Two jolly little stories in the run-up to Christmas, both concerning lighthouse keepers firing fog-guns and both with the keepers' lives being saved by passing ocean-going liners.
The first occurred down at the Tuskar lighthouse on the storm-swept south east coast of Ireland
The first occurred down at the Tuskar lighthouse on the storm-swept south east coast of Ireland
New Ross Standard 25th July 1891
There were questions asked in the House of Commons about this incident and the lack of proper communication between lighthouses and the mainland in cases of emergency but the reply was that the man would have been taken off by the Belle anyway, so the communications worked grand.
Twenty years later, a similar accident occurred at the Rathlin lighthouse. There are currently three lighthouses on Rathlin (four, if you count the lower lighthouse at Rathlin East, below) but at the time there was only one (or two, ditto)
Photo from the National Library
The Strabane Chronicle 20th July 1912
Simply another danger for the lighthouse keeper to endure.
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