Engineering Works
Hook Head
Hook Head Lighthouse is one of the oldest in Western Europe. The first tower was built around 1172 by Raymond Le Gros, husband of Strongbow's only sister, on what is believed to be the site of a wood-burning beacon first established by St Dubhan in the fifth century. Le Gros vested the custody of the tower and the tending of the beacon in monks affiliated to the Canons Regular of St Augustine in Ross. Monks continued to tend the beacon until the outbreak of civil war in 1641, when the light was extinguished. Many shipwrecks occurred in the period that followed. Attempts to re-establish the light failed until Charles II granted letters patent to Sir Richard Reading in 1665 to erect six lighthouses around the coast of Ireland. One of these was a development of the old Hook Head tower which became the foundation of the lighthouse tower we see today.
Mew Island
The lighthouse at Mew Island was designed by William Douglas, the Board's Engineer, and commissioned on 1st November 1884, replacing a lighthouse on the lesser Copeland Island which was discontinued. The light was a triform optic fitted with 324 coal gas burning jets. The coal gas was generated in a retort gas plant at the station. A two note siren fog signal powered by compressed air gave a 4 second blast with a low note followed after 12 seconds silence by a 4 second blast with a high note; this cycle was repeated every 100 seconds.
In 1928 the triform optic was replaced by a biform optic previously at Tory Island, and the light source was changed to paraffin vapour burners with a new character of 4 flashes every 30 seconds. The tower, which had been black, had a white band painted half way up in 1954. A radiobeacon was established in 1949, and the light was electrified in 1969. A Racon was installed in 1993 and the fog signal and radiobeacon were then discontinued. The radiobeacon mast, which was a familiar landmark on Mew Island, has been removed.
The author wishes to acknowledge the use of extracts from the historical research work of former colleague Michael Costeloe.
Hook Head Lighthouse is one of the oldest in Western Europe. The first tower was built around 1172 by Raymond Le Gros, husband of Strongbow's only sister, on what is believed to be the site of a wood-burning beacon first established by St Dubhan in the fifth century. Le Gros vested the custody of the tower and the tending of the beacon in monks affiliated to the Canons Regular of St Augustine in Ross. Monks continued to tend the beacon until the outbreak of civil war in 1641, when the light was extinguished. Many shipwrecks occurred in the period that followed. Attempts to re-establish the light failed until Charles II granted letters patent to Sir Richard Reading in 1665 to erect six lighthouses around the coast of Ireland. One of these was a development of the old Hook Head tower which became the foundation of the lighthouse tower we see today.
Mew Island
The lighthouse at Mew Island was designed by William Douglas, the Board's Engineer, and commissioned on 1st November 1884, replacing a lighthouse on the lesser Copeland Island which was discontinued. The light was a triform optic fitted with 324 coal gas burning jets. The coal gas was generated in a retort gas plant at the station. A two note siren fog signal powered by compressed air gave a 4 second blast with a low note followed after 12 seconds silence by a 4 second blast with a high note; this cycle was repeated every 100 seconds.
In 1928 the triform optic was replaced by a biform optic previously at Tory Island, and the light source was changed to paraffin vapour burners with a new character of 4 flashes every 30 seconds. The tower, which had been black, had a white band painted half way up in 1954. A radiobeacon was established in 1949, and the light was electrified in 1969. A Racon was installed in 1993 and the fog signal and radiobeacon were then discontinued. The radiobeacon mast, which was a familiar landmark on Mew Island, has been removed.
The author wishes to acknowledge the use of extracts from the historical research work of former colleague Michael Costeloe.