Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Great Lighthouses

#Lighthouses - It is more than eight weeks ago when Bobby Kerr, Chair of Great Lighthouses of Ireland helped kick off summer in fine style when he announced the ‘Great Lighthouse, Great Fun’ photography competition.

The competition was held to invite all to discover the amazing coastlines of Ireland, the challenge was simple: take a photograph that best captures and expresses the best of summer fun at a lighthouse. 

“We had a huge number of entries, all a fantastic reflection of Ireland in summer... it was a challenging task for our judges to select (a) final ten, then five and (lastly) the winner,“ Kerr said.

“The winning image of Gar Heffernan holding Hook (Lighthouse) in his hands captured the essence of summer fun at our lighthouses. Well done, Gar. We look forward to meeting you,” said Kerr.

Gar and his family will enjoy a fantastic bespoke Great Lighthouses of Ireland experience for four people, which will include:

  • A two-night stay at any of the Great Lighthouses of Ireland self-catering houses
  • A personal tour with our leading storykeeper at any of our lighthouse attractions
  • A unique opportunity to meet the Irish Lights historian at Howth’s Baily Lighthouse to learn all about the history and heritage of Irish Lights
  • A chance to meet the Irish Lights team and learn more about how navigational aids work today

Speaking from SeaFest, Galway, Yvonne Shields, Chief Executive of Irish Lights said: “We look forward to welcoming our ‘Great Lighthouse, Great Fun’ winner and guests to Irish Lights to see the work involved in ensuring safe navigation around the coast of Ireland and (to) meet the team, whose technical and engineering expertise contributes to the development of our maritime economy. This weekend, we encourage all to come on board the Granualie at Seafest.” (See related ships on show tours).

Great Lighthouses of Ireland is an exciting collaboration between many private and public organisations in coastal communities, led and supported by Irish Lights. For event details and information about and booking Great Lighthouses of Ireland, see: www.greatlighthouses.com/shine-a-light

Twitter: @gtlighthouses | https://twitter.com/gtlighthouses

Facebook: @greatlighthousesofireland | https://www.facebook.com/greatlighthousesofireland

For full details and the competition terms and conditions, click this link here.

Published in Lighthouses

#Lighthouses - To kick off summer, Great Lighthouses of Ireland invite you to the 'Shine a Light on Summer' Festival this May Bank Holiday weekend and to take part in a 'Great Lighthouse, Great Fun' photographic competition to capture the best of summer fun at one of their great lighthouses.

To get a glimpse of all the great summer fun you can have at the Great Lighthouses of Ireland, watch this short video.

Shine a Light on Summer Festival

Shine A Light on Summer Festival is taking place from top to toe on the island of Ireland at five of our Great Lighthouses – at Fanad Head in the wilds of Donegal, at Hook the world's oldest working lighthouse in Wexford, at the majestic Loop Head and on the islands of Rathlin in the north and Valentia in the south west.

Be blown away by what you'll see, experience and discover at each site over the weekend. Meet fascinating lighthouse Storykeepers. Enjoy their tales of maritime marvels and nature's wonder, of heroic feats and the lightkeeping life. Discover crafts and traditions of times past and learn about modern coastal technology too.

Find out more by visiting this link. 

'Great Lighthouse, Great Fun' Photography Competition

As part of our Shine A Light On Summer Festival, we are launching our 'Great Lighthouse, Great Fun' photography competition.

We invite you to take a photograph that best captures and expresses summer fun at one of our Great Lighthouses of Ireland and enter it into our 'Great Lighthouse, Great Fun' photography competition.

The competition winner will enjoy a fantastic personal Great Lighthouses of Ireland experience for four people, including:

  • A two-night stay at any of the Great Lighthouses of Ireland self-catering houses
  • A personal tour with our leading 'storykeeper' at any of our lighthouse attractions
  • A unique opportunity to meet the Irish Lights historian at Howth's Baily Lighthouse for a chance to see and learn all about the history and heritage of Irish Lights
  • A chance to meet the Irish Lights team and learn more about how aids to navigation work today

This fantastic competition opens on Friday 4th May and closes on Wednesday 20th June 2018. To enter, simply post your photo on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #GreatLighthouseGreatFun.

For full details and the competition terms and conditions, see this link :

Great Lighthouses of Ireland Chairperson, This , will announce the lucky winner during the Seafest www.seafest.ie on Saturday 30th June 2018.

Published in Lighthouses

Irish Sailing Club of the Year Award

This unique and informal competition was inaugurated in 1979, with Mitsubishi Motors becoming main sponsors in 1986. The purpose of the award is to highlight and honour the voluntary effort which goes into creating and maintaining the unrivalled success of Ireland's yacht and sailing clubs. 

In making their assessment, the adjudicators take many factors into consideration. In addition to the obvious one of sailing success at local, national and international level, considerable attention is also paid to the satisfaction which members in every branch of sailing and boating feel with the way their club is run, and how effectively it meets their specific needs, while also encouraging sailing development and training.

The successful staging of events, whether local, national or international, is also a factor in making the assessment, and the adjudicators place particular emphasis on the level of effective voluntary input which the membership is ready and willing to give in support of their club's activities.

The importance of a dynamic and fruitful interaction with the local community is emphasised, and also with the relevant governmental and sporting bodies, both at local and national level. The adjudicators expect to find a genuine sense of continuity in club life and administration. Thus although the award is held in a specific year in celebration of achievements in the previous year, it is intended that it should reflect an ongoing story of success and well-planned programmes for future implementation. 

Over the years, the adjudication system has been continually refined in order to be able to make realistic comparisons between clubs of varying types and size. With the competition's expansion to include class associations and specialist national watersports bodies, the "Club of the Year" competition continues to keep pace with developing trends, while at the same time reflecting the fact that Ireland's leading sailing clubs are themselves national and global pace-setters

Irish Sailing Club of the Year Award FAQs

The purpose of the award is to highlight and honour the voluntary effort which goes into creating and maintaining the unrivalled success of Ireland's yacht and sailing clubs.

A ship's wheel engraved with the names of all the past winners.

The Sailing Club of the Year competition began in 1979.

PR consultant Sean O’Shea (a member of Clontarf Y & BC) had the idea of a trophy which would somehow honour the ordinary sailing club members, volunteers and sailing participants, who may not have personally won prizes, to feel a sense of identity and reward and special pride in their club. Initially some sort of direct inter-club contest was envisaged, but sailing journalist W M Nixon suggested that a way could be found for the comparative evaluation of the achievements and quality of clubs despite their significant differences in size and style.

The award recognises local, national & international sailing success by the winning club's members in both racing and cruising, the completion of a varied and useful sailing and social programme at the club, the fulfilling by the club of its significant and socially-aware role in the community, and the evidence of a genuine feeling among all members that the club meets their individual needs afloat and ashore.

The first club of the Year winner in 1979 was Wicklow Sailing Club.

Royal Cork Yacht Club has won the award most, seven times in all in 1987, 1992, 1997, 2000, 2006, 2015 & 2020.

The National YC has won six times, in 1981, 1985, 1993, 1996, 2012 & 2018.

Howth Yacht Club has won five times, in 1982, 1986, 1995, 2009 & 2019

Ireland is loosely divided into regions with the obviously high-achieving clubs from each area recommended through an informal nationwide panel of local sailors going into a long-list, which is then whittled down to a short-list of between three and eight clubs.

The final short-list is evaluated by an anonymous team based on experienced sailors, sailing journalists and sponsors’ representatives

From 1979 to 2020 the Sailing Club of the Year Award winners are:

  • 1979 Wicklow SC
  • 1980 Malahide YC
  • 1981 National YC
  • 1982 Howth YC
  • 1983 Royal St George YC
  • 1984 Dundalk SC
  • 1985 National YC (Sponsorship by Mitsubishi Motors began in 1985-86)
  • 1986 Howth YC
  • 1987 Royal Cork YC
  • 1988 Dublin University SC
  • 1989 Irish Cruising. Club
  • 1990 Glenans Irish SC
  • 1991 Galway Bay SC
  • 1992 Royal Cork YC
  • 1993 National YC & Cumann Badoiri Naomh Bhreannain (Dingle) (after 1993, year indicated is one in which trophy is held)
  • 1995 Howth Yacht Club
  • 1996 National Yacht Club
  • 1997 Royal Cork Yacht Club
  • 1998 Kinsale Yacht Club
  • 1999 Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club
  • 2000 Royal Cork Yacht Club (in 2000, competition extended to include class associations and specialist organisations)
  • 2001 Howth Sailing Club Seventeen Footer Association
  • 2002 Galway Bay Sailing Club
  • 2003 Coiste an Asgard
  • 2004 Royal St George Yacht Club
  • 2005 Lough Derg Yacht Club
  • 2006 Royal Cork Yacht Club (Water Club of the Harbour of Cork)
  • 2007 Dublin Bay Sailing Club
  • 2008 Lough Ree YC & Shannon One Design Assoc.
  • 2009 Howth Yacht Club
  • 2010 Royal St George YC
  • 2011 Irish Cruiser Racing Association
  • 2012 National Yacht Club
  • 2013 Royal St George YC
  • 2014 Kinsale YC
  • 2015 Royal Cork Yacht Club
  • 2016 Royal Irish Yacht Club
  • 2017 Wicklow Sailing Club
  • 2018 National Yacht Club
  • 2019 Howth Yacht Club
  • 2020 Royal Cork Yacht Club

©Afloat 2020