thank them. You can read more about the history of the Kelly family here.

A lifetime for a lifeboat

The full history of the 'Kelly

The 'Kelly was built by Samuel White and Co. boatyard in Cowes, Isle of Wight in 1948/49 and delivered to Donaghadee in June 1950. She served in Donaghadee from 1950--1976. Her most famous rescue during that time was in 1953. You can read about that here. The lifeboat ended her active service in seas of the south of Ireland.


The Sir Samuel Kelly is a Watson Class lifeboat. With two 240 horsepower diesel engines, she could operate at speeds of up to 9 knots--today's lifeboats are nearly 3 times as fast.


The 'Kelly's hull is built of Honduran mahogany with a single outer ply running at 90 degrees to a second inner ply, making her extremely strong. Inside the timber hull there are compartments fitted with buoyancy boxes which allows the boat to remain afloat after a collision and return quickly to an upright position should she be capsized by a wave, rocks or another vessel. Her superstructure is made of aluminium which is extremely light.


The lifeboat weighs approximately 21 tonnes and is about 14 metres long and nearly 3 metres wide.



In 1979, just before she was retired by the RNLI, the 'Kelly was involved in the rescue of  one of the yachts involved in the Fastnet Race Disaster off the coast of West Cork. Watch our videos to learn more about the history and crews of the 'Kelly.


If you or someone you know was one of the 79 people rescued by the 'Kelly across her 30-year service, then please let us know. Shirley@deeheritage.co.uk would love to hear from you.