Inis Mor lighthouse is up for sale. The original and long-defunct lighthouse at the highest point of the Aran Islands commands magnificent views over all sides of Galway Bay and boasts no mod cons.
I visited in 2018, on the bicentenary of its establishment, though I didn't realise it at the time. There was a handmade notice on the door saying that the lighthouse was closed for renovations, though there were no signs of any renovations happening. The tower itself seems fairly intact but the houses are pretty dilapidated.
In 1799, a signal tower was erected at the site, one of a chain that stretched around the coast, each one visible to two others, in case the French invaded. The lighthouse was established next to the tower in 1818 to mark the chain of Aran Islands in Galway Bay, a task at which it failed miserably. Like many lighthouses at the time, it was built too high and was frequently enveloped in low cloud or fog, rendering it useless. In 1857 it was replaced by two lights; one at the western end of the chain (Eeragh or Rock Island) and another at the eastern end (Inis Oirr). A third light at Straw Island was established in 1878.
The lighthouse compound is for sale through Keane Mahony Smith estate agents for €550,000, which seems almost as steep as the track up to the site, considering that both the lighthouse and the adjacent signal tower are both protected structures and you wouldn't be able to turn them into a bijou two up, two down. The photos on this page are from the estate agents brochure.
Oh, and there's no WIFI.
Incidentally, the keepers cottages on Rathlin O'Beirne island off the coast of Donegal that were for sale in 2019 were snapped up for €75,000.
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