Pete's Irish Lighthouses

Inishgort lighthouse from Rosmoney. Think that must be Croagh Patrick behind It is always a pleasure to re-visit one of my favourite lighthouses, seldom-visited, remote and isolated, even if the purpose is to gobble down a large helping of humble pie.  Inishgort - the spelling variations increase the further back in time you travel - is one of the 365 (ho hum) islands that allegedly populate Clew Bay. From the early 1800s, Westport had developed as an important port on the west coast of Ireland and in 1806, John Denis Browne, the 1st Marquess of Sligo, Earl of Altamont, Viscount Westport KP, PC, MP, absentee landlord and absentee slaveholder, lovely chap altogether, rolled up his sleeves and built a lighthouse on Clare Island, despite having to lug all his titles around with him. Clare Island was an outer light, signifying exactly where on the west coast ships should turn in for Westport. Of course, between Clare Island and Westport lay a myriad of small islands, like jigsaw pieces...

  Extremely old lighthouses in Ireland are few and far between. There are tales that fires were lit on the Old Head of Kinsale and the Baily, Howth two thousand years ago, whether to lure ships onto the rocks or to guide them into harbour. The general accepted - though not officially endorsed -  story of Hook Head is that St. Dubhan lit warning fires on that coast from the early days of Christianity. All would have been wood or turf fires and probably only lit when a ship was seen or expected. I came across another possible addition to that list recently when reading about a place called Nendrum in Strangford Lough.  Map of Strangford Lough. Nendrum is situated on the western end of the horizontal Japan shaped island to the left of the tran in Strangford Close-up. Nendrum is accessed from the mainland by a bridge to Reagh Island, a drive down the island and a bridge onto Mahee Island. For those wishing to bag a few islands accessed by bridges, only Reagh and the very begi...

  Photo from ScreenKerry.ie Following on from my  recent post about the early years of Tarbert lighthouse, on the Shannon estuary, it is time to put some flesh and bones on the cut limestone and detail some of the keepers who watched over this important light from 1834 onwards. The list is far from comprehensive and any additions or corrections would, as usual, be gratefully received. The first keeper at the station was a man called Richard Fleming , although even here there is a touch of ambiguity. When Robert Steele visited the lighthouse on the night of its establishment, the Dublin Observer reported that "he and the light-keepers (plural) and the boat's crew" partook in drinking a toast. Later on, Mr. Steele is quoted as calling Mr. Fleming "the man entrusted with the charge of the light," which again does not say if he was the sole keeper. The likes of Broadhaven and Little Samphire were one-family lights, with the wife or daughter expected to act as as...

Fanad lighthouse c. 1903 (National Library of Ireland) Towards the end of the 1800s, the Weekly Irish Times used to run a half page by a very suspicious individual called Kincora, or maybe its simply the name that conjures up dark connotations. Basically, it was a Children's club called The League of Kindness; kids wrote in and got a thrill in seeing their letters published. They used to sign their letters, "Your little friend" and ask things like "How do you like my handwriting?" which didn't always get the response they were expecting.  I reproduced some letters from the Corish girls, Agnes and Josie, two years ago in regard to their letters from Eagle Island and Blacksod in 1894 and 1895. Anyhow, seems that Kincora morphed into someone called 'Granny' in the early years of the new century who would offer hampers as prizes for the best letter of the week. Kids writing in would, rather worryingly, sign off with, Your loving Grandson (or Granddaugh...

  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...

  Abbey Island and Derrynane Harbour, county Kerry John Swan Sloane. You've got to love him. I come back to him a lot as he was a very interesting character in nineteenth century lighthouse history. He was appointed  Superintendent of Foremen and Works  to the Ballast Board in 1862 and 'retired' around 1878 just before his greatest achievement, Galley Head was completed. I say 'retired' because, in his subsequent career as a freelance journalist for The Irish Builder , he constantly harangued the Board of Irish Lights that had ousted him, mostly under pseudonyms, while referring to himself in glowing terms, also under pseudonyms. In 1873, he wrote a pamphlet called Manual for Lightkeepers which a) gave historical information on many Irish lighthouses and b) I would sell my Granny to get a hold of. Anyway, in one article in The Irish Builder (1st March 1880) he talks about 'ancient lighthouses' from the 1750s and earlier. He makes the point that lighthouse c...

There is a very statuesque barber-shop lighthouse at Tarbert (aka Tarbat) (aka Tarbert Ness) gracing the headland north of Inverness constructed by Robert Stevenson in 1830. This post is not about that light. This post is about the less statuesque but equally as interesting lighthouse built on Tarbert Island on the south shore of the Shannon estuary  by George Halpin four years later. The 74 feet limestone tower was built in response to the increased trade to the port of Limerick and the inability of ships to spot a rather treacherous rock called the Bowline (Bolands) Rock. Lighting Tarbert meant ships could now clear the rock and use Tarbert as a port of refuge before being piloted through the narrows. One of the chief promoters for the establishment of a light at that spot was a Mr. Robert Steele, a Cambridge don, inventor of "the communicating diving bell" - whoa!! - author of a treatise on improving the navigation of the Shannon and a man of fortune, who had temporarily f...