Oyster Island

As you drive into Rosses Point, the neat little lighthouse on Oyster Island hoves into view on your left. Yet again, it is very photogenic with its buff walls, white lantern and red guard rail.

Back in 1837, two lights were established on Oyster Island (so called due to the large amount of oysters that were once found on its shores) Lining the two lights up would help to guide ships through the narrow channel between Coney Island and the mainland. Then, around 1893, they decided to change the approach. The two lights were dismantled and one light – the present one – was constructed on the western edge of the island, in much the same position as the old front light. This light then became the rear light, with the Metal Man on Perch Rock acting as the front light. Clear?

Shocked to discover it is six years since I was here last

Okay, so where exactly was the old rear light on Oyster Island? Umm. No idea. Presumably somewhere to the east of the present light. The island’s not that big. There’s a ruin of a house near the north eastern shore (above)

A bit further east there’s a rectangular stone wall that might at one time have marked a lighthouse compound. But I am only guessing.

Waiting on the shore

No, this is not a lighthouse but may be the missus of one! It is said by some around Rosses Point that occasionally the Metal Man comes ashore and saunters around. If this is true, it’s probably to visit yer wan standing on the sea front, gazing out to sea with grief etched over her face. Carved in bronze by Niall Bruton, she is a memorial not only to all the Rosses Point men lost at sea but also to the women left behind, watching in vain for a sail on the horizon.

The engraved plaque reads:-

“Lost at Sea, Lost at Sea

Or in the Evening Tide.

We Loved You, We Miss You.

May God With You Abide.”

Metal Man Light, Sligo

Probably the most unusual light in Ireland, the Metal Man was ushered into being after a number of wrecks on the Perch Rock near Oyster Island and Rosses Point. 12 feet tall and weighing seven tons, this naval petty officer was one of four cast by Thomas Kirke in 1819. A second one stands on a headland in Tramore county Waterford. The other two have vanished, probably carousing somewhere.

The Metal Man was originally earmarked for Blackrock Beacon further out to sea. Thankfully Perch Rock prevailed and the statue is easily seen from Rosses Point, often with a gull or two on his head.

These days he acts in conjunction with the light on Oyster Island to guide ships into Sligo Harbour. The light was added in 1908 and converted to propane gas in 1979. He has been depicted in many drawings by Jack Yeats and others. 

see also here

Blackrock county Sligo

One of two Blackrock Lighthouses (the other is in county Mayo) this is a very photogenic light (as are all of them in Sligo Bay) situated off the end of Rosses Point. Basically just keep heading west until you hit the sea. There are good views of it from the land, although probably best not to go in the evening or you’ll only get a silhouette. Certainly the pictures I got this time were far clearer than the last time I was here with my old camera.

Blackrock Lighthouse started out life as a day beacon in the 1700s. Not a very successful one apparently, as they kept getting washed away. In 1819 another solid, 36 feet tall, limestone beacon was built by a local Ballina builder called Thomas Hamm. The original idea was that Thmas Kirke’s Metal Man would stand on top of the beacon but in 1821 it was decided to locate the Metal Man on Perch Rock between Rosses Point and Oyster Island. 

After a lot of throat clearing from Blackrock, it was decided to make Blackrock into a proper lighthouse. Another 47 feet stone tower was added to the solid 36 feet beacon already there and it was painted white. This came to fruition in 1835. It looks very impressive but the fact that the bottom is solid means that access is by a stairway running up the outside of the tower, which can’t be very pleasant in gale force winds, even on the lee side. 

From 1863, the lighthouse had two panniers on the outside to increase living space but these were disposed of in the 1970s. It also acquired a black horizontal band just above the join of the two towers.

Lower Rosses, Sligo

Seems like an age since I was last on the trail of lighthouses and even longer since I bagged a new one. I had reason last Friday to visit the Strokestown Poetry Festival and decided to make a little detour on my way there up to Rosses Point to see the four lighthouses up in that neck of the woods. I was fortunate with the weather!

This little beauty is the Lower Rosses light, standing about two hundred yards off a completely deserted beach. To find it, take the road to Rosses Point and, about two miles in, turn right. It is signposted for Clegg. Follow that road about six hundred yards and you come to a t-junction where you turn left. Keep going on that road. When you come to a sharp left turn, you have gone too far. Turn around and come back about 100 yards to the next lane on the left hand side, leading down to the beach.

There is space for parking at the bottom and a sign that says cars aren’t allowed on the beach without a licence. Walk left up the beach along the track – the sea and Ben Bulben are on your right but no sign of the lighthouse. Walk about ten minutes up the beach and then follow any one of the myriad tracks that lead leftwards to the sea on the other side of the promontory. The lighthouse is pretty unmissable!

Lower Rosses light is an active lighthouse and celebrated its centenary in 2008. It guides boats through the Needles Channel. As you can see from the photographs, it consists of a white box on wooden staves and appears to be in pretty good condition.

From the vantage point on the beach, you have a full spectacular view of the iconic Ben Bulben (above) and Lissadell House, of Yeats and Maude Gonne and Gore-Booth fame (below) 

Oyster Island co Sligo

This is actually the first lighthouse that you see when coming into Rosses Point but probably viewed best from the coastal path at the head of Rosses Point, from where the Metal Man is best seen. To me, it looks remarkably similar to the Baily Lighthouse in Howth.

Erected in 1821, the same year as the Metal Man, the lights in both lighthouses were changed from gas-powered to solar in 2003.

A brilliant description of life in Oyster Island lighthouse in the 1930s can be found on the Coomissioner for Irish Lights website at http://www.cil.ie/sh621x4185.html

Metal Man Light co Sligo

Located in the narrow waters between the mainland and Oyster Island off Rosses Point, the nearest view to the Metal Man Light is probably gained from walking down the coastal pathway for 100 yards. The cast iron sailor warns ships away from the rocks - the light is beside him.

Erected in 1821, the Metal Man has an identical twin that stands guard on the south coast of Tramore Bay in county Waterford. However, his Waterford sibling is on land and stands atop a much taller pillar.

Blackrock Lighthouse co. Sligo

Above is an old picture of the Blackrock Light. The little external rooms at the top of the staircase were added in the 1870s to give extra accommodation but were removed in the 1970s.

May Bank Holiday weekend and, a bit poemed out, we decided to take a break from the Strokestown International Poetry Competition, and travel up to Rosses Point in county Sligo. Following the road in to the long drawn out village, we eventually reached the headland where we had three lighthouses in view at the same time.
I was sorry I didn't have my camcorder with me as it has a greater zoom than my camera. Therefore these pictures of Blackrock Light (not to be confused with Blackrock Light in Mayo) are a bit far away.

Located on a rocky islet, a light was placed on here in the late 1700s but was washed away in a storm. The lighthouse is white with a black band and access is gained by a red spiral staircase which reaches halfway up the outside.