Pete's Irish Lighthouses

Came across this photo in the National Library of Ireland Archives and it shows the original Fastnet lighthouse which was demolished down to a stump when the new one went up. The stump can clearly be seen in the photographs here but because of its colour and the description of 'Cast Iron', I had it in my head that the tower itself was a dull rusty brown colour. Seems I couldn't have been further from the mark! This little beauty incidentally ruled the roost for exactly 50 years, having first been lit in 1854.

 Built in 1849, Baltimore Becon is a conspicuous landmark, though it has never been lit. An original smaller beacon on the site had been vandalised, so it was recommended a big fifty footer be built.  Due to its resemblance to a pillar of salt, it has often been called Lot's Wife. I clambered up to it last year . These photos are from the sea, looking up.  Baltimore, incidentally has absolutely nothing to do with its American namesake.

On the ferry back from Clear Island, I was delighted that the pilot decided to do the ocean-side route, rounding Sherkin Island before entering Baltimore Harbour via the twin pinnacles of Sherkin Island Lighthouse and Baltimore Beacon (above)  Sherkin Island Light (also called Barrack Point, though not after the President) was built in 1885. Last year , I got a good view of it from Baltimore Beacon. These pictures are from another perspective - the boat chugging through the gap between the headlands. 

 One of the great European lighthouses, the Fastnet is a remarkable piece of construction, lying south west of Cape Clear Island. When I was there a year ago , it was an evening trip and the photos I got, although quite spectacular, were somewhat murky and gloomy, though they did add to the atmosphere. This time, it was a glorious summer's afternoon trip, and the pictures are much better. The first Fastnet light (the black stump of which can still be clearly seen in the photos) was first exhibited in 1854 and was constructed using cast iron plates. It was apparently painted white with a black hoop. Although a wonder of engineering at the time, it soon became clear that the material possibly wasn't the best for waveswept lighthouses.  Three peninsulas up from the Fastnet Rock, the Calf Rock Lighthouse off Dursey Island was also constructed of cast iron plates. Storms frequently battered them and bits started falling off, so they strengthened it at the bottom. Then in N...

 The ferry from Schull to Cape Clear Island (or Oileann Cleire) now only runs on Wednesdays and Saturdays, so we drove down to Baltimore to get the ferry over to Ireland's most southerly inhabited island.  A lighthouse was established here in 1818 on the southern part of the island. However, it very quickly became apparent that, like Wicklow, Kinsale and others, its position on top of a cliff meant it was frequently obscured by fog and mist Despite much petitioning by the maritime community, nothing was done about this state of affairs until the inevitable happened. The passenger-carrying sailing ship, the Stephen Whitney, was heading eastwards along the southwest coast of Ireland in heavy fog and, not being able to see Cape Clear light, mistook Crookhaven Light for the Old Head of Kinsale, and ran aground on one of the many jagged islands off West Cork, with the loss of 92 of the 110 souls on board.  Even then, the authorities procrastinated until a lette...

 Built on the sight of the front beacon, Castletown Directional Light was established only in 2011, when Castletownbere 2, a few yards further back was discontinued. Above is a view from the side.  Above and below, the view from the rear  The front rectangular panel was originally painted a bright luminous red to act as a daymark but for some reason this has been changed to Black, though I can't see any mention of this fact in CIL's notices to mariners.Apparently, the reason was that the orange/red stripe was fooling the mariners eye and merging with the green light to make it look white. Strange but true. The new colour was introduced around the end of May 2013  All the photos below show the new Directional light with the old one behind it.  The light shines through a small hole in the middle of the black panel.  As the photo above, the luminous red paint is still evident on the light The light flashes red...