East Maidens Light

 Following on from the previous post, this is the still very much active East Maidens Light with its black band on white still guarding the shoals at the entrance to Larne Harbour.

 Unveiled on the same day (5th January 1829) as the West Maidens. It was made automatic in 1977.

West Maidens Light

 From Barr's Point (see previous entry) or from the little seaside village a bit further up the coast, there are views of the two Maidens, halfway between Ireland and Scotland. The views may be distant but they're actually better than I'd expected and. short of getting the Larne - Stranraer ferry, probably the best I can hope for.

 The tower, 84 feet above seal level, was first lit on 5th January 1829, along with its sister (next post) 800 yards away. With the improvement of the range of the East Light in 1903, this light was discontinued. It was originally painted red with a white band at the top.

Barr Point Fog Signal

About half a mile north of Ferris Head, lies Barr's Point Fog Signal. I had thought that there was a way around to it via the little hamlet at the end of the headland but a local assured me that there wasn't. I had no option but to drive up to the Golf Club I had passed and ask permission to visit the signal.

The fog signal is located on the sea front next to the seventh tee. To be frank, I don't believe the Golf Club needs fear being inundated with lighthouse enthusiasts eager to glimpse this building, which looks more like your average electrical supply building..

They discontinued the fog signal on 12th June 2006. I am presuming that the little grey heads sticking out of the roof in the top picture is the foghorn apparatus but I could be wrong. The picture above shows the fog signal flanked by the two Maidens out in the Irish Sea. There had been a fog watch signal station here since at least 1906. The fog signal gun replaced the fog bell around 1928.

Barr Point Fog Signal Station came into being in 1905

Assorted Larne Harbour Lights

 Four lights found in Larne Harbour

Chaine Tower, Larne

Across the entrance to Larne Harbour lies Chaine Tower, presumably modelled on the ancient round towers of Ireland. It was constructed in 1888 as a memorial to one James Chaine, the local MP. but a light was only added in 1899. It is connected to the mainland by a causeway and is to be found north of the docks in Larne. Due to time constraints, I restricted myself to views from Ferris Point

 Below, the view from Barr's Fog Signal - Ferris Point on the left and Chaine Tower on the right.

Ferris Point Lighthouse buoys

 In the grounds of Ferris Point, there was a selection of buoys in the yard...

Ferris Point Lighthouse,

 From the Blackhead Light, take the Islandmagee Road northwards up into the peninsular. The picturesque is stunningly beautiful until you reach the stunningly ugly power station. At the end of the road, turn left and where the road bends left, the lighthouse is to your right.

Ireland finally entered the technological age in 1976 with this ultra-modern, space-age black glass box housed in a white tower, standing guard over the northern approaches to Larne Harbour, across the water from Chaine Tower. Sadly, it was to be a short-lived success for the tower was completely swamped by the chimneys of the aforementioned power station behind it and the Larne Harbour floodlights and it was decommissioned in 1974

The tower is now used as the harbour control tower for the port of Larne. It also boasts a CIL helipad.

A traditional lighthouse has been on the site since 1839, when it was known as Larne Lough Lighthouse. Despite scouring the net for nearly thirty seconds, I have only managed to come up with one image of the old lighthouse, and that copyrighted by the Belfast Telegraph.

Muldersleigh Hill, Whitehead

 Yup, I know what you're thinking. Doesn't look much like a lighthouse to me neither. But I reckon it might have been one once...

 Muldersleigh Hill sits above Blackhead Light, north of the town of Whitehead on the peninsular called Islandmagee. Back in the 1660s, six lighthouses were patented around the coast of Ireland. Of these original six, one was at the Old Head of Kinsale, one at Barry Oge's Castle, Kinsale, one at Hook Head, one at Howth (on land), one at Howth (sandbar) and the sixth at Isle of Magee (sic) The lights consisted of coal braziers on the roofs of cottages and the two at Howth sandbar and Isle of Magee were very shortlived.

Kevin McCarthy's book "Lighthouses of Ireland" says "The Blackhead headland, surrounded by a stony beach, rises to 211 feet above sea level to the north-east of Whitehead. Its prominent position at the north east entrances to Belfast Lough made it an ideal site for the first lighthouse built in the area in 1665 at the order of King Charles II.  However it was abandoned within three years of its construction."
Where exactly this cottage was, nobody seems to know. However in "An Historical Account of the Diocese of Connor" by the Rev. James O'Laverty (1833), there is a single sentence that says "On the summit of Muldersleigh Hill are the ruins of a light-house..."
Unfortunately judging by all the trespassers out signs, Muldersleigh Hill appears to be private property, so I had to content myself with a view from the road.

Blackhead Lighthouse, Whitehead

My daughter, Louise, had to attend a conference in Belfast today, so I very magnanimously offered to drive her up there. Basically I had six hours before I picked her up again, so I headed north on the A2 to the lovely peninsular of Islandmagee.

 Blackhead Lighthouse (be careful, there is another Blackhead Light in co Clare) sits high on a cliff at the north end of Whitehead Bay. It can be reached from two ways - a spectacular beach walk from the town of Whitehead (from which I am assured the views of the light are spectacular) or the more lazy drive up McCrae's Brae and along the contours of Muldersleigh Hill. The lighthouse is right at the end of the road but you might want to park up just before you hit the first corner, as turning places are scarce.

54°46.016'N

005°41.338'W

 Blackhead Light was only completed in 1902, having been designed by William Douglass, Engineer to the Commissioner of Irish Lights. The octagonal tower was originally painted red, but this was changed to white in 1929. The adjoining cottages are apparently available to rent out.

South Rock Superbuoy

This is the same lighthouse that I was puzzling over here

http://irishlighthouses.blogspot.com/2009/08/near-south-rock.html

At the time, I was puzzling over what it was, as thewre was no mention of it in Trabas. I think I may have found the answer. From CIL "Monday, March 2 2009
The South Rock Lightfloat was permanently withdrawn from station and replaced by a port-hand lateral superbuoy on Wednesday 25 February 2009.A lightship was first established at the South Rock on the 1st April 1877, replacing the lighthouse which had been established in 1797. The lightship was automated and redesignated as a lightfloat, and the crew was withdrawn on 31 March 1982. The South Rock Lightfloat is the last lightfloat in the Service. "

And from http://www.cloughey.org.uk/lightship_going_69.html "The small red ship on the horizon about 3 miles East of Cloughey is to be withdrawn at end of February 2009. It will be replaced by a 'superbuoy' which will not have a fog horn, so the familiar wailing sound heard in the middle of the night will be a thing of the past."

Rathlin Island Rue Point Lighthouse

I like lighthouses you can touch. This is on the south point of the island reached by a 90 minute walk down a track, then across a field (full of sheep droppings), past numerous seals basking and finally a little paved track leading over the rocks. Great views of the Northern Island and Scottish coastlines.
Built in 1915, destroyed by a storm in 1917, temporary light erected before this beauty was born in 1921.

Rathlin East Lighthouse (2)

Reached by a 20 minute walk from the village. (Keep going up the hill away from the harbour, heading north) A bit disappointed that a stone wall prevents you getting closer. Robert the Bruce allegedly had his spider encounter in a cave nearby. Built 1856. Also known as Altacarry Head, there is a low light here also, the white domed structure that can be seen between the light and the keeper's cottage in the top picture.

Rathlin West Lighthouse

Built in 1917, a spectacular setting at the far western edge of Rathlin.

The famous Upside Down Lighthouse in that the light is located at the foot of the building. This pic taken from the wall above at the end of a steep path down to the puffin-viewing platform. (The puffins incidentally are gone by mid-August, when I went) Reached either by a long walk or by a trip on the Puffin Bus which meets the ferry and brings people there and back for £5 per head.