Bealtra beacons and lights

Well, its been an incredibly slim-pickings year for this blog, not having had the opportunity of visiting any of the coastal communities around Ireland. A late September hiking trip to the Iveragh peninsular (Ring of Kerry) offered up these pitiful few photos. We were hiking around Derrynane, ascended a cliff at the west end of the townland and below us caught a glimpse of Bealtra Bay.

There appear to be two markers, red and green at the outer entrance of the bay and then a third stone pillar nearer to the quay, probably to line up the correct approach to land. The bottom picture gives a decent view of the relationship between the three.

As things happened, it was a dull and drizzly day, that resulted in dull and drizzly photographs.

Castlemaine Beacon Update

Back in July, I had a long and ultimately fruitless walk up the length of Rossbeigh Spit to try and find the Castlemaine Beacon. Sadly, we didn't see it and we didn't even get the benefit of admiring the stunning coastal scenery of Glenbeigh as it was a very windy and rainy day. Furthe renquiries revealed that the beacon, which had been severely damaged by weather and coastal erosion and had been listing at a crazy angle, finally succumbed to the elements in February 2011.

That could easily have been the end of the story. A light that had stood for over 150 years gone, swept away. Another lost lighthouse to add to the already formidable collection around our coastline - Cranfield Point, Wicklow old low light, Calf Rock, Horse Rock, the pair of lights on Oyster Island, Belfast Harbour etc etc. But the good people of Glenbeigh had other ideas and painstakingly collected the stones from the original tower (which had become cut off from the mainland at high tide) to build an exact replica of the 39 feet tall stone tower complete with mast, next to the sports field in the village of Glenbeigh, where it doesn't have to battle raging seas any more, like an old racehorse put out to pasture.

The bottom four photos are by Dave Rolt of Davesphotos from Cromane

Little Samphire Island

A slight detour on our way home to Dublin from our trip to Valentia Island saw us heading up to Fenit (pronounced Feenit) to bag Little Samphire Island. I had heard that the keeper here could sometimes walk to the shore at very low tide but the guy in the Harbour Cafe said he'd never seen it.

The lighthouse sits on an island near the big bridge in Fenit (still pronounced Feenit) It was built in 1854 and the complex includes a keeper's house. The Commissioner of Irish Lights announced its intention to hand control of the lighthouse over to Tralee and Fenit Harbour authorities but I can't find confirmation that they have actually done so. The lighthouse, though, no longer features on the list of lights run by CIL. 

Castlemaine Beacon

This is Castlemaine Beacon, built at least before 1866, and standing severely damaged at the top of a spit of  land leading out into the bay from Glenbeigh. The spit of land is called Rossbehy Strand.

We set out walking up the beach to find this beacon, which had been forsaken by CIL in 2010. It was very very misty and we weren't sure if we could actually see it if it was off-shore.

Rossbehy Strand though has altered greatly in the past ten years. Erosion of the dunes at the northern end of the spit of land has turned the most northerly section into an island except at low tide. And, as we learned later, the storms over the past few years had finally put paid to the tower. It no longer exists. The photo above is an old photograph.

The good news is that a replica of the tower, using much of the brickwork of the original, is currently being erected next to the local football field. Log in to Facebook page (www.facebook.com/glenbeigh.ie) for progress reports.

Replica tower unveiled - see here

Valentia Island Shore Station

At the turn of the century, a block of eight terraced houses were built just on the outskirts of Knightstown (come up the hill from the pier and turn right at the church) They did not house the family that kept Cromwell Point Lighthouse but rather, the families of the relief keepers that worked on the Skellig Light and Inishtearaght Light on the Blasket Islands.
The houses are now holiday homes.

Harbour Rock Perch, Valentia Island

The extremely dangerous Harbour Rock at the northern entrance to Valentia Harbour, was originally avoided by following the directional lights on the coast. Nowadays, the Harbour Rock is marked by a perch consisting of an iron pole, 12 metres high, painted black/yellow/black with east cones. This perch was lit on the 15th July 1991 with a character of Q(3)W 10 secs visible from 080° - 040° (230°).

Valentia Directional Light

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Didn't do my homework on this one and spurned an opportunity to bag a second lighthouse.

The Valentia Directional Light is situated not far from Knightstown on Valentia Island. Take the road out of Knightstown and turn right at the church to take the high road across the island. About 200 yards further on, take a right turn for the coastal road down to Glanleam House. Not far down this road is the tell-tale CIL red gate with the usual dire warnings of death to all who venture within.

Actually there is not much space to get a clear view of the lighthouse which comprises a conical white tower with a wide orange stripe together with an equipment hut. You can get clearer views further down the coast, even from Cromwell Point Lighthouse, so long as you have a decent zoom.

An unlighted beacon was established here in 1891 to guide vessels past Harbour Rock. Itt was lighted in 1913 and maintained by the relief keepers in the nearby Knightstown cottages. The front light previously had a red stripe. On 26 February 2011 a new directional light was established in the same position as the old front lead with a character of Dir Oc. W R G 4s (3.0 + 1.0) and sectored as follows: Green 136° -140° (4° ), White 140° -142° (2° ), Red 142° -146° (4° ). The light is shown 24 hours a day.This is the light shown.

Unfortunately, what I didn't know, was that this is only the front light. There is also a rear directional light, consisting of a red stripe on a white wall, 18 meters higher up on the other side of the road.

Cromwell Point, Valentia Island

In all my visits to lighthouses, I've actually got inside very few of them. Hook Head, the Old Head of Kinsale, Mizen Head. Erm, that's it. 

So it was with great delight that we walked down the long road to the lighthouse on Valentia Island, one of the so-called 'Great Irish Lighthouses' that have been opened up to the public. 

For a paltry €5 each, we were shown around by Luke, who was there for the season. He was very informative about the lighthouse and enthusiastic about his brief. 

The lighthouse was built in 1841 as a harbour light for Knightstown and beyond on the grounds of an older Oliver Cromwell fort, the ramparts of which are still visible. It is a very unusual lighthouse in that it is very low, not much above sea level, so one can imagine that in violent storms, the views are pretty spectacular! In fact, tentative proposals have been made to build a glass canopy down to the lighthouse so that the public can safely witness the power of the sea!

A small bridge links the lighthouse to thew rest of the compound. The tower is open and also the keeper's house, which has many photos and memorabilia contained within. Huge boulders, which were washed up by the storms of 2014 lay strewn around.

View from Valentia Directional Light, further east along the coast

The keeper's house

 

Bridge 

A standing stone in the Fort complex. This was one of fourteen. The others are scattered around Valentia

On the adjacent island of Beginish sits an old stone signal tower. In the old days, a watchman would wait for ships to come sailing in. He then would signal to pilots in Knightstown to come and guide the ship into harbour, a lucrative business.