Displaying items by tag: Old Head of Kinsale

24th April 2023

Rare Chance to Enter the Old Head of Kinsale Lighthouse and Take in the View

The Old Head of Kinsale Lighthouse in west Cork is closed to the public for most of the year, however there will be a rare opportunity for the public to enter the lighthouse next month.

Locals and tourists alike will have a chance to witness the stunning views from inside the 30 metre high Old Head of Kinsale Lighthouse that was designed by Inspector George Halpin.

Permission has been granted by the Old Head Golf Links and the Commissioners of Irish Lights to raise funds during two days in May.

The fundraising is for the development of the Old Head Signal Tower and Lusitania Museum.

The Open Days will be held on the weekend of Saturday, 13th and Sunday, 14th May.

The lighthouse at the Old Head is one of the major lights on the south coast and also serves as a guide to the entrance of Kinsale Harbour, which is to the east of the light.

The light was first established on 1st October 1853 and the current range of the light is 20 nautical miles.

YayCork has more details on the open days.

Published in Lighthouses

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5th March 2021

Major New Lusitania Museum Planned for Old Head of Kinsale

The community group at the renowned South Coast landmark, the Old Head of Kinsale, plans to build a major, new Lusitania Museum to replace the present small museum at the site, where they have also constructed a memorial garden.

The memorial committee is also the owners of the Lusitania wreck. Still, their concentration is on creating a new museum, "to mark fully a huge part of Irish maritime history is," the Secretary of the committee told Afloat. "Every sailor who passes on the South Coast knows the Old Head very well."

They have begun a campaign to raise €150,000 to prepare an application for Planning and intend to seek Irish government and European Commission support funding.

Lusitania Memorial Garden at The Old Head of Kinsale. A davit from the Lusitania points to the wreck site

The Old Head is a place I know and remember well, particularly through a classic boat, the Mab. This grand old 27-foot classic couldn't match the power of every wave that hit her at the Old Head, sometimes shoving her bowsprit straight through. But she got lifted as big ones swept beneath the hull, the bowsprit then pointing skywards. She'd been through too many seas in her years to bother lifting herself to everyone, so my Skipper said.

The MAB at the Glandore Classics 1996. Owner and Skipper the late Guy Perrem sitting at the mast. Ron Holland in the cockpit helming, Tom MacSweeney on the stern

Above us, the black-and-white banded lighthouse looked down. We were on our homeward voyage to Monkstown Bay Sailing Club from a Glandore Classic Boats Regatta, where the Mab was a regular and winning performer. Skipper and owner, the late Guy Perrem, did not doubt her ability to get past the Old Head where we had arrived with unfortunate timing. "Bit lumpy, but we'll get through," said he as he sought extra push from the inboard engine to support sail power. A bit wet, we did.

This stretch of water, where the coastline of County Cork thrusts out to meet the Atlantic, is well-known to legions of Irish sailors and foreign visitors. It can provide plenty of challenges at varying tidal moments!

That battle with the Old Head came to mind this week when the community group which developed the memorial garden and mini-museum there to the Lusitania, sunk 12 miles to the south by a German submarine on May 7, 1915, during World War One, told me of their decision to build an extensive, new museum. They also own the wreck, given to them by former owner American multi-millionaire Greg Bemis. 1,198 were killed in the sinking.

Con Hayes, Secretary of the Memorial Committee, joins me on this week's Podcast to outline their plans which will interest every sailor who has ever passed by the Old Head.

Afloat.ie · New Lusitania Museum Planned for Old Head of Kinsale

Published in Tom MacSweeney

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8th October 2011

Kinsale Farmland Inviting Final Offers

A former farm in Kinsale with spectacular sea views is inviting final offers by private treaty.

The 370-acre waterfront property was formerly the proposed location for the Kinsale Harbour Resort. The land is laid out in flat fields with good road frontage, and is available in one or two lots.

http://www.afloat.ie/resources/business/waterfront-property/

http://www.afloat.ie/port-news/kinsale-news/

Lot 1 comprises 270 acres of land at Ballymachus and Rathmore, while lot 2 is 100 acres at Hangman's Point, Prehane, overlooking the entrance to Kinsale Harbour with top-class views of the Old Head of Kinsale, Charles Fort and the town itself.

Christy Buckley Auctioneer advises that the land may be suitable for leisure use, subject to planning.

For images and a video of the site, as well as maps and further details, visit the Christy Buckley Auctioneer website HERE.

http://www.christybuckley.com/ballymacus_kinsale/ballymacus_kinsale.html

A former farm in Kinsale with spectacular sea views is inviting final offers by private treaty.

The 370-acre waterfront property was formerly the proposed location for the Kinsale Harbour Resort. The land is laid out in flat fields with good road frontage, and is available in one or two lots.

Lot 1 comprises 270 acres of land at Ballymachus and Rathmore, while lot 2 is 100 acres at Hangman's Point, Prehane, overlooking the entrance to Kinsale Harbour with top-class views of the Old Head of Kinsale, Charles Fort and the town itself.

Christy Buckley Auctioneer advises that the land may be suitable for leisure use, subject to planning.

For images and a video of the site, as well as maps and further details, visit the Christy Buckley Auctioneer website HERE.

Published in Waterfront Property

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16th August 2010

Lifeboat Rescues Two Near Old Head of Kinsale

Sunday was one of the busiest sailing days of the summer, with very crowded seas. The distressed craft did not have a radio on board. Their only means of contact with shore was a weak mobile phone signal. Thankfully conditions were flat and visibility good, so helmsman Temba Jere and crew members Mark Lewis and Ian Fitzgerald were able to locate the boat and tow it back to the safety of Kinsale Harbour within 40 minutes.

The RNLI offers a free SEA Check service to all boat users which will help you make sure you have all the right safety equipment on board. Call freefone 1800 789 589 and the RNLI team will be happy to advise you.

The Kinsale RNLI Lifeboat was launched at 5.15 pm on Sunday afternoon to go to the aid of a 17ft Mastercraft, with two passengers on board, which had lost power and was anchored one mile east off the Old Head of Kinsale.
Sunday was one of the busiest sailing days of the summer, with very crowded seas. The distressed craft did not have a radio on board. Their only means of contact with shore was a weak mobile phone signal. Thankfully conditions were flat and visibility good, so helmsman Temba Jere and crew members Mark Lewis and Ian Fitzgerald were able to locate the boat and tow it back to the safety of Kinsale Harbour within 40 minutes.

Published in RNLI Lifeboats

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National Yacht Club Facilities

Facilities include a slipway directly accessing Dun Laoghaire Harbour, over eighty club moorings, platform parking, pontoons, fuelling, watering and crane-lifting ensure that the NYC is excellently equipped to cater for all the needs of the contemporary sailor. Berths with diesel, water, power and overnight facilities are available to cruising yachtsmen with shopping facilities being a short walk away. The club is active throughout the year with full dining and bar facilities and winter activities include bridge, snooker, quiz nights, wine tasting and special events.

National Yacht Club History

Although there are references to an active “club” prior to 1870, history records that the present clubhouse was erected in 1870 at a cost of £4,000 to a design by William Sterling and the Kingstown Royal Harbour Boat Club was registered with Lloyds in the same year. By 1872 the name had been changed to the Kingston Harbour Boat Club and this change was registered at Lloyds.

In 1881. the premises were purchased by a Captain Peacocke and others who formed a proprietary club called the Kingstown Harbour Yacht Club again registered at Lloyds. Some six years later in 1877 the building again changed hands being bought by a Mr Charles Barrington. and between 1877 and 1901 the club was very active and operated for a while as the “Absolute Club” although this change of name was never registered.

In 1901, the lease was purchased by three trustees who registered it as the Edward Yacht Club. In 1930 at a time when the Edward Yacht Club was relatively inactive, a committee including The Earl of Granard approached the trustees with a proposition to form the National Yacht Club. The Earl of Granard had been Commodore of the North Shannon Y.C. and was a senator in the W.T.Cosgrave government. An agreement was reached, the National Yacht Club was registered at Lloyds. The club burgee was created, red cross of Saint George with blue and white quarters being sky cloud, sea and surf. The Earl of Granard became the first Commodore.

In July of 1950, a warrant was issued to the National Yacht Club by the Government under the Merchant Shipping Act authorising members to hoist a club ensign in lieu of the National Flag. The new ensign to include a representation of the harp. This privilege is unique and specific to members of the National Yacht Club. Sterling’s design for the exterior of the club was a hybrid French Chateau and eighteenth century Garden Pavilion and today as a Class A restricted building it continues to provide elegant dining and bar facilities.

An early drawing of the building shows viewing balconies on the roof and the waterfront façade. Subsequent additions of platforms and a new slip to the seaward side and most recently the construction of new changing rooms, offices and boathouse provide state of the art facilities, capable of coping with major international and world championship events. The club provides a wide range of sailing facilities, from Junior training to family cruising, dinghy sailing to offshore racing and caters for most major classes of dinghies, one design keelboats, sports boats and cruiser racers. It provides training facilities within the ISA Youth Sailing Scheme and National Power Boat Schemes.

Past Commodores

1931 – 42 Earl of Granard 1942 – 45 T.J. Hamilton 1945 – 47 P.M. Purcell 1947 – 50 J.J. O’Leary 1950 – 55 A.A. Murphy 1955 – 60 J.J. O’Leary 1960 – 64 F. Lemass 1964 – 69 J.C. McConnell 1969 – 72 P.J. Johnston 1972 – 74 L. Boyd 1974 – 76 F.C. Winkelmann 1976 – 79 P.A. Browne 1979 – 83 W.A. Maguire 1983 – 87 F.J. Cooney 1987 – 88 J.J. Byrne 1988 – 91 M.F. Muldoon 1991 – 94 B.D. Barry 1994 – 97 M.P.B. Horgan 1997 – 00 B. MacNeaney 2000 – 02 I.E. Kiernan 2002 – 05 C.N.I. Moore 2005 – 08 C.J. Murphy 2008 – 11 P.D. Ryan 2011 – P. Barrington 2011-2014 Larry Power 2014-2017 Ronan Beirne 2017 – 2019

At A Glance - National Yacht Club 2024 Events