Gowlands Rock

Again, I pose the question - what constitutes a lighthouse? This looks more like a lighthouse than many others, yet apparently it is merely a light. Possibly because the tower has no room, house, shed attached?
On the short 2 mile drive from Kilclief to Strangford, the lighthouses on Salt Rock and Gowlands Rock suddenly appear. This one, Gowlands Rock is on the far, Ards peninsular side, while the red Salt Rock lighthouse is on the near side. They sort of form a finishing line for sailors

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Calf Rock

Image
It is nearly three years now since I started making plans to see the remains of the infamous Calf Rock Lighthouse off the tip of Dursey Island, a stark reminder of the terrible power of the sea. Two years ago we came down with the express purpose of seeing it but were thwarted by maintenance to the cable car, the only viable means for tourists to reach the island. This year we were luckier and crossed early in the morning, albeit on one of the windiest days I've ever known. Not blustery, just a constant driving wind that increased in intensity the nearer you got to the western tip of the island. Small wonder it has been called the windiest place in Europe. Due to the frequency of shipwrecks off the south west coast of Ireland, a decision was reached in 1857 to construct a lighthouse off the end of Dursey Point. There were many (the contractor included) who argued that the Calf Rock was too low an island to place a lighthouse and that Bull Rock, a little further north ...
Read more

Frank O'Farrell (517)

Image
  The very beautiful old Skellig Michael lower light before renovation. This post is entirely based on Seamus Farrell's painstaking research into his father's career Francis J. "Frank" O'Farrell, Service no. 517 was not, like many others, born into the lightkeeping service. You could say that he chose the service, rather than the service choosing him.  Born in Waterford in January 1934, his father was a member of the Gardai. After school, he joined British Rail as an electrician and also became a wireless operator in the Merchant Navy, laying communication cables between England and France. Apparently the only time he got wet in the latter job was having to stand in the rain at Queen Elizabeth's coronation in 1953! Frank as a wireless operator in the Merchant Navy aged 19 Frank (centre) in the Merchant Navy Returning to Ireland, he was appointed a Supernumerary keeper with Irish Lights in November 1956, a position he held for four years which, to me, seems a v...
Read more

Rotten Island, county Donegal

Image
When this blog started, many moons ago, it was a simple 'visit a lighthouse, take a photo or two and add a bit of info' sort of a blog. For better and worse, it has become much more historically minded and the need to have visited has gone. So it is something of a breath of fresh air to get out and actually visit an Irish lighthouse I had never seen. So, an unexpected free day at the start of September, saw me up early and driving across the country to south-west Donegal to bag the last of the easily baggable lighthouses. I could have taken a boat tour and got pretty close to Rotten Island but the distance from the mainland seemed minimal. Basically, I got to Bruckless and, with the help of Google Maps, headed for the Atlantic View B & B, which ended at a stony beach. Parking up (making sure I left a gap for any boat-laden cars to get through) the lighthouse was visible from the beach (see next photo) The tide was low so I walked up the beach towards the lighthouse, eventua...
Read more