Pete's Irish Lighthouses

Couldn't find this on my flying visit to Arklow last year but succeeded this time! Heading south, go over the main bridge in Arklow and immediately turn left. Follow the quay road towards the sea, passing the Lightship Skua on the other side of the river. When you reach the small harbour, go around two sides of it. You will then see a signpost for South Beach. Follow the road around, heading south as far as it will go. At the entrance to the Roadstone works, the narrow road to the left will lead you around to some rocks on the outside of the perimeter fence. A short walk from there will lead you to around 100 yards of the light. Alternatively and quite illegally, we simply drove through the site unchallenged until we reached the jetty! The light is situated on top of a corrugated iron building, seemingly at the end of a conveyor belt. It is a red light and has a range of nine miles. If all lighthouses were as unprepossessing as this, I probably wouldn't have any interest...

Continue past the turn off for Portsalon, following the signs for Cionn na Fhanada. At the T-junction, turn right and the lighthouse will come into view after about 3kms. A most photogenic lighthouse, whether from near or far. The lighthouse itself dates from 1886, though there was a station there since 1817. See also 2016 visit

Didn't manage to get to this lighthouse which is on the west coast of the Inishowen peninsular. Had to content myself with a photo from Portsalon on the east coast of the Fanad peninsular. Not a great photo but it was a very gloomy late November afternoon. Built 1876. See 2016 visit here

Arrived in Moville, armed with a description that the lighthouse was 1/3 mile off shore. Took the short side street down to the Lough and you can't miss it, dead ahead of you and it doesn't seem like 1/3 mile anyway. Built in 1882, this is the largest of a series of pile lighthouses built at the end of the 19th Century. The keepers lived in town but spent the night in the watch room. Together with the Cobh Harbour lighthouse, there are only 3 of these left in the country. See also 2016 visit

A few miles south of the Inishowen Head lighthouse is Warren Point. In order to access it, you need to drive into the Greencastle Golf Club, park in the car park, walk past the first tee, across a fairway and down to Lough Foyle. Station established in 1861. See also 2016 visit

Spending three days in Letterkenny in November. On one of the days we did the Inishowen peninsular and there are three lighthouses in about five miles up on the northern end of the R241. The most northerly is Inishowen Head - turn right in Shroove and the road winds right past it. Built in 1837 it was actually one of a pair, the other being demolished in 1961. My wife doesn't like either photo as they don't include the sea! Note - the second light was not demolished See here See also visit to Inishowen Light in 2016

I had been informed that the Lightship Kittiwake (or the Automated Lightfloat - ALF - Kittiwake had been moored at Pigeon House Harbour - Dublin docklands (see previously) After wandering around the South side of the Liffey for hours, asking people where Pigeon House Harbour was, I gave up. Eventually Simon Coate of the Dun Laoghaire Port Authority was able to tell me that it is actually moored alongside the Point Depot - soon to be the O2 Village - on the north bank of the Liffey These pictures were taken around 07:45 on the October Bank Holiday morning with the sun just rising up over Dublin Bay. Built of steel in 1959, it was converted to an ALF in 1981. It was previously moored in Dun Laoghaire harbour (2002) It was decommissioned in 2007 and now is up for sale "as is" price on application!