Bealadangan Gap beacons

On a misty, murky day in late October, I took advantage of a trip to the Baffle Poetry Festival in Loughrea to take in some navigational lights around the Rossaveal / Lettermore areas of county Galway. I was actually heading for Lettermullan at the time when I crossed the first of several bridges that cross the archipelago.

The bridge connects the mainland with the first island of Annaghvaan and I was gobsmacked to find, both to the north and south of the bridge, a number of stone beacons, seemingly scattered at random in the water. They reminded me a bit of the stone beacons along the River Boyne entrance although with several differences. The Boyne beacons are neater and have rounded tops while the beacons in the (Beala) dangan Gap are very weathered and resemble giant sandcastles.



The photo above shows the remains of an old causeway that pre-dated the first bridge which was built in 1836. The channel between the island and the mainland was / is only navigable around high tide and the correct route is shown by the beacons. The causeway was partially dynamited on construction of the first bridge and the beacons were erected around the same time.



For more information on these wonderful beacons, please see Roger Derham's fascinating Windsong blog

Inis Oirr

So, the 10am trip sailing from Doolin in county Clare to Inis Oirr, the smallest and nearest of the three Aran Islands. The sailing only takes about 30 minutes. The island is about 3 kilometers long and two kilometers wide. The ferry docks at the north point of the island, next to the white Caribbean beach, and the lighthouse is at the southern end. I decided to walk it, rather than taking the 45 minute guided tour of the island by horse and trap or van and trailer. I was glad I did because firstly, it was such a beautiful day and secondly, I'm not terribly sure that any of the tours go down to the lighthouse. I saw none when I was there anyway.

 

The island, though small, is a maze of small roads, and its important to choose the right one if your time is limited. Leaving the pier, take the road around the white beach and keep going until you reach the airport. Take a right up the hill. About 300 meters up the hill, there is a turn off to the right. This is the road you need to take. It brings you directly to the lighthouse.

Unfortunately, not being armed with a map, I went straight on up the road less travelled. A beautiful walk among the incredible stone-walled fields, take a well-marked path to the right after about 2 kilometers and the lighthouse comes into view, Sadly the track then leads onto a big expanse of shingle, which you have to negotiate for about 400 meters (don't wear high heels!) until you see ared gate. Head for this. It joins on to the road you should have taken at the top of the hill!

The gate is of course locked and the compound is not open to the public. Someone though has very thoughtfully built stepping stones into the wall next to the gate so you can look over the wall. Unfortunately, while doing this, I accidentally fell over the wall onto a pallet placed strategically on a small scaffold and then down onto another pallet  leaning up against the wall. Oh, well, I thought, picking myself up off the ground and dusting myself off. I'm here now, so I  might as well take a few photographs.

Inis Oirr (angl. Inisheer) light was first exhibited on the 1st December 1857. The first light on the Aran Islands was built on Inis Mor but, like many others around the coast, was found to become fogbound due to its high latitude. It was decided to replace it with a light at the north end of the chain of islands (Eeragh) and one at the south (Inis Oirr) The light showed a red sector over the dangerous Finnis Rock which is now marked by a Super Buoy.

The tower is 34 meters high and the light is the same distance above high water mark. The light characteristic is W (partially vis beyond 7M) 225°-231° (6°), W231°-245° (14°), R245°-269° (24°), W269°-115°. Which I hope makes more sense to you than it does to me.

The compound also contains two keepers' cottages. A couple of broken windows excepted, they both look in pretty good nick to me. The light became unwatched in 1978.

Finnis Buoy, Inis Oirr

Travelling to Inis Oirr, the smallest of the Aran Islands, from Doolin in County Clare, I got an unexpected bonus when passing the Finnis Buoy, 0.8 nautical miles from the island. Not easy getting a good shot when trampolining up and down on a boat but you get the picture, so to speak. Incidentally I have labelled this post as county Galway, as Inis Oirr is county Galway but in fact it lies in the sea between Clare and Galway, so it could easily be Clare.

The Finnis Rock buoy is a First Class Cardinal Marker (as opposed to a fourth-rate one, presumably) It sends regular tweets (@FinnisBuoy) as to Wind Speed, Wave Height and Periods and Water Temperature. Not sure when she is there since, but probably about the turn of the millennium.

The Finnis Rock was the piece of marine topography that did for the MV Plassy (see below) now lying in rusting bliss on the coast of Inis Oirr. And, as Tedheads around the world will know, the Plassy features in the opening credits of Father Ted, as the camera sweeps across a supposed Craggy Island.

Dunguaire Castle, Kinvara

This is Dunguaire Castle in county Galway, at about the easternmost reaches of Galway Bay. Its about 400 yards north of the busy little town of Kinvara, right on the coast (you can't miss it) It was built in the early 16th century and has associations with Yeats, Synge and Shaw. I was travelling from Loughrea, heading for Doolin and decided to make a short detour to see this and Black Head lighthouse.

Why Dunguaire Castle? Well, I found one photo of it on the net saying that they used to shine a light from the top of the castle to guide boats into Kinvara harbour. In which case it would be a lighthouse. Sadly, I have been able to find no corroborative evidence anywhere of this!

Straw Island Lighthouse, co. Galway

One of the many lights I have yet to photograph, Straw Island is located at the southerly end of Inish Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands. I'm sure I must have passed this light many years ago on the boat from Rossaveal in the days before my interest in these edifices was whetted, in the days when you were very careful what you photographed because so many of them didn't come out!
Anyhow, this one is still on my To Do list. The reason I mention it is that it recently fell victim, albeit temporarily, to the heavy winds that ravaged Ireland at the end of the month. CIL has a good piece on it at http://www.cil.ie/who-we-are/news/straw-island-storm-damage.aspx.
The thing that I found fascinating was the fact that the alarm raised on the far side of the British Isles in Harwich!

Gun Rock Light Inishbofin

News just in that the last of the terrible storms that have been assailing the coasts of Ireland for the past three weeks has swept away the lighthouse on Gun Rock, Inishbofin, co.Galway.
The photos above courtesy of Ciaran Ferrie
It appears that the much older stone day beacon has remained undamaged

Mutton Island, Galway

Built in 1817, this light served Galway harbour for 160 years until replaced by Leverets and left to rot. There have thankfully been recent efforts to restore it to its former glory, (it appears to be freshly painted) though it now shares the ile de mouton with a sewage treatment plant.

To reach it, you need to go to Claddagh. Heading west out of the city centre from Spanish Arch take the turn to the left on the far side of the river. When you hit Grattan Road, you should see the light. There is onroad pay and display parking. The causeway is actually much longer than you think and stay on the Galway city side of it if you want to avoid a drenching!

Galway Harbour (Leverets)

Probably the newest lighthouse in Ireland, this only went up in 1977 to replace Mutton Island. It sits in the midsdle of Galway Bay guiding boats into the harbour. This photo was taken from the causeway leading out to Mutton Island (killing two lighthouses with the one Fresnel lens) which looks as though it maybe the nearest vantage point.

Cleggan Point, co. Galway

Very distant view of the light at Cleggan Point. I had secretly hoped we might have had the time to take the ferry to Inishbofin (where we'd pass much closer to this light and also get to see the Inishbofin Light too) but a combination of a strong wind and an incredulous expression on my wife's face soon put that one to bed.
This was taken somewhere to the west of Cleggan (there is no road to the headland itself) Don't ask me where. The roads are merely joined up pot-holes and completely unsignposted. I was keeping an eye out for it and got lucky in about a hundred yard stretch above the village.

Basically, its another white concrete box lighthouse, what my wife would call "not a proper" lighthouse.

Mystery Lighthouse, Clifden, co Galway

Approaching the western end of the Sky Road out of Clifden, I happened to glance down across the bay and on the far side, noticed this white structure at the end of the headland opposite.

Is it a lighthouse? Could it be some kind of marker that doesn't have a light, like the Metal Man in Tramore, co Waterford? It certainly looks as though it ought to be a lighthouse and one of the Bed and Breakfasts on the Sky Road is called Lighthouse View (there are no other lighthouses in view)

But I can find absolutely nothing about it anywhere!!

Clifden Light

No, of course this isn't a lighthouse but an interesting enough light and I can't find it on Trabas. Situated at the approach to Clifden in, erm, Clifden Bay, this was taken from the Sky Road just outside of Clifden Town.

Inishnee Light, co. Galway

Not much of a photograph but then again, it wasn't much of a lighthouse either. Probably might have done better if I'd have chanced one of the tiny lanes down to the coast just before hitting Roundstone village after continuing on the R341 after Slyne Head. As it was, this was taken from the craft park near the top (south) of the village, looking southwards at midday, hence the silhouette effect.

The light is on the southern end of the island of Inishnee. There is a bridge and road on the island but according to the maps, the road peters out long before the southern promontory. It was built in 1961.

Slyne Head East and West, co. Galway

Two for the price of one I suppose, though I'd have liked to get a little nearer! The one on the left, no longer in use, is Slyne Head East and the black one is, surprisingly, Slyne Head West. They were originally twin lights built in 1837 but the east light was abandoned in 1898. The west light was painted black in 1907.

To get there, drive to Ballyconneely on the R341 and then turn westwards, signposted for the Connemara Smokehouse and other places. Watch out for a hand painted signpost for the Connemara Golf Club on your right hand side (don't drive to Berowne Bay - spectacular views but no lights) Before you reach the Golf Course you go over a small hillock, from where I got the pictures above. Maddeningly, as you get nearer to the lights, they disappear behind Slyne Head itself (the lights are on Illaunamid, an islet further out) until the road ends up in a caravan park and a road saying No Trespassing.

Rossaveel Light, co Galway

Okay, a trip down to Connemara gave me the opportunity to bag a few lighthouses, but with my wife accompanying me, I could not perhaps devote enough time to tracking down some of the more distant ones. A couple of the photos are quite disappointing but the prospect of another journey down to rectify this softens the blow somewhat.

This is the Cashla Bay Light, located at Latitude 53°15.834' North Longitude 009°33.982' West according to the CIL. The lighthouse directory does not list it as a lighthouse, though most road atlases do.

To find it, come into Rossaveel and continue down around the harbour, past the Aran Islands ferry parking, until a wrought iron gate marks the end of the road. There is a pedestrian gate through to the other side but as the light points out to sea, it is difficult to get around to the other side of it. Probably the best view would be from the ferry.