Pete's Irish Lighthouses

  The LV Kittiwake late December 2022 For a long time now I have been boring the arse off my readership with occasional reports about the Kittiwake Light Vessel, one of the last two such boats still located in Ireland (The Petrel , in the care of the Down Cruising Club up in Strangford Lough is the other one) See previous posts here , here , here  and here .  The Kittiwake (1959) was one of five new light vessels commissioned by Irish Lights in the 1950s, to replace the composite steel and wood vessels that had manned the stations along the east and south coasts of Ireland for the first part of the century. The others were the Gannet (1954), the Osprey (1955), the Shearwater  (1955) and the Sku a (1960). All were built by Philip and Son of Dartmouth, who also supplied light vessels to the English coast, they were all 134 ft long and the frames and decks were made of steel. They also had deep bilge keels to offset the dreadful rolling that the older light vessels s...

Bomore Point lighthouse? Well, if you're not from Sligo in general or Rosses Point in particular, it is probable that you are not alone in never having heard of it. In terms of self-publicity, it makes Drogheda North light seem like the Fastnet. In fact, I suspect a straw poll of Rosses Point residents would show scant knowledge of this structure that stood proudly between two incredibly popular beaches for many years. Detail from postcard above One group of people who would recognise it would be the old keepers who manned Oyster Island lighthouse. There were always keepers out on the Black Rock lighthouse and they rotated with the Oyster Island keepers. However, the latter were also responsible for the unwatched lights on the north of Coney Island (x 2), the Metal Man, Bomore Point and the Rosses pile light.  Irish Townland and Historical Map Viewer O.S. last edition, showing Bomore Point, top middle; Oyster Island, bottom right; Coney Island lights, left middle; and the Metal Man...

  The old Inishtrahull lighthouse (photo John McCarron) Every month, I attend St, James' Hospital in Dublin to donate platelets. It is far from a selfless act. It assuages my guilt that I do very little for the community and I can go on being a mean bastard for the rest of the month. Anyhow, taking advantage of the free city centre parking, I have taken to nipping down to the National Archives about 20 minutes walk away to do a bit of lighthouse research. Yes, I know, dead nerdy. Anyhow, on my last visit I ordered a file of letters relating to one Robert Irvine, the first Inishtrahull keeper. The reference is CSO/RP/1823/689. I have transcribed all but one of the letters but, sadly, it is far too large (over 2500 words) to reproduce here. So I shall just give a brief resume. Scotsman Robert Irvine arrived in Dublin with a fistful of money and a cargo of herring around the time of the above notice and applied for the job. He got it and, shortly afterwards, on April 12th, was to...

  Over the years, my library of lighthouse books has increased considerably, although I always try and borrow from libraries if I can, as I'm a miserable sort of a person who wouldn't spend Christmas. Also, the fact that if you buy something and its not relevant, you feel you've wasted money. But, as I say, my library is now well-stocked and all I now need to do is learn to read. I'd been trying to get a hold of Born on the Edge of White Water by Leonard V Stocker (Pen Press Publications 2004) for a while now. The Stocker name is an old one in Irish lighthouses. Edward Stocker was at the Hook in 1830; his son, Henry Aquila Stocker, was PK on Tory when the Wasp foundered in 1884; another son Charles was on the Calf Rock in 1870 and so on, down through the generations, marrying other keepers' daughters etc.  There were three Leonard Victor Stockers, all in three generations. Lenny snr (1869-1953) was born at Oyster Island; Lenny middle  (1897 - 1986) was born at Wic...

  My thanks yet again to the multi-faceted John McCarron, sculptor, painter and local historian, for digging up a new photograph of Buncrana lighthouse, first established at the end of the pier in the southern end of Lough Swilly on 15th January 1876. When I first found out that the Buncrana light was actually the 1849 Newcastle co. Down light, rescued from the sea and recycled, I got in touch with Buncrana, who put me on to John, who has since done sterling, selfless work helping me with the histories of Buncrana, Dunree Head, Inishtrahull and all things Inishowen maritime. The photograph above is, as stated, from the Lawrence Collection in the National Library and dates to around 1890. It seems that that crane photobombing the photo was very much a permanent fixture on the pierside, probably used for dredging and/or loading/unloading.  It very much complements another photograph from the same collection, taken from the Lough ; - I don't know what the technical term is, but t...

  To my mind, "attempting to cause disaffection" sounds like something that was made up on the spot. "What are you going to charge me with?" "Erm, not saying nice things." It would seem to me that by December 1916, the vast majority of the population would have been completely disaffected with British rule and if this makey-up law had been applied evenly, the courts would have been running 24/7. Richard O'Donnell was Assistant Keeper at Blackhead at the time. He had been born in Dublin, son of experienced keeper John O'Donnell. He had previously served at Dundalk and, before that, Eagle Island where he married one Ellen Gallagher, daughter of the man who had the contract to transport men and provisions out to that inhospitable light. 

  Ballycotton lighthouse and fog bell back in the day. CIL photo album in the NLI The coast of east Cork is notorious for dense fogs, so much so that the only Irish Lights station without a lighthouse - Poer Head - was established there in 1879 and survived through to 1970. The lighthouse at Ballycotton had been established in 1851 with a flashing white light that could be seen for eighteen miles in clear weather but was obviously rendered useless in thick fog. Cue the Reverend George Sackville Cotter Hingston, local Protestant curate, who became a veritable thorn in the side of the Ballast Board in his agitations for a fog bell at the station. A letter to the Cork Constitution in March 1855 lays the blame for the wreck of the Choice (a barque loaded with barley) the previous month firmly on the lack of a fog bell on the station. He also relays another story whereby a wreck on the island itself during a snowstorm was narrowly averted by the lightkeeper (Mr. Nolan) and his ass...

  A rather worrying report from a newspaper called the Cumberland Pacquet 4th October 1786. It is worrying in that the name of the unfortunate keeper is not mentioned, nor can I find out if indeed the keeper, evidently a male, was executed for his negligence.

  As part of the ALK'S AGM weekend in Belfast in October, we got the opportunity to visit Black Head lighthouse in county Antrim and access the lantern and balcony, courtesy of the good people in CIL. Black Head marks the northern entrance to Belfast Lough. Because of this important location, it is surprising that it was only established in 1902, although a short-lived cottage-style light was built on top of the hill above it in the 1660s. The reason for this is probably the presence of the two Maidens lights several miles north east, which were probably deemed adequate enough to signify where a ship was in relation to Belfast. It is obviously not a coincidence that when one of the Maidens was discontinued, Black Head was established. The lighthouse is accessed by way of a narrow 'high' road from the town of Whitehead (I kid you not) or by way of a path along the bottom of the cliffs from the same place. The path is great fun and probably better in rough weather, due to th...