A giant wave struck the Ballybunion Sea and Cliff Rescue Centre in Kerry in the early hours of yesterday morning, severely damaging doors and destroying equipment.
Elsewhere in the county, fallen trees, blocked roads and minor flooding was widespread and up to 300 houses in the Killorglin area were without electricity yesterday.
In the west, commuters between Galway and Connemara had a narrow escape when high winds blew a load off the back of a truck into bog land.
The incident happened on Saturday just beyond Indreabhán, near the headquarters of TG4, when a large load fell from a transporter en route to Carraroe. No one was hurt in the incident.
The load was later reloaded on to the truck, during which traffic on the route was severely disrupted.
Irish Water Safety reiterated its warning to walkers and water users over the weekend to stay away from exposed coasts during the gale- to storm-force winds forecast for the west and south coasts.
The Ballybunion rescue unit had celebrated its 21st birthday earlier on Saturday night in the rescue centre.
Later when the storm hit, two of the three specialist roller doors through which the rescue boats are launched were destroyed, and the garage door to the side was blown off its hinges.
The state-of-the-art rescue centre, set on Ladies' Beach, is just six years old.
Omar Fitzell, spokesman for the centre, said in the early hours of Sunday morning, one of its members, Frank Whelan, had gone to the centre to collect his hiking boots for an excursion. At about 4.45am, as he was upstairs, he heard a crashing sound beneath him as the wave struck.
Luckily the unit's four-wheel drive was not in the centre at the time or it would have been destroyed, Mr Fitzell said. The two rescue boats were also undamaged.
Fuel tanks were washed out to sea and "a multitude" of small equipment, including first-aid equipment, was destroyed.
Mr Fitzell said about €10,000 worth of damage had been done, but a complete inventory was to be undertaken last night. "We are trying to buy a new boat. This has set us back a great deal," he said.
According to the Valentia Observatory, Kerry experienced six-metre (20ft) high tides and this was combined with swells of over 12 metres (40ft) and high winds.