The inauguration of Inishtrahull lighthouse 8th October 1958

 


July 2024 pic of the new light on Inishtrahull

The new lighthouse on Inishtrahull was the first major lighthouse constructed in Ireland since Rathlin West. Smaller lights such as Blackhead in Clare had been added to the list but Inishtrahull was the first large light to be built since 1916. There would only be one more – the Kish.
I have no idea where I obtained the following little presentation from but it may well have belonged to somebody who took part in the 'Hull's inauguration ceremony on the 8th October 1958, nearly seventy years ago. It took the form of a little booklet with the programme of events, three photos, evidently recently taken, and a prepared potted history of the light.



To be fair, I'd have loven to be a part of that trip, provided they had some Jaffa cakes as part of the afternoon tea. Unfortunately, to quote a line from a Ponytails song of the time, why was it my fate/ to be born too late?
A couple of points about the itinerary. Around 1880, it was the custom for the wife of the principal keeper to light a new lamp for the first time, a nod to the real power behind the throne. Evidently this had been done away with by the enlightened times of the 1950s. Also, of course, there is no mention of the keepers there, nor their wives, who had probably been up all night preparing the Marmite sandwiches, slicing up pork pies and opening tins of bully beef.
The Granuaile was not of course the present (2000) ILT, nor the previous (1970-2000) one but the 1948-1970 boat, built by Inglis & co of Glasgow.




Evidently aerial photographs!


This was how the ceremony was reported in the Belfast Telegraph the following day: -


I think the amazing thing about this lighthouse was that it was constructed in six weeks! The optic incidentally was by Stone Chance not Stone Change, as mentioned in the article.


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