There are services we wish the world had no need of. There are callings we would gladly see made obsolete by calmer seas, by safer shores, by the absence of pain; by the simple grace of everyone returning home. And yet, because the waters can turn and fate can falter, there must be those who stand ready at the edge.
This March, the Oranmore Maree Coastal Search Unit marks ten years of service along the shores of Galway Bay — ten years that many would wish had never been required, and yet ten years for which countless families are quietly grateful.
Established in 2016, the unit has become a steadfast presence across more than 110 kilometres of coastline. Entirely voluntary, its members give their time, their skill, and, often, a portion of their own emotional strength to the aftermath of unimaginable loss. They search beaches and rocky inlets, comb tidal stretches, and scan the restless waters. Zone Leaders guide teams on land, while boat crews and drone operators extend the search out across the bay.
It is work carried out in silence more often than in spotlight. There are no cheers when they assemble, no fanfare as they walk into wind and rain. Instead, there is purpose — and a shared understanding that someone, somewhere, is waiting for word.
Over the past decade, the unit has assisted in searches for more than thirty individuals. Each callout represents a family suspended between hope and heartbreak. In stepping forward, these volunteers do more than search; they shoulder a share of that trauma. They stand in the space where uncertainty lingers longest. They remain steady when the tide offers no easy answers.
And when the searching pauses, their service does not end. Warm refreshments are prepared. A quiet word is offered. Pastoral care is extended with gentleness and dignity. In those small, human gestures, solace is found — not in erasing grief, but in ensuring no one bears it alone.
On Saturday, March 7, at 2:00pm in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Oranmore, a Celebration and Remembrance Service will honour this decade of dedication. Families, friends, and fellow rescue organisations from across Galway will gather — not in triumph, but in gratitude. They will remember those lost to the sea and acknowledge those who searched tirelessly for them.
It is not the kind of anniversary anyone would design. No community wishes to require such a unit. Yet the presence of the Oranmore Maree Coastal Search Unit — and of all who stand watch along this city’s waters — speaks to something enduring and admirable: the refusal to look away, the willingness to walk toward sorrow, the commitment to bring someone home.
May we one day have no need of them. Until then, may we thank them, honour them, and recognise the quiet courage that keeps vigil at the water’s edge.
