Making Postcards of Irish Lighthouses
by John Eagle
I THINK it is fair to say that had I been a wealthy man this
venture of mine would not have happened. My love of lighthouses is
deep rooted, the magic of the sweeping light. The light at the end
of Fishguard Pier was the one I first saw, as we passed it so often
in the Inishfallen in my early years. That, and Roches Point on the
way into Cork. Coming from an inland town there was so much
excitement in the sea, and lighthouses meant Sea!
From the start, it was a project that would involve a lot of persuading-gentle door opening, and several that needed to be kicked open. I recall sitting on the rocks across from Ardnakinna thinking the project over to myself; to make a postcard of every lighthouse on the Irish coastline. I had to get myself a helicopter pilot from somewhere. So many of the lighthouses I would need to visit are offshore by several miles.
If money was no object I would probably have just hired myself a chopper and flown round the coast, all done in a couple of weeks, made into postcards within a month, and put on the racks. I am so glad I had very little income, because being short of money forced me to try things and then meet people I would never have met.
I have taken a trip in the pilot boat Sonia in Cork Harbour, racing across the water from Cobh to photograph Spitbank. Gerry Donnelly of Shannon Estuary Ports arranged for me to travel up river in a launch from Aughinish Pier so I could photograph Beeves Rock. Tom McCarrick took me out in Sligo Bay in his catamaran to let me do Blackrock Sligo Lighthouse; and, of course, Capt. Mick Conneely and Capt. Mick Hennessy of Irish Helicopters Ltd have flown me on numerous trips to other lighthouses. Capt. Mick Conneely has been a fabulous support to me, enabling me to take pictures I often look back on and wonder how I did them.
From the very beginning I wanted to make sure these postcards would be done to the highest standard possible. I wanted them to carry technical details; I wanted the pictures to be spot on, they had to be first class. I had the idea that by numbering the cards people would collect them, just like the cards one finds in tea packets. I wasn't thinking about making money when I started making the postcards; I was doing them because I wanted to.
I got myself a sponsor, Salmara, and produced 12 cards, each having the Salmara logo on the back. I recall one shopkeeper shaking her head and saying: 'Lighthouses; whatever next! Can't see who needs to know all that text on the back.' I recall going round the shops of Bantry, Kinsale, Skibbereen with my postcards, and wishing I was someplace else as the shopkeepers shook their heads. I realised then that I wasn't a very good salesman.
Then I went down to Baltimore. I had produced 3,000 cards of Fastnet-Series no 3. By the time I had been to Baltimore and Crookhaven the lot had gone and I was ordering a second print run of 2,000. They went in one day. I began to realise I might be onto something. In all I have sold 13,000 of this one particular postcard.
Then, out of the blue, came the phone calls. People from around the world wanted my cards. 'At last postcards of Irish lighthouses' was the general response.
So I began to do more. I did five titles at a time, posting them off to collectors, saving up the money as it came in so I could order more cards. Hand to mouth, but then it was fun.
Something had to give. I was not making a fortune and my bills were getting large. By June 1997 I told my long time friend and ally Sue Hill, who runs the fabulous Heron's Cove Restaurant in Goleen, that I just couldn't keep going. I wasn't spending any money on myself; people saw my cards everywhere and presumed I was making a fortune. But I had borrowed £5,000 for a postcard print run and a Dublin printer had let me down. Sue simply said: 'You can't give up. You have to go on until you have done the lot. How about if I sponsor some cards for you?'
Sue sponsored 5,000 cards: 3,000 of the Fastnet, 2,000 of Crookhaven, then she bought 1,000 of them from me at full price. The postcards are easily recognisable; they have the heron logo on the backs and details of the restaurant. Then she told me to go and get other people to sponsor my cards, and she kept asking me who I had got and had I tried so and so? Now it has caught on and people in many parts of the world are coming to me to sponsor my cards.
I wish to thank all at Irish Lights for their invaluable help, especially retired Irish Lights man Michael Costeloe for his wealth of historic information. I have really enjoyed making the postcards. I also wish to thank Tom MacSweeney, RTE's Marine Correspondent, for repeatedly mentioning my postcards on his Seascapes programme. He has given me the sort of publicity money cannot buy.
Postcards are to be enjoyed, an item sent through the mail for the receiver to hold in their hands and treasure. Every time I send my cards out to someone I think about how they will react to my latest offerings. Finding out their reaction means more to me than anything; that is the true value of my project.
I have just completed a book, An Eagle's View of Irish Lighthouses, in which I was able to amplify the information for the lighthouses I have covered. This guide book tells the reader how to see over 50 lighthouses on the Irish coastline, which routes to take, what to be careful of, and places to stay and visit near the lighthouses. With a Foreword by T.M. Boyd, Chief Executive of Irish Lights, the book gives historical and technical data about the lighthouses. Some of the pictures are from the Irish Lighthouse Series postcard collection but many others have never before been published.
An Eagle's View of Irish Lighthouses by John Eagle, with more than 100 colour photos (ISBN 0 9537271 0 6) is published by Eagle's Eye Publications, Eyeries, Beara, Co Cork, phone +353 (0) 27 74275, e-mail eaglejr@indigo.ie, price £11.95 or $16.50 plus postage.
The Irish Lighthouse Series comprises 70 postcards, numbered 1 to 67 plus 3 extras. All pictures by John Eagle Photography. Price £25 or $55, postage included; prices for bulk and trade available.
From the start, it was a project that would involve a lot of persuading-gentle door opening, and several that needed to be kicked open. I recall sitting on the rocks across from Ardnakinna thinking the project over to myself; to make a postcard of every lighthouse on the Irish coastline. I had to get myself a helicopter pilot from somewhere. So many of the lighthouses I would need to visit are offshore by several miles.
If money was no object I would probably have just hired myself a chopper and flown round the coast, all done in a couple of weeks, made into postcards within a month, and put on the racks. I am so glad I had very little income, because being short of money forced me to try things and then meet people I would never have met.
I have taken a trip in the pilot boat Sonia in Cork Harbour, racing across the water from Cobh to photograph Spitbank. Gerry Donnelly of Shannon Estuary Ports arranged for me to travel up river in a launch from Aughinish Pier so I could photograph Beeves Rock. Tom McCarrick took me out in Sligo Bay in his catamaran to let me do Blackrock Sligo Lighthouse; and, of course, Capt. Mick Conneely and Capt. Mick Hennessy of Irish Helicopters Ltd have flown me on numerous trips to other lighthouses. Capt. Mick Conneely has been a fabulous support to me, enabling me to take pictures I often look back on and wonder how I did them.
From the very beginning I wanted to make sure these postcards would be done to the highest standard possible. I wanted them to carry technical details; I wanted the pictures to be spot on, they had to be first class. I had the idea that by numbering the cards people would collect them, just like the cards one finds in tea packets. I wasn't thinking about making money when I started making the postcards; I was doing them because I wanted to.
I got myself a sponsor, Salmara, and produced 12 cards, each having the Salmara logo on the back. I recall one shopkeeper shaking her head and saying: 'Lighthouses; whatever next! Can't see who needs to know all that text on the back.' I recall going round the shops of Bantry, Kinsale, Skibbereen with my postcards, and wishing I was someplace else as the shopkeepers shook their heads. I realised then that I wasn't a very good salesman.
Then I went down to Baltimore. I had produced 3,000 cards of Fastnet-Series no 3. By the time I had been to Baltimore and Crookhaven the lot had gone and I was ordering a second print run of 2,000. They went in one day. I began to realise I might be onto something. In all I have sold 13,000 of this one particular postcard.
Then, out of the blue, came the phone calls. People from around the world wanted my cards. 'At last postcards of Irish lighthouses' was the general response.
So I began to do more. I did five titles at a time, posting them off to collectors, saving up the money as it came in so I could order more cards. Hand to mouth, but then it was fun.
Something had to give. I was not making a fortune and my bills were getting large. By June 1997 I told my long time friend and ally Sue Hill, who runs the fabulous Heron's Cove Restaurant in Goleen, that I just couldn't keep going. I wasn't spending any money on myself; people saw my cards everywhere and presumed I was making a fortune. But I had borrowed £5,000 for a postcard print run and a Dublin printer had let me down. Sue simply said: 'You can't give up. You have to go on until you have done the lot. How about if I sponsor some cards for you?'
Sue sponsored 5,000 cards: 3,000 of the Fastnet, 2,000 of Crookhaven, then she bought 1,000 of them from me at full price. The postcards are easily recognisable; they have the heron logo on the backs and details of the restaurant. Then she told me to go and get other people to sponsor my cards, and she kept asking me who I had got and had I tried so and so? Now it has caught on and people in many parts of the world are coming to me to sponsor my cards.
I wish to thank all at Irish Lights for their invaluable help, especially retired Irish Lights man Michael Costeloe for his wealth of historic information. I have really enjoyed making the postcards. I also wish to thank Tom MacSweeney, RTE's Marine Correspondent, for repeatedly mentioning my postcards on his Seascapes programme. He has given me the sort of publicity money cannot buy.
Postcards are to be enjoyed, an item sent through the mail for the receiver to hold in their hands and treasure. Every time I send my cards out to someone I think about how they will react to my latest offerings. Finding out their reaction means more to me than anything; that is the true value of my project.
I have just completed a book, An Eagle's View of Irish Lighthouses, in which I was able to amplify the information for the lighthouses I have covered. This guide book tells the reader how to see over 50 lighthouses on the Irish coastline, which routes to take, what to be careful of, and places to stay and visit near the lighthouses. With a Foreword by T.M. Boyd, Chief Executive of Irish Lights, the book gives historical and technical data about the lighthouses. Some of the pictures are from the Irish Lighthouse Series postcard collection but many others have never before been published.
An Eagle's View of Irish Lighthouses by John Eagle, with more than 100 colour photos (ISBN 0 9537271 0 6) is published by Eagle's Eye Publications, Eyeries, Beara, Co Cork, phone +353 (0) 27 74275, e-mail eaglejr@indigo.ie, price £11.95 or $16.50 plus postage.
The Irish Lighthouse Series comprises 70 postcards, numbered 1 to 67 plus 3 extras. All pictures by John Eagle Photography. Price £25 or $55, postage included; prices for bulk and trade available.