Pete's Irish Lighthouses

And so to the lightship Petrel. I didn't think I'd find this, as directions were pretty vague but it rather fell into our laps. Go into Balloo on the A22. At the Saintfield crossroads take the road signposted Whiterock. Go through Killinchy and when yo get to Whiterock, there is a sudden bend to the left. Keep following this road, ignoring a road that leads right across a causeway, and after about 3/4 mile, the lightship is on your right. Built around 1915, decommissioned in 1968, it has been the headquarters of the Down Cruising Club since 1969. Delighted to find a lightship that has been put to some use.

And so, up the coast to this very picturesque lighthouse standing smartly to attention at the end of the pier in Donaghadee. Originally erected in 1836, it was designed by the men who built the Eddystone Lighthouse off Plymouth, though substantially repaired when gutted by fire in 1900. Brendan Behan apparently painted this lighthouse, though I suspect more in a fine art way than a decorating way. Incidentally, approaching Donaghadee from the south, I kept glimpsing what I assumed was the lighthouse at Mews Island, north east of Donaghadee. Ah, says I, I'll get a better view of it the further up the coast I go. Unfortunately between Donaghadee and the outskirts of Bangor there was no sea view at all. If I'd had time, I'd have detoured off to Groomsport where I believe it might have been possible to get a decent view, but the shops of Newry, like Danny Boy's pipes, were calling.

The other object sticking up above the horizon from Cloghey is this mystery object. No mention of it in Trabas, it appears to be sitting on a rock directly east of Cloghey, maybe 2 miles out to sea, possibly less. If it isn't a light, I've no idea what it is.

Driving north from Portaferry on the A2, after about 5 miles, you finally hit the sea at Cloughey, Cloghy, Cloughy or Cloghey and lo and behold, gazing out onto the still waters, there are two objects sticking up above the horizon. This is the more southerly of the two, the famous South Rock or Kilwarlin Lighthouse. Built by Thomas Rogers in 1797, it is the oldest waveswept lighthouse in Ireland and possibly in the world. It was replaced by the South Rock lightship in 1877.

Better photos than the last time - http://irishlighthouses.blogspot.com/2007/08/angus-rock-strangford.html - this little pepperpot light is situated on an island just off Strangford and very close to the route of the ferry that plies its 8 minute journey between Strangford and Portaferry on the Ards peninsular.

Okay, okay! At first I thought this had to be a lighthouse, even though I could find no reference to it. I mean, what else could it be? From Wikipedia - "SeaGen is the name given to the 1.2MW tidal energy convertor that was installed in Strangford Lough in April 2008"

See entry for Gowlands Rock - http://irishlighthouses.blogspot.com/search?q=gowland Below, the finishing line... Strangford was named by the Vikings - strang fjord - to describe the extremely strong currents that are forced up the narrow channel.