Rathlin Easy Lighthouse, Rathlin Island, County Antrim

Rathlin East lighthouse is the location from which the world’s first commercial wireless telegraphy link was established by employees of Guglielmo Marconi, transmitting to Kenmara House in Ballycastle on 6 July 1898.

Rathlin is the only inhabited offshore island of Northern Ireland, with a population of approximately 150 people, down from over a thousand in the late 19th century and is the most northerly inhabited island off the coast of Ireland. There are three lighthouses on the island; East, West and Rue on the south coast.  The eastern light was established in 1856. Originally the tower was unpainted. Then it was coloured overall white with a red band below the balcony. In 1934 for reasons I know not why, this was changed to black. In 1981 it was converted to electric and in 1995 it was automated and the keepers withdrawn from the station.

Straw Island Lighthouse, Inis Mór, Aran Islands, County Galway

Straw Island is a small sandy island that lies at the approaches to the harbour of Cill Rónáin on Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands. The lighthouse on Straw Island is a small but highly important Aid to Navigation. The Aran Islands see a quarter of a million visitors annually travelling to their shores.
The light was the result of a long correspondence battle of over twenty years to have a local light built to replace the discontinued light near Oghil on Inishmore.
Inishmore was established in 1818 but unfortunately it was positioned too high, over 400 feet (122m) above sea level, and more often than not was shrouded in cloud or mist. Also it did not cover the North and South entrances to Galway Bay. Inishmore was replaced in 1857 by lights on Eeragh and Inisheer.

Rockabill Lighthouse, Skerries, County Dublin

In 1837 the Drogheda Harbour Commissioners proposed that a lighthouse be built on Rockabill off Skerries, and they stated that the shipping which frequented Drogheda would cheerfully pay a toll towards a light on Rockabill. 

The lighthouse tower was built 1855–1860 of granite from the Mourne Mountains in County Down and local limestone from Milverton. The name comes from the Irish name for the rock - Carraig Dá Bheola, meaning "Two Lips Rock".

The lighthouse was converted to automatic operation on 1 April 1989. The Lightkeepers were withdrawn and the station was put in the care of a part-time Attendant.
Skerries Sea Tours runs a passenger trip daily to the Lighthouse during the summer months: http://www.skerriesseatours.ie

This is one of just over sixty coastal lighthouses and many more harbour and estuary lights I've illustrated. I'll be posting them up each day. 

Inishtrahull Lighthouse, County Donegal

Inishtrahull, about six miles north of Malin Head, is the most northerly of Ireland's lighthouses and together with Tory Island they form the two main landfall lights for shipping from the Atlantic rounding the north coast of Ireland, alongside navigation to local shipping. 

Inishgort Lighthouse, Clew Bay, County Mayo

The lighthouse tower was originally built in 1806. The island was one of the last places in Ireland to be connected to the electric grid. Nearby is Dorinish, the island that John Lennon purchased in the late 60’s

The light was converted to solar power in July 2000.

Dunmore East Lighthouse, County Waterford

In 1814 when Dunmore was a very small fishing village nestling in a sheltered cove it was chosen by the Post Office to be the Irish terminal of a new Mail Packet route from Milford Haven. The Post Office engaged a Scottish Engineer, Alexander Nimmo, to design and build the new harbour for which he used the local old red sandstone conglomerate. His design included a magnificent lighthouse which took the form of a fluted Doric column with the lantern on top of the capital. There is no exact date as to when the light was established, but it was some time in 1825. The light as established was fixed, catoptric, 3rd order, showing red to sea and white or clear to land, it was 13.4m (44 feet) above high water and the tower painted white. In 1903 white gave way to the natural stone colour. Acetylene gave way to electricity on 24th January 1964 and since August 1981 the optic lamp is powered from ESB mains electricity.

Blackhead Lighthouse, County Clare, Ireland

Like a homesick dalek gazing off to sea, county Clare's Blackhead lighthouse perches atop the otherworldly surface of the Burren's coastline. It however has no desire for world domination, instead contenting itself by guiding wayward ships to shore.

The Burren or "the stoney district" from the Gaelic, forms the northern part of County Clare, bounded by the south shore of Galway Bay to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west. "Not a tree whereon to hang a man; no water in which to drown him; no soil in which to bury him." was the description of the district by one of Cromwell’s generals.

The establishment of the light was protracted only coming into full operation in 1936.

By 1939 as transatlantic shipping ceased coming into Galway bay, the maintenance of the light became a burden on the Galway harbour commissioners and they approached Irish Lights in April 1952 and enquired if they would consider contributing 50% of any increase granted and assist towards the maintenance of Blackhead out of the General Lighthouse Fund. Reluctantly, they said they were seriously considering discontinuing its function. In April 1955 Irish Lights did so and continue to operate Blackhead. On 18 February 2002 the gas light was change to a solar powered light.

Tuskar Rock Lighthouse, County Wexford

The Tuskar Rock lighthouse, built from granite and standing 120 feet (37 metres) tall, was built over a period of years beginning in 1812. In October of that year, a storm struck, washing away temporary barracks which had been erected on the island, and killing fourteen workmen—the worst such disaster in Ireland's history of lighthouse construction. The surviving workers clung to the island's slippery rocks for two full days before being discovered and rescued. Work resumed, and the lighthouse was completed, entering into operation on 4 June 1815.

During wartime small rocks like Tuskar were very vulnerable to drifting mines which had parted from their moorings. One of these mines exploded when it struck the rock on 2nd December 1941 injuring two assistant keepers, W. J. Cahill and P. Scanlan. Both were brought ashore by the Rosslare lifeboat but unfortunately Patrick Scalan died in hospital the next day

On 31st March 1993 the lighthouse was converted to automatic operation and the keepers were withdrawn from the station.

Little Samphire Island Lighthouse, County Kerry

Little Samphire Island is home to a very compact light station, enclosed in a high wall around it's perimeter. The lighthouse is a 12 metre high, unpainted stone-built tower located just off of Fenit, outside of Tralee.Weather dependant, Little Samphire Island is open to the public during summer months and tours can be had of the lighthouse.

Blacksod Lighthouse, Mullet Peninsula, Co May

 Blacksod Lighthouse (Gaelic: Fód Dubh) is situated at the southern end of the Mullet Peninsula, Erris, County Mayo. The lighthouse was built in 1864 by one of the leading merchants in  Belmullet at that time, Bryan Carey.

The lighthouse is made of local granite blocks which are believed to have come from close by Termon Hill which is an isolated granite outcrop of high quality granite on the peninsula. The keeper's house is a two storey square building, which has always been unpainted. It is occupied by a resident lighthousekeeper who is also responsible for Blackrock lighthouse - see below. The house at Blacksod was badly damaged by a rogue wave in 1989 but has since been repaired and is still occupied.

Blacksod is of unusual design for a lighthouse, being a square block of a building with only a small conical lantern section on top of it which is painted white. Although it is easily accessible as it is beside Blacksod Pier, it is not open to the general public.

The Maidens Lighthouse, County Antrim

The Maidens lighthouses, on the Maidens in North Channel off County Antrim in Northern Ireland, date from 1829 and were built at the request of merchants and a royal navy officer. Lighthouses were built on both rocks; the West Maiden was abandoned in 1903 and the East Maiden was automated in 1977.

By October 1977, an electric light was added to the lighthouse and by 31 October of that year, the Keepers were withdrawn as the Maidens became an automatic operation and control passed to Ferris Point. Currently, the station is monitored by an Attendant as well as from the headquarters of the Commissioners of Irish Lights at Dun Laoghaire 

This is one of just over sixty coastal lighthouses and many more harbour and estuary lights I've illustrated. I'll be posting them up each day.
The A2 poster of 16 of the most iconic lighthouses is up and ready to ship. If you're interested in a particular lighthouse they're available in A4 or A3 size. 

www.irelandposters.ie

Haulbowline Lighthouse, Carlingford Lough, Co Down

The Haulbowline Lighthouse is an active 19th century lighthouse, described as an "elegant, tapering stone tower". It is located at the entrance to Carlingford Lough, near Cranfield Point in County Down, Northern Ireland. The lighthouse was built on the eastern part of the Haulbowline rocks, one of a number of navigation hazards at the seaward end of Carlingford Lough. Construction of the 34-metre-high  stone tower has been described as "a remarkable achievement at the time", given the location "on a semi-submerged rock with fast currents running around it". Originally white in colour, the paint was removed in 1946 to reveal the stone beneath. The principal light is displayed 32m above sea level as a constant white light. A secondary light was also displayed on a balcony facing the sea, known as a half-tide light, this was lit when the state of the tide was such that there would be enough depth for ships to pass into the lough, and until 1922 a black ball was also raised on a mast above the tower during daylight hours, to indicate the same tidal conditions.

This is one of just over sixty coastal lighthouses and many more harbour and estuary lights I've illustrated. I'll be posting them up each day.
The A2 poster of 16 of the most iconic lighthouses is up and ready to ship. If you're interested in a particular lighthouse they're available in A4 or A3 size.