The Angus Rock Part 2

The Angus Rock Part 2 - the history

March 21, 2025

It may come as a surprise to some (as it did to me) to learn that there has been a beacon on the Angus Rock for over 300 years.

It was back in 1715 that the brig, Eagle's Wing, got caught in a storm at the entrance of the lough and was blown onshore on the Angus Rock. 62 people lost their lives and, as a result, a beacon was built on the offending rock in 1720. It was 30 feet tall, painted white and lacked a light.

With the strong currents and narrow passages of reasonable depth, accessing Strangford Lough could be extremely dangerous for sailing ships, and wrecks were legion. Ships could not negotiate the passage to the west of the rock and the channel to the east was barely 300m wide. A deputation of traders called for the tower to be lit in 1839 to no avail. It has been suggested that merchants and shipowners from Belfast, eager to protect their own interests, had a hand in defeating the motion.

In 1845, the Ballast Board announced that they were placing a 40-foot unlit beacon on nearby St Patrick's Rock. This was in response to traders in both Downpatrick and Portaferry, who were experiencing a surge in maritime trade. Rock Angus was surveyed the following year but nothing came of it. Eventually, though, a 40 foot granite tower was erected on the rock. It remained unlit.

From the Down Recorder 1969

Our old friend, John Swan Sloane, commenting on this many years later with one massive chip on his shoulder, gives his take on the reason for the lack of illumination. (the Irish Builder, 1st September 1882) "When in 1853, the Board of Trade got powers to confiscate the funds of Irish lighthouses," he wrote, "several towers had been built around the coast and were ready for the erection of the lanterns and lighting apparatus; among these was the Rock Angus or the 'Rock and Goose' as the locals call it ... Lord de Ros and Lord Bangor, with Colonel Nugent, had used their influence to get the tower erected; but what cared the Board of Trade for mere Irish harbours? Vessels for Downpatrick might founder before they reached the Quoile; the debts of Trinity House were of much more consequence." Swan kind of spoils his argument by citing Capel Island as another victim of the Board of Trade, when the decision to replace Capel Island with Ballycotton was very much Halpin's.

From the shore, the Angus Rock looks like one long, thin rock. The marinas.com photo above shows just how treacherous the area can be. Incidentally, there is a small stone rounded beacon near the lighthouse. It can just be seen in the very top right of the picture above. I know absolutely nothing about it

On the 6th February 1861, whist seeking refuge from a gale, the collier Manchester made a slight mistake locating the correct channel and was sunk with all hands, including the Captain, Michael Sanderson and his son. The press had a field day. How could she miss the channel when the entrance was so admirable lighted? asked the Freeman's Journal. It is called a real Irish lighthouse, without a light in it, said another. Dark Lanterns! the Nautical Magazine called them. The jury at the inquest went so far as to say that if there had been a light on the Angus Rock, the ship and all the people on it would have been saved.

Stung into inaction, the powers-that-be - the Ballast Board, the Board of Trade and Trinity House - did absolutely nothing, except to repeat the old tired phrase that the traffic in Strangford Lough did not warrant proper lighting. So slack was the trade that it was calculated that between 1867 and 1874, 3357 vessels entered the lough for trade and almost half as many again for shelter.

Photo Strangford Sea Safari FB page

In fact, it took until 1969, when the 500-ton coaster Kingsgate grounded on the Angus Rock, that Irish Lights said they would light the beacon thereon, providing that all the other leading marks up the lough were lit. Even so, it took another 14 years until, in April 1983, the Angus Rock finally got its light after a 250 year wait. Desmond Rogers was the attendant for many years.

A company called Strangford Sea Safari used to bring people out to picnic on the rock but since Covid they seem to have disappeared. I should have taken the opportunity to do it at the time.