The Cuckold (or Cuccold Mill) Lighthouse, Kinsale

 

Another lost lighthouse about which we know very little. This is becoming the story of my life. The drawing above is filched from Beam 4.2 (1972-3) and is by somebody called E.P.G.*

Kinsale was once one of the great Irish ports, which is precisely why two of the first six state-sponsored lighthouses - the Old Head and Charlesfort - were built here in the 1660s. With its sheltered harbour, rich farming hinterland and abundant fisheries, it was already a thriving centre of European trade by the 1300s. The Normans had appropriated it and made it into a walled town in the 1200s and the wine trade propelled it into super-stardom.

In those days, the sea extended much further inland than it does today. All the flat land in today's central Kinsale was the harbour, with the old town rising steeply up to the five gates of the town. 

Between the Cork Gate and the end of the Long Quay which, as the name suggests, had a waterside view, there was a mill - on Mill Hill -  dating back to the 1300s. It was also used, down through the years, as a defensive watchtower, a prison and, in the 1970s, as a playschool, although, in the latter instance, only a tiny remnant of the building remained. And it also served as a lighthouse, doubtless privately funded by some rich merchant.

Location of Mill Hill (towards the right of the picture, a third of the way down)

The illustration above - and I have no idea where EPG got his information from - shows how the lighthouse worked. A fire was lit in a giant frying pan and then pushed out over the parapet by the trusty keepers with the help of a metal pole. Simple. Bit of a burgher having to hold the pole balanced on the parapet all night but a job's a job, as my manager delights in telling me.

Next to the mill, there was a ducking stool thang going on in mediaeval times. Witches and women who were known to be irritable or bad-tempered or maybe tutted too loudly, were placed on one end of a see-saw which overhung the sea and then ducked into the water as a form of public humiliation. This was also known as a cucking-stool, according to Mr. Wikipedia, and the cuckold was the contrary woman. Less commonly it was used to censure loose women and later came to describe the men they had cheated on.

I am not sure if the Cuckold or Cuccold lighthouse was named after the nearby attraction, or if the frying pan at the end of the pole was like a woman being ducked. Neither am I sure that I will lose a lot of sleep over it.

James II landed near the lighthouse when he arrived in Ireland in 1689 to put some manners on King Billy. And he departed back to the continent from the lighthouse after King Billy gave him a good kicking. Apparently, there is a painting of James arriving in Kinsale and the Cuckold lighthouse is in it - maybe EPG's source of inspiration - but I've found three paintings and can't spot the lighthouse in any of them.

By the 19th century, the old Mill House was in ruins and now it has virtually disappeared, along with the history within its walls.

Stop Press - many thanks to Andrew for pointing out that Jimmy fled Ireland from Duncannon in county Wexford, not Kinsale. I wouldn't mind but I remember it vividly.

* As per the comments below, EPG was former keeper Eugene Gillen.