Pete's Irish Lighthouses

Roger Reilly has spent the last year or so illustrating the lighthouses around the coast of Ireland. The body of work that he has produced is quite amazing and the results of his work can be found here and here . When I think that my blog involves finding the lighthouses and then taking a few quick amateur snaps, the months of effort that must have gone into the design and production of these posters is truly amazing I give examples here of three of his posters, all of which are available for purchase. Roger has done over sixty sea and harbour lights around the coast and they are available as a poster of 16 or singly. If your ancestor was a lighthouse keeper, or if you hail from a particular coastal part of Ireland, or if you simply like the vivid colour of the posters, they'd be a great purchase, particularly at this time of the year. I should point out that Roger's work is not limited to lighthouses but encompasses many cultural areas of Irish life.

Don't know if anyone has seen the latest set of postage stamps from an Post, the Irish Postal Service. The set illustrates the many facets of the work of the Commissioner of Irish Lights. The stamps show (from top left working clockwise) CIL working on a buoy; a helicopter at Fanad Head lighthouse; the CIL HQ in Dun Laoghaire; and the CIL service vessel Granuaille steaming past a lighthouse. I've actually been trying to figure out which lighthouse it is. Rotten Island? Dingle? Looks west of Ireland anyway.

I actually bagged Kilcredaune Head Lighthouse before the two at Corlis Point (previous two posts) but because lighthouse-spotting has probably come to an end for the winter, I preferred to leave this more aesthetically pleasing lighthouse up on my home page, rather than a concrete hut or skeletal tower. To find the lighthouse, it would depend if you are coming from Kilkee or Loop Head. From Kilkee, take the road for Carrigaholt. Go through this village and keep going out the other side. After about one mile, the road bends around to the right, while a smaller road goes straight on. You need to go straight on.  From Loop Head, when you get to Kilbaha, leave the R487 and branch left onto the L2002 to Carrigaholt. About a mile from the latter, the road bends around to the left, but you need to take the smaller road to the right. Okay, we're both on the same road. The road gets smaller and grassier. Eventually you come to a closed red gate. I suppose you could ope...

This is the rear leading light of the Corlis Point range. For the front leading light, please see here . For the CIL page, see here .  My research was obviously a bit faulty. The sat nav reference was obviously a bit out because a half a mile from Querrin pier, it told me I was at my destination. Basically you need to drive through Querrin to the pier. At the coast turn left and its right there. I was out there and had no WIFI, so I didn't know that at the time. Besides, you'd be too close to get a good photo, I reckon. These photos were taken from the beach near the front leading light (see here , which also gives the history and reason for the lights. The rear light has the same characteristics as the front light, except there are six lights instead of four. The night light looks to be the same as the front light (visible in the top photo to the right of the six lights) And obviously, the rear light was first exhibited the same day as the front light! The tow...

Lighthouse enthusiasts who like their lighthouses to be the classically tapered variety will doubtless be disappointed with the front leading light of the Corlis Point range on the north bank of the Shannon estuary. Dedicated lighthouse lovers only need apply because it is also one of the most difficult to access.  You will probably be driving from Kilkee, so from there head south to Querrin and Querrin Quay. This is where the rear leading light is, a large skeletal structure. From here, take the coast road, with its large area of wetland to its left. The road comes inland slightly. Shortly after a small cemetery, you reach a T-Junction, where you turn left, back towards the coast. Shortly after this, the tarmac stops and you're better off parking up and continuing on foot. The 'road' is very wet and muddy but after 200 meters, you reach the shore. (Incidentally, if you arrive during a spring tide, the path may be inaccessible!)  At the shore, turn to the...

So, the 10am trip sailing from Doolin in county Clare to Inis Oirr, the smallest and nearest of the three Aran Islands. The sailing only takes about 30 minutes. The island is about 3 kilometers long and two kilometers wide. The ferry docks at the north point of the island, next to the white Caribbean beach, and the lighthouse is at the southern end. I decided to walk it, rather than taking the 45 minute guided tour of the island by horse and trap or van and trailer. I was glad I did because firstly, it was such a beautiful day and secondly, I'm not terribly sure that any of the tours go down to the lighthouse. I saw none when I was there anyway. The island, though small, is a maze of small roads, and its important to choose the right one if your time is limited. Leaving the pier, take the road around the white beach and keep going until you reach the airport. Take a right up the hill. About 300 meters up the hill, there is a turn off to the right. This is the road you ne...

Travelling to Inis Oirr, the smallest of the Aran Islands, from Doolin in County Clare, I got an unexpected bonus when passing the Finnis Buoy, 0.8 nautical miles from the island. Not easy getting a good shot when trampolining up and down on a boat but you get the picture, so to speak. Incidentally I have labelled this post as county Galway, as Inis Oirr is county Galway but in fact it lies in the sea between Clare and Galway, so it could easily be Clare. The Finnis Rock buoy is a First Class Cardinal Marker (as opposed to a fourth-rate one, presumably) It sends regular tweets (@FinnisBuoy) as to Wind Speed, Wave Height and Periods and Water Temperature. Not sure when she is there since, but probably about the turn of the millennium. The Finnis Rock was the piece of marine topography that did for the MV Plassy (see below) now lying in rusting bliss on the coast of Inis Oirr. And, as Tedheads around the world will know, the Plassy features in the opening credits ...

Can't remember ever having visited Doolin before. Certainly I don't recall this beautiful fairytale castle sitting high on the hill overlooking the town. The original castle was built in the 14th Century, though the tower dates from the 16th Century. In 1588, a ship of the Spanish Armada was wrecked nearby and 178 survivors were hanged at the castle on the orders of the High Sheriff of Clare. It is now a private holiday home. There is no evidence that it was ever a lighthouse but it is included here because a) it looks great and b) some sites refer to it as being used as a navigational marker for boats coming into Doolin pier. In the picture above, the small island lying just off shore is Crab Island which protects the pier from the buffeting of the waves which can be quite fierce south of the island. Seen from out to sea, there is a constant haze in the air, marking where the Atlantic smashes into Crab Island. Personally I'd have thought that any boats would b...

Eight years after we made the journey on a wild and windy February day, I retraced my steps on a glorious end of October morning. The road across the north coast of Clare was absolutely stunning in the sunlight and I actually came upon the one parking space faster than expected after leaving Ballyvaughan. Problem was, the one parking space was full! Fortunately there was another three-quarter space about 100 yards further on. Strangely, I remembered this lighthouse as having a house and a garden attached but obviously I was thinking of another (possibly French?) lighthouse! Being located on the edge of the Burren, vegetation is somewhat sparse and you'd be hard pushed to find space to grow a turnip out here. The lighthouse itself is comparatively knew, having been constructed in 1936 at the behest of the Galway Harbour authorities to help guide ocean-going liners through Galway Bay to the harbour, which used to be the case at that time. Being situated at the poi...

This is Dunguaire Castle in county Galway, at about the easternmost reaches of Galway Bay. Its about 400 yards north of the busy little town of Kinvara, right on the coast (you can't miss it) It was built in the early 16th century and has associations with Yeats, Synge and Shaw. I was travelling from Loughrea, heading for Doolin and decided to make a short detour to see this and Black Head lighthouse. Why Dunguaire Castle? Well, I found one photo of it on the net saying that they used to shine a light from the top of the castle to guide boats into Kinvara harbour. In which case it would be a lighthouse. Sadly, I have been able to find no corroborative evidence anywhere of this!

In stark contrast to my last post lamenting the dilapidation of the Passage East Spider Light, news has come out via the Drogheda Independent that the Drogheda Port Authority has commissioned a restoration of one of the three iconic lighthouses on the north bank of the River Boyne - Drogheda North Light. The work will be carried out by Fergal McGirl Architects of Dublin, who have a long history of conservation architecture. Three lights were constructed in the 1880s in the Mornington area to guide ships past the treacherous sandbanks at the mouth of the Boyne. The three form a delightful cluster of interesting maritime archaeology which, when added to the Maiden's Tower, the Lady's Finger and the old lifeboat station, ensures a fascinating ramble at the estuary entrance. Drogheda North Light was decommissioned in 2000 and it is much to Drogheda Port's credit that they are prepared to stump up a significant amount of money to restore it when other lights around the...

I am indebted to Andrew O'Doherty, who writes the brilliant " Waterford Harbour Tides 'n' Tales " blog  for drawing my attention to an excellent post of his on the Passage Point Light, which I visited in 2014 and which appears in a sorry state of disrepair. There are only four such screwpile lighthouses left in Ireland - at Moville in Derry, Dundalk Bay, Cobh and here, marking the approaches to Waterford and New Ross harbours. The blind engineer, Alexander Mitchell, who designed the screwpile lights, also took his invention to England, where none survive. America seems to be the only place where they are thriving. The lights at Cobh, Moville and Dundalk are very well maintained but here at Passage East, the Spider Light (as it is colloquially known) which marks a dangerous bank of sand stretching to the Waterford shore, appears uncared for. A brick support, for example, appears to have been replaced by metal bars. The paint is peeling and one can see, in y...