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Displaying items by tag: Lightkeepers

Look for a surefire cure for seasickness, and no better person to ask than someone who worked on a lightship off the Irish coast.

Lightship duty was both tough and boring, highly dangerous during wartime, and particularly hard on the stomach, as Gerald Butler of West Cork’s Galley Head lighthouse remembers.

His father and grandfather did that arduous duty on rolling stationary decks during their time with the Commissioners of Irish Lights, and his father told him how to get your sea legs.

That and other memories were recalled by Butler during a recent visit by Wavelengths to Galley Head light where he hosts visitors to its two cottages – once his family home – which have been beautifully restored by the Irish Landmark Trust.

Overnight stays in lighthouse cottages around the Irish coast have shot up by 60 per cent since 2019, and lighthouse tourism attracted 622,000 people last year, according to recently published figures by the Great Lighthouses of Ireland partnership.

More details on the Irish Landmark Trust lighthouse stays – where there is no Wifi and no television in keeping with the way keepers lived – can be found here

Published in Wavelength Podcast
Tagged under

#Lighthouses - Irish Lights has announced its involvement in a four-part documentary series with RTE 1 that tells the story of Ireland’s lighthouses and the associated aids to navigation network around the island of Ireland and the vital role it plays in ensuring safety at sea for all.

The documentary, Great Lighthouses of Ireland, illustrates Irish Lights’ leading role in safe navigation at sea from the 1800s to the present day, and the advances that have taken place in relation to Aids to Navigation from an engineering and technology perspective during this period. The documentary pays tribute to Irish Lights’ heritage and the people behind the lighthouse service, and the pivotal role they played in the history and life around the coast over generations. 

The documentary series began on RTE 1 last Sunday 30th September at 6.30pm and will continue for the next three consecutive weeks. 

Afloat adds that the first episode can be viewed on RTE 's i-Player through this link. 

Speaking about the documentary, Yvonne Shields O’Connor, Chief Executive, Irish Lights said, “Irish Lights is delighted to collaborate with RTE on this documentary which showcases the previously untold stories of lighthouses in Ireland, their keepers and the vital role they have played in maritime safety in this country over the past 200 years. It is a wonderful testament to our organisation's rich heritage and the dedicated people who have supported Irish Lights in its mission to ensure safe navigation at sea. Today Irish Lights continues to be at the forefront of maritime safety, using advances in technology and engineering to deliver reliable and wide-ranging services to support a diverse and important maritime industry around the coast north and south.”

The first episode aired last week and showed the important role of Ireland’s lighthouses in providing safe navigation at sea. As an island nation, almost everything we consume, from food to electronics, fuel and vehicles, arrives by sea. The visual and electronic Aids to Navigation operated by Irish Lights support the safe passage of ships around our often-dangerous coastal waters, and viewers will see glimpses of what life was like for lighthouse keepers and their families in earlier periods.

The second episode will uncover how Ireland became a world-leader in lighthouse engineering. Often working in hostile and treacherous natural locations, Ireland’s lighthouse engineers and builders used incredible ingenuity to achieve what seemed impossible.

The third episode explores Ireland’s forgotten naval history, and the surprising roles that lighthouse keepers played in both the First and Second World Wars. The final episode will focus on the transition to the automation of lighthouses, and it will show how Irish Lights is at the forefront of modern technology, from advances in lighthouse lighting to sophisticated buoys that tweet information to mariners.

With over 340 General Aids to Navigation in the form of lighthouses, buoys, beacons, electronic Aids to Navigation and a range of digital services, the Irish Lights operational network constitutes a critical coastal infrastructure for the safety of all at sea and our coastal communities. In addition to profiling the important work of ILV Granuaile, this episode will highlight the work Irish Lights does to protect and develop its heritage assets for the benefit of the Irish public through the hugely successful Great Lighthouses of Ireland North-South tourism and heritage initiative.

 

Published in Lighthouses

Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2023 Coastal Class

Two Irish hopes in the 2023 Fastnet Race from Cowes will compete first in a 20-boat Coastal Class at July's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta (VDLR).

Pre-event favourites must be the First 50 Checkmate XX, fresh from Sovereign's Cup victory (three wins from four races sailed) and the Grand Soleil 44 Samatom.

Four races and one discard for the coastal division will be under International Race Officer Con Murphy.

The course will be decided on the race day and communicated to each skipper via a dedicated Offshore WhatsApp group at least one hour before the start. 

The finish will be between the Pier Ends at the Dun Laoghaire Harbour entrance. The finishing time will be taken from the Yellowbrick tracker system.

The class will be the first to start on Thursday, with a warning signal at 1425 and 0955 on Friday. Coastal starts at 1055 on Saturday and 0955 on Sunday. 

The course will use DBSC Marks, Volvo Yellow inflatable Top Hat and Shipping Navigation Marks.

Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2023 Coastal Class Entries

GBR 8859R Jackknife J125 Andrew Hall Pwllheli
GBR 8911R Jezebel J111 1.093 Cris Miles Pwllheli Sailing Club
IRL 3435 Albireo 0.928 David Simpson RIYC
IRL 9898 Indecision J109 1.007 Declan Hayes RIYC
IRL 811 RAPTOR 1.007 Fintan Cairns RIYC
GER 6577 Opal 1.432 Frank Whelan GSC
GBR 9740R SLOOP JOHN T SWAN 40 Iain Thomson
IRL 1507 1.057 James Tyrrell ASC
IRL 1129 Jump The Gun J109 1.005 John M Kelly RIYC
GBR 7536R Hot Cookie Sunfast 3600 John O'Gorman NYC
IRL 3471 Black Velvet 0.979 Leslie Parnell RIYC
IRL 4007 Tsunami First 40.7 Michelle Farreall National Yacht Club
IRL 66 Checkmate XX 1.115 Nigel BIGGS HYC
GBR 6695R Wild Haggis Farr 30 1.060 Nigel Ingram Holyhead
GBR 9496T Bojangles J109 0.999 Paul HAMPSON Liverpool Yacht Club
IRL 1367 Boomerang Beneteau 36.7 0.997 Paul Kirwan
GBR 8992R Lightning Farr 30 1.074 Paul Sutton Holyhead Sailing Club
GBR 9047R Mojito J109 Peter Dunlop Pwllheli SC - RDYC
GBR 9244R Samatom Grand Soleil 44R 1.134 Robert Rendell HYC
IRL 44444 Magic Touch 0.979 Steve Hayes GSC
IRL 3317 Scotia First 31.7 0.930 Terence Fair Ballyholme yacht club
GBR 5373 Honey Bee Hunter HB31 0.900 William Partington Pwllheli Sailing Club / SCYC

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