Unfortunately I cannot find the names of the people who sent me the photographs on this page due to my sloppy record taking. My apologies to all.
No doubt former Irish lightkeepers will be scratching their heads and trying to recall a former colleague called Hourigan, wondering if their memory is starting to fail. Don't worry. Its doubtful you will have heard of him. Though, of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that your memory isn't failing.
The beautifully castellated lighthouse in the pictures is Spillane's Tower aka the Snuff Box which still shines forth on the approaches to Limerick dock. I wrote about it here a few years ago in case you want to learn a bit about its history. It was built on an area of reclaimed marshland called Corcanree or Corkanree (the Marsh of the King) on the embankment of which the people of Limerick would stroll on fine evenings.
Aside from being the man who lit and dowsed the light at the top of the tower, Thomas was also the 'Caretaker in Corporation Grounds' - presumably this area of Corcanree - as he describes himself in the 1911 Census. He also kept some cattle on the reclaimed land and described himself as a farmer on his marriage to Mary Lynch in 1885, when he had an address of Dock Road. In 1903, the Limerick Port Authority increased his salary from 16s 8d to 24s per month (or, for young people, €1.20.)
The couple had four children, one of whom, Mary, died aged nine of TB in 1895, when the family were still in Dock Road. In 1901, they lived in Courtbrack; in 1911 in Ashbourne Road; and on Thomas' death cert in 1916, he was back in Dock Road. He died after a five week battle with pneumonia, aged 67 years.
The Limerick Chronicle of 24th February 1916 described him as "an old and esteemed employee of the Corporation," adding that "for some forty years, he was caretaker of the Corkanree Bank, and also lightkeeper of Spillane's Tower." The latter is slightly ambiguous for, though the Corkanree Bank and Spillane's Tower were established in the 1870s, the light on the tower was first lit in 1885, so he only tended the light for a mere 31 years maximum. "Active and courteous in the discharge of his duties, he was very popular with the public," the paper continued, but the real eulogy was left to a correspondent named Amicus, who penned a beautiful poem that would have torn at my heart strings, if I had any.
As per the poem, Thomas lies in the family grave in the Mungret Abbey graveyards, with his parents and brothers. The lettering is still decipherable.
Erected By
BRIDGET HOURIGAN
In Memory Of Her Beloved Husband
JAMES HOURIGAN
Who Died 7TH Of SepT 1886
Aged 82 Years
Also His To Sons
TIMITY HOURIGAN & MICHAEL
JAMES HOURIGAN
Died 26TH April 1923 Aged 75 Years
PATRICK HOURIGAN
Died 24 Jan. 1926 Aged 90 Years
THOMAS HOURIGAN Died 16. Feb. 1916
HANORA KELLY Died 5. June 1929
BRIDGET HOURIGAN Died 28 Dec 1928
May They Rest Peace Amen
AGNES HOURIGAN Died 3 Aug
1969
Not many of us are so cherished as to have a poem dedicated to us Pete, there's some fascinating details in it to, like raising the halyard for regatta day...an interesting nugget of detail that was probably well known but would never be recorded most likely. A
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