The very first Beam

 

Back in December 1969, a new publication hit the streets, or rather, the rocks, with the appearance of Vol 1, Issue 1 of Beam, the journal of the Irish Lighthouse Service. It was B5 in size (182 x 257mms), had 34 pages and, unlike the glossy A4 magazine it morphed into in later years, the only splash of colour was the blue sea on the cover, which featured a generic lightvessel lying offshore from a generic lighthouse, a scene which I'm sure was rare enough in reality.
Prior to Beam, Irish Lights had published an occasional newsletter, most of which have never surfaced again but the new journal marked the start of what would become a great source of research for future pharologists, as well as a cracking read for all branches of the service, from lightkeepers, to office staff and light tenders, coastal tradesmen, depot staff and technical staff. There are doubtless complete sets of Beam lying in attics around the country which could easily be digitised and made available to the public. Several issues are available on line on the Internet Archive Wayback service. Thanks to the generosity of several former keepers, I have many of the forty volumes but the gaps are glaring!

Doubtless there are many, like me, who expected the first issue to be a bit cringe and prehistoric but the editor (not named) did a very good job at filling the pages with varied and interesting content. The Chairman of the Commissioners, Tom Wilson, had died during the year and there was an appreciation of him. He was the author of 'The Irish Lighthouse Service,' precursor of Bright Lights, White Water. There was a two page history of Irish Lights; five pages by Engineer in Chief ADH Martin on Recent Projects and Future Plans, featuring the new Sheeps Head light, racons, bathrooms at Tarbert, Greenore and Galley Head, amongst others;a not very interesting training update; a feature on Clare Island lighthouse by Michael Costeloe, one of the greats of Irish lighthouse research and writer of much of the content of future books and websites; a short story and a poem by DJ O'Sullivan; a quite amusing Notice to Mariners, advising of the Discontinuance of a Leading Light, a novel way of announcing the retirement of Captain William Ball from the service after 35 years 'during which time he was never extinguished;' a piece on the introduction of helicopters by Ken Holden and a piece on the recent census of breeding birds.
There were also the lists of new entrants, promotions and retirements from all branches of the service, though no deaths, which would be a feature of future issues. Obviously 1969 was a healthy year, summer of love and all that. I reproduce these pages from the journal as I'm sure many former Irish Lights employees will recognise some of the names - Stapleton, Whelan, Greenlee, Ryan, McCurdy, Kneafsey, Butler, Roche etc.