A recent mid- winter walk along the strand and among the dunes at the mouth of the river Boyne on the east coast was a most rewarding experience, the only sound that of waves hitting the shore, and the only sight of fellow humans was the occasional dog walker.
But not far from the Maiden Tower and the Lady’s Finger, which guard the entrance to the Boyne, I spotted very strange sights, the miniature lighthouses that were built in the 19th century by the old Drogheda Harbour Commissioners to warn navigators sailing in and out of the Boyne estuary.
These lights were constructed on top of convoluted metal supports, looking for all the world like something out of an HG Wells science-fiction novel, unique in their design in Ireland. One of those three lights, the Drogheda North Light, which is easily found by walking upriver from the beach at Mornington, is being restored, in a project masterminded by the Drogheda Port Company. Financing is coming jointly from the port company and a government scheme for built heritage investment. Irish Lights has been giving technical advice, as has Keith Rankin, a marine engineer.
Restoration project
A noted Dublin-based conservation architect, Fergal McGirl, together with a company called KC Environmental, are leading the restoration project, and one aim is to preserve as many of the original features and materials as possible.
The lighthouse that is being restored was built about 1880 and it is set on an intricately intertwined set of cast-iron supports. A ladder leads up to the actual lantern, which has glazed panels. The light is set within boundary walls that also enclose the original lighthouse keeper’s house.
For years, the lantern had a fixed light pattern, but when the Drogheda North Light was eventually connected to the electricity network in 1950, the signal was changed to a flashing warning. Three years later, the Drogheda North Light was changed again, to flashing red, while Drogheda West and East Lights kept white signals.
But as has happened all over the world, the Drogheda North light was made redundant by advances in marine electronic navigation systems.
It is nearly 20 years since the last lighthouse keepers left Irish Lights’ lighthouses as automatic systems took over; the Baily lighthouse on Howth Head was vacated by its manual operators on March 24th, 1997.
So the light at the mouth of the river Boyne that is being restored will in time form a perfect example of old lighthouse technology, long since obsolete, but fitting in well with other sea safety features in the area, such as the beacons and the old lifeboat house. When restoration work on the Drogheda North Light is completed, it will become part of the Boyne tourist trail. It will be open to the public for a number of days each year and for school educational trips.
Another of the three old lights in Mornington, the Drogheda West Light, is privately owned, and it is planned to modify the light and the existing lighthouse keeper’s house and outbuildings. This particular light is literally in the back yard of a bungalow.
Irish Lights
The Drogheda North light refurbishment scheme is not the only one by any means. Irish Lights developed the Great Lighthouses of Ireland initiative, which gives people the chance to stay in, or visit, 12 lighthouses. Five of its lighthouses have benefitted from extensive restoration work.
Fanad Head lighthouse in Co Donegal cost over €420,000 to restore and it reopened as a visitor centre, with self- catering accommodation, during the May bank holiday in 2016. Over €180,000 is being spent restoring another Co Donegal lighthouse, at St John’s Point. The Irish Landmark Trust will offer accommodation here; it is due to open in 2017.
Three lighthouses in the North have also been refurbished. The Rathlin West Light in Co Antrim is now a seabird centre, and opened in April 2016.
St John’s Point lighthouse in Co Down cost over €240,000 to renovate and opened in August 2016, with accommodation run by the Irish Landmark Trust. This particular lighthouse has a connection to Brendan Behan. His father, Stephen, had been contracted to paint a number of Irish lighthouses; Brendan was roped in to help paint the one at St John’s Point. But his attempts at painting were far less impressive than his literary works.
The third restored lighthouse in the North is at Blackhead, Co Antrim, where refurbishment was recently completed; again self-catering accommodation is being run by the Irish Landmark Trust.
So while the Drogheda North Light is the latest lighthouse restoration project to get under way, it’s all part of moves to preserve what is probably Europe’s oldest lighthouse heritage.