Pete's Irish Lighthouses

Set in what appears to be someone's garden about a half a mile north of Duncannon Fort Lighthouse (below), this is in fact the original lighthouse that stood in Roches Point in Cork! Built in 1817 it came to Wexford in 1838. The lighthouse and cottages are located at the end of a short lane which is unfortunately locked by a gate. The two photos above are taken from the road to Arthurstown. The photo below is taken from Duncannon Fort. Interestingly, the guide there told me that due to a big cock-up while dredging the estuary, the light has recently been put back in active service. Indeed, I noticed it flashing while I was there.

Located where the Suir / Barrow estuary opens out before joining the sea at Hook Head / Dunmore East, this lighthouse is only partially visible from land as access to it is not open to the public. The Fort itself is open, but on request, a guide accompanied me through a locked gate to get the photo above. He told me that the light flashes white when all is well, but red whenever a boat is heading for trouble! Both Hook Head and Duncannon North lighthouses are visible from it.

Located at the end of the original harbour wall in Dunmore East, this Romanesque lighthouse guarded one side of the Barrow / Suir estuary, the other side watched over by Hook Head. Despite this, this whole area is known as the Graveyard of a Thousand Ships. The lighthouse is built into a wall - the entrance must be through one of the green doors on the wall?? Consequently, the lighthouse is a lot shorter and squatter when viewed from the seaward side!! Dunmore East Lighthouse with Hook Head across the river in the background. Further up the coast from Dunmore East (and consequently on the Waterford side of the river) is the village of Crooke - this is the origin of the phrase "By Hook or by Crooke." There is a bit of a spur built on from the lighthouse on the old harbour wall. A new light guards this spur.

Okay, so these are not really lighthouses but they are very definitely aids to maritime mavigation and they are lighthouse-like in appearance, so I reckon they are worthy of mention. Brownstown Head (above) is adorned with two pillars, Tramore Head (below) is adorned with three, the centre one of which plays host to the famous "Metal man," which is something of a symbol of Tramore.

The Lightship Guillemot is now a maritime museum moored in what appears to be part of the car park in Kilmore Quay. We did not go in, mainly because the village failed to live up to our expectations both in terms of dining and accommodation, so we couldn't wait to get out of it!

Rather a disappointing long range photo of this lighthouse at the extreme south east of Ireland. I had my wife in tow and we drove down to the ferry terminal, where the two driving options were "Check in" or "Ferry Terminal." We were still a long way from the pier at this stage, never mind the length of the pier itself. Had I been on my own , I would probably have parked up and continued on foot, but whereas my wife allows for my lighthouse fascination, sitting in a car for 40 minutes would be a light too far! I therefore chose discretion over valour and took this shot from the approach road overlooking the harbour.