Pete's Irish Lighthouses

Whilst on the ferry out to Bere Island we passed quite close to Castletownbere Lights 2 and 3, located on the western end of tiny Dinish Island, which is where Castletownbere's main harbour activity lies. At first, there were two unlit beacons here, one on this site and one on the water's edge. Ships knew that when you lined the beacons up, you had the right approach to the harbour. Then in 1983, the beacons were demolished and the light above was established. The centre rectangle was originally painted red to act as a daymark and the light shone through the small rectangular panel just visible in the centre of the rectangle in the top picture. However, when Castletownbere 3 (next entry) was established in 2011, the light was removed and the red painted over with white paint (only one coat, I'd say - the red is still visible beneath the white!) Dinish Island incidentally is connected to the mainland by a bridge. Simply drive across and follow the road either clockwise...

So, my brother-in-law Aiden and myself had been planning a trip down to West Cork for ages, the object of which was basically to get the cable-car to Dursey Island, walk the 4 miles to the end of the island for views of the Calf Rock, Bull Rock and the remains of the old temporary lighthouse. The 2 days before we were due to go, we found out that the cable car was out of action for a week for a repairs. So Plan B. We drove down to Catletownbere, had a quick pint of Murphy's in O'Sullivan's while waiting for the ferry and then went to Bere Island, which protects the harbour at Castletownbere. Getting off the boat, you walk up the lonely road till you reach a t-junction, turn right and follow the Red Loop hiking signs. The road soon disappears and you hike about 45 minutes over hill and dale and through a few swampy bits to get to the south westerly point of the island, Ardnakinna. This is a lovely and completely isolated lighthouse, a lot bigger than I'd imagine...

 In the years that I've been lighthouse hunting, I was surprised I'd never run into the Granuaile before. But there it was, docked alongside the Carlisle Pier in Dun Laoghaire in May 2013. The Irish Lights Vessel Granuaile is the third CIL ship to bear the name. It was built in the Netherlands and delivered in January 2000.  The new Granuaile has been designed to be a multi-functional vessel which can operate in difficult sea conditions. Fitted with dynamic positioning Class I linked to the satellite based navigation system DGPS, the vessel's primary function is to place and service the 150 offshore buoys which warn Mariners of the location of sand banks, reefs, and other offshore hazards near shipping routes. The ship also serves as a helicopter platform for servicing offshore lighthouses and is available to assist State agencies with Search and Rescue, emergency towing, oil pollution control, surveying, and offshore data collection. When she was built she w...

 This is a lighthouse? Well, not really. It is an ex-lighthouse. It has ceased to be. The Lighthouse Directory lists this as a lighthouse. It has a picture of a red light mounted atop the old ferry terminal building that used to stand on the pier (also called the Mailboat pier, as this was the pier that the boats to Holyhead used to leave from). However, the building - together with a rather lovely Victorian railway station - was torn down by the Council in September 2009. The red light now appears to have been transferred to a pole at the end of the pier.

From the East Pier, a number of lighthouses can be seen, though some of them are quite distant. You can see Muglins in Dalkey, the Baily at Howth, Poolbeg and North Wall at the entrance to Dublin harbour and of course the West and East Pier lighthouses themselves. I was unsurprised to find they still haven't knocked down the wall that blocks off this lighthouse from the pier, since I was here in 2007  In 2010, responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the two pier lighthouses was transferred from the Commissioner of Irish Lights to the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company.  Built in 1847 to guide ships into the harbour here, it was automated in March1955, when the two keepers' dwelling houses were abandoned.

Can't believe it was six years since I was here last . Like last time, I decided to walk the East Pier rather than the West, as the West Pier is very very long  So this is the view from the West Pier. The first three shots are from towards the end of the pier, so looking north westwards. The bottom three are from the beginning of the pier and so look more east of north. The red splodge of Poolbeg lighthouse can be seen in pictures four and six.  Built in 1852, (ten years younger than the East Pier) the lantern was painted white until 1996, when they decided to paint it green. The associated lightkeepers dwellings date from 1863.

This is the swanky new home of the Commissioner of Irish Lights, the body responsible for many of the lighthouses, beacons, buoys and helipads around the Irish coast, north and south. This site has been the home of the Commissioners of Irish Lights since 1875. From its early planning, a conscious decision was made to produce a building of contemporary design: a modern structure reflecting the ethos of the client, using the most modern technologies that provide aids to the marine industry. This structure also provides a counterpoint to the various historic structures nearby, which, in their own right, are prominent landmarks.There are two main structures in this development: a circular open-plan administration office linked to a rectilinear functional workshop building. It was completed in 2008.