A 1929 Dail debate on the ownership of Irish Lights

Commissioner of Irish Lights flag pre-1970 with the St George's Cross

I recently came across this short debate on the ownership of Irish Lights in Dail Eireann on 10th July 1929: -

Seán Lemass (Fianna Fail) asked the Minister for Finance whether he can give any information as to the probable date when the Irish Lights Service may be transferred from the control of the British to the Saorstát Government; whether the representations made by the Provisional Government against the dividing up of this service and its objection to handing over the administration of the lights on the North-East coast to any Northern authority is to be maintained; and if it is proposed that the lights, etc., in the area of the Northern Government are to be administered from the Saorstát as at present, and, if not, by whom is it proposed that they will be administered.

Fionán Lynch (Cumann na nGaedheal): Negotíations for the transfer of the Irish Lights Service are proceeding, but it is not yet possible to state the probable date of transfer. No conclusions have yet been reached as to the future administration of the lights on the North-East coast.

Nineteenth century cap badge with crown

Seán Lemass asked the Minister for Finance if he will explain why the flag of Saorstát Eireann is not flown from the flagmasts at lighthouses and ships in the Irish Lights Service, as was the British Ensign heretofore, and if he will take steps to have this matter rectified; and, further, if he will direct the Commissioners of Irish Lights to have their official correspondence printed as "Dun Laoghaire" instead of "Kingstown," as at present, and a more suitable badge than that surmounted by the Crown, now worn by employees, substituted forthwith.

Fionán Lynch:  Pending the conclusion of the negotiations contemplated in the annexe to the Treaty, I have no responsibility for, nor power to give directions to, the Commissioners of Irish Lights.

Hugh Law (Cumann na nGaedheal) : Arising out of the answer, may I ask the Minister whether there is any reason why the Crown of the King of Ireland should not appear on a badge worn by public servants in this ancient Kingdom of Ireland?

Seán Lemass: Is it not correct that the lighthouses controlled by the Irish Lights Commissioners are the property of the Free State Government?

Fionán Lynch:  I presume they are.

Seán Lemass: And if they are our property, are we not in a position to issue orders in connection with the use to be made of them?

Fionán Lynch:  I gather from the reply that pending the negotiations contemplated in the annexe to the Treaty nothing has so far been done about the matter.

Post 1970 Irish Lights badge with the St Patrick's cross

Just a couple of my own observations. Firstly, I don't think the lightship and lighthouse shown on the new and old Irish Lights flag are actual Irish lights, though I'm open to correction on this. It seems more probable that they are generic pictures that could easily have been AI generated by an Irish Lights whizz-kid way ahead of his time in the nineteenth century.

Secondly, the relationship between the three lighthouse boards  - Trinity House (England and Wales), the Northern Lighthouse Board (Scotland and the Isle of Man) and the Ballast Board/Irish Lights has always been very nuanced. Although nominally equal, Trinity House - being the oldest of the three - was perhaps seen as the dominant body. Certainly in the nineteenth century, permission was always sought from TH for the erection of new lighthouses, which added another layer of procrastination to an already slow-moving body that had the financially-minded Board of Trade to pacify as well. Whether this permission was sought out of legalities or politeness - or a combination of the two - is a moot point.

Even after independence, Trinity House controlled the purse-strings. Monies collected from passing ships went into a central fund and were dished out by London, later Harwich. Lemass, above, although deeming it right that Ireland should control its own waters and maritime beacons, probably realised, from a practical point of view that, the new government had only been left twenty quid to run the country and maintaining lighthouses, vessels, buoys and staff cost a lot of money.

Added to which, what do you do about the lights off the north-eastern coast? Would they get transferred to one of the other two boards, or remain a part of the Irish one? Maybe the fact that pre-independence Irish Lights adopted a strict policy that a person's religion was immaterial in keeping our shoreline safe resulted in these lights continuing under Irish Lights as always

During the 2nd World War, the Irish Lights tender Isolda was sunk with the loss of six lives while flying the Georges Cross flag and the Union flag. It was not until 1970, when the Troubles were erupting, that the Board adopted the new ensign, with the St Patrick's cross, a move which, naturally, did not go down well in all quarters.