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Photobombing Poolbeg lighthouse
Oprah chats to the Poolbeg lighthouse about surviving old age in a world of technology. Photo Oprah Winfrey
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North Wall Quay, Dublin, 1937
From the Irish Press 6th October 1937. In 1937, the North Wall pier in Dublin port was extended which, naturally, left the 1904 light sitting uselessly mid-pier. Should they knock it down and build it...
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More politeness from the old IRA
From the Robinson Family Album 1906 (NLI)According to the witness statement of Michael Coleman in the military history archives, at this time of the War of Independence, a small company of men had been...
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Time and tide – more balls
Haulbowline light c 1905 (NLI) in the days when the tower was painted whiteLast month, I did a post on time balls, entities of which I had been totally ignorant hitherto. Basically, in order for...
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Close but no cigar - photographing the Fastnets
The Fastnets I suspect that when the Astronomer Royal, Sir Robert Ball, got his photos back from the pharmacy (ask your parents, kids) in 1903, he'd have been kicking himself. So close, but not quite...
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Peadar Kearney and the Tory Island lighthouse
Tory Island lighthouse c.1905 (CIL)(Apologies for the formatting of this post. A number of features of Blogger have decided not to work. I hope its only temporary)Soldiers are we, whose lives are...
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Meteorite off the Beara?
From the Irish Independent 28th March 1955Exciting times at the Bull Rock or what?First time a keeper has been injured due to extra terrestrial activity, but of course we don't know the full...
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Telling the time in Dublin Port
The Dublin Time Ball sitting on top of the old Irish Lights offices in Dublin city centre. Photo National Library of IrelandWarning - the lighthouse element of this post is minimal, but I found it...
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Reaching for the Kleenex, Blackrock Mayo 1938
I haven't recovered from this story yet. As many of you who know me are aware, I am a great man for showing my emotions, for displaying empathy and believe in the power of true love. Just ask my wife....
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The elusive Con Murrin, Rathlin O'Birne
All photos, except one, myhome.ieFive years ago, give or take, I wrote a piece about the history of Rathlin O'Birne (O'Beirne) and the keepers that served on that illustrious isle off the southwest...
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O Meara and Robinson, Irish Lights painters
Patrick O Meara, in heroic pose, possibly on the Tuskar. Photo courtesy Liam O MearaBack in the day, when I had ludicrous notions that I could make it as a serious poet, I used to enter the odd poetry...
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The Sheep's Head
In the 1960s, Gulf Oil built large holding tanks on Whiddy Island that would temporarily store crude oil from the Gulf before it was shipped on around northern Europe. Supertankers (300,000 tons +)...
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Seagulls' eggs
A totally unrelated but beautiful Pat Cook photo of Aranmore at sunsetThat’s what they used to call us, says Ciarán O’Bríaín, lightkeeper 570 in the pantheon of Irish Lights’ personnel. Seagulls’...
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The Ross Coastguard Station in photographs
This is the Ross Coastguard station about a mile north of Killala in county Mayo. I wrote about it here in July 2022 because, well, it did officially shine a light from the top window to mark the...
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The relief of lightships Kish and Codling
Model of the Cormorant lightship, Codling Bank. The following article appeared in the Irish Press of 21st June 1955. Words by Dominick Coyle. Pictures by Bill St Ledger. Although parts of it are quite...
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The inauguration of Inishtrahull lighthouse 8th October 1958
July 2024 pic of the new light on InishtrahullThe new lighthouse on Inishtrahull was the first major lighthouse constructed in Ireland since Rathlin West. Smaller lights such as Blackhead in Clare had...
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Drogheda North restoration complete
Members of the conservation project team in front of the recently restored lighthouseNine years after the restoration of Drogheda North lighthouse was announced comes the very good news that it has...
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Dingle pier light
Detail from a Lawrence collection photograph in the National Library of IrelandFrom the British Islands Pilot: January 1917There appears to be no light at the end of the pier these days. The two...
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Argus and Midge
The Princess Alexandra and the Moya off the Skelligs c.1903. Photo NLI. I have no photos, or even drawings of the Argus or the Midge, so this photo will have to doI have, for many years, made fun of...
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Penguins on Rockabill?
Rockabill and the famous roseate terns. Photo Aidan ArnoldAside from the incredible photo above, (I'd have run for shelter and not bothered with the camera!) this piece has only a vague connection to...
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