Pete's Irish Lighthouses
A blog about Irish Lighthouses past and present and other selected maritime beacons and buoys of interest. If anybody has any corrections or additional info on any post, please use the comment section or the email address on the right.
Thursday, July 25, 2024
Dastardly deeds at Kilcredaun
Sunday, July 21, 2024
Dunree Head, county Donegal
Some of the keepers who served at Dunree (Irish Lights often called it Dunrea) were:
Friday, July 12, 2024
The Wexford Navy demobbed
I recently came across the following article - headlined The Wexford Navy Demobbed - in the New Ross Standard of 9th April 1982. Like a lot of things these days, it seems like it is only recent history, but when you do the sums, its over 40 years old. The writer is a guy called Mervyn Moore and its a wonderful record of the end of the manned lightships around our coast. I realise it is very long and very few will get to the end but nonetheless I will reproduce it in its entirety for anybody with family who worked on the lightships around our east and south coasts. Unfortunately the photographs accompanying the article are not good enough quality to reproduce here.
Thursday, July 11, 2024
Oh my Glosh! Signalling Black Rock Mayo.
Saturday, July 6, 2024
The very first Beam
Prior to Beam, Irish Lights had published an occasional newsletter, most of which have never surfaced again but the new journal marked the start of what would become a great source of research for future pharologists, as well as a cracking read for all branches of the service, from lightkeepers, to office staff and light tenders, coastal tradesmen, depot staff and technical staff. There are doubtless complete sets of Beam lying in attics around the country which could easily be digitised and made available to the public. Several issues are available on line on the Internet Archive Wayback service. Thanks to the generosity of several former keepers, I have many of the forty volumes but the gaps are glaring!
There were also the lists of new entrants, promotions and retirements from all branches of the service, though no deaths, which would be a feature of future issues. Obviously 1969 was a healthy year, summer of love and all that. I reproduce these pages from the journal as I'm sure many former Irish Lights employees will recognise some of the names - Stapleton, Whelan, Greenlee, Ryan, McCurdy, Kneafsey, Butler, Roche etc.