Dail charge against Lighthouse Keepers
Difficult to get a photo of a Spanish or French fishing boat passing an Irish lighthouse, so here's the Glor na dTonn at Rotten Island (note the complete absence of brandy) From the Irish Times 15th June 1962 :- "A charge that some lighthouse keepers around the Irish coast were accepting presents of brandy from poaching trawlers as a reward for signals about the pending arrival of fishery protection corvettes, was made in the Dail yesterday. 'Mr Leneghan (Independent) said that there was mass poaching by French, Spanish and English trawlers. These gentlemen were usually equipped with large stocks of brandy and our coasts were well equipped with lighthouses, and the men in them were not averse to drinking brandy. If his information was correct, these gentlemen were able to signal to those foreign boats when the corvettes were coming in sight. 'Mr Tully (Lab) - I hope deputy Leneghan can prove that statement himself. If not, he should not have made it in the House w...