Last Wednesday was one of those historic days in the life of the Fanad Peninsula when the Commissioners of Irish Lights handed control of their lighthouse station to a local community group, Forbairt Fhánada Teoranta.
This is the Fanad community company established to run the tourism project that provides the peninsula with one of the really great attractions on the Wild Atlantic Way.
Fanad now has a dynamic piece of history to show off to the public, the visitors and locals alike and first impressions are quite stunning.
By John McAteer (who lives beside the lighthouse!)
We visited the Lighthouse for the Grand Tour on Saturday to meet with the Bainisteoir, Eimear Ni Mhathúna and the staff, Cathal McGinley, Cait Fealty and Georgina McKemey on a 45 minute journey down the memory lane of our nautical heritage and to hear the tales of times past when hens roamed free and laid their eggs on the rocky ledges. A time when the Lightkeepers carried large drums of oil to the top of the tower to fuel the beam as it shone 18 nautical miles out to sea.
You too can now take that journey of your dreams up into the dome and sample the vivid scenery that stretches from Malin Head to Tory Island and deep into the beauty of the Fanad countryside.
It is a memorable journey carefully created for an imaginative and worthwhile visit that is destined to leave you with a fond impression of how our fishermen were provided with guidance on many a dark wintry night as the Lightkeeper, high above the rolling waves kept a lonely sentry as he wound the clockwork mechanism that powered the beam of light.
To while away the time, the Keeper painted: made artifacts and read from the lighthouse library. It was a sentry on high in all weathers and standing in that room you can easily imagine the pounding gales, the hurricanes: the wonderful sunsets and while to the east they watched the sun rise from behind the Inishowen hills.
If those times could only be bottled… but the Lightkeepers were adept at putting their own nautical creations into bottles for posterity and many a fine example continues to enthrall their owners.
The Fanad Lighthouse project is one that is destined to attract thousands of visitors: already guests have booked into the apartments and we met the first couple on Saturday as they departed. A smile of satisfaction lit up the faces of UK guests, James and Chrissie McAteer who said they will return here later in the summer.
The lighthouse has undergone extensive renovations: new roof and ancillary works to modernise the accommodation while at all times retaining the original character of the place.
Inside the red-gated complex is the office where visitors are first met by a member of the staff: it was originally a storeroom for the helicopter service. The tour begins at this point and be prepared for forty minutes of pure magic as the tour guides lead the way with a volume of history: data, anecdote and legend…and of course there is a treasure trove of history. There are the names of the lighthouse men who came here to serve and to join with the local community in the many facets of Fanad life dating down the years to 1817.
There are great records and artifacts: the Morse light: the signalling flags: the place is steeped in the legend of the lighthouse era. And the photographs and drawings are magnificent including an impression of the original building. In fact the lighthouse we see today was rebuilt circa 1886 and in the intervening 130 years it has stood up to the harsh environment very well indeed. This is a lighthouse with character and attitude and legend has it that a German U boat sent a man ashore in 1942 to replenish their fresh water supply from a nearby well.
Inside the main entrance are two impressive displays showing the old pictures; the great liners like the Laurentic and of course the sinking of the Saldhana over two hundred years ago. And there is sadness with the fact that this is a place where lives were saved and lost. None more poignant than the memory of the Ballywhoriskey Tragedy of 1927 when four men perished while out at sea. The men were, James Sweeney: Francis Harkin: Patrick Fealty and Hugh Shiels and importantly this project will serve to perpetuate their names into the future.
And there is a poignancy about the disappearance of the lighthouse keeper’s son, David O’Byrne, aged 13 who left to fetch a bucket of potatoes from neighbour’s house less than one mile distant. David never returned to the lighthouse and not even the bucket he was carrying was ever found. He was presumed drowned and shortly after in the early 1950’s the heartbroken family departed Fanad forever.
Then in 2000 a memorial in David’s memory was unveiled and it stands inside the main gate at the entrance. These are snapshots in time but preserved for future generations and today’s guides are our link with the past as they offer a new insight into the Fanad of a long time ago.
Cathal McGinley is our guide on Saturday and his attention to detail was excellent, holding our attention every step of the way… every one of the 79 steps up into the dome housing the light on the tower, some 39 metres above sea level. The actual tower with its unique granite wedge shaped steps is 22 metres tall. The granite was brought from Howth long before it was quarried in Ballywhoriskey.
Regarded and voted the second most beautiful lighthouse in the world, visitors now have the opportunity to visit the building, to learn about the science of lighthouses, to hear stories about light-keepers in days gone by, and, not for the fainthearted, to climb to the top of the tower for spectacular views of land and sea.
In 1812 the frigate Saldana was wrecked on Fannet Point, as it was called then, and became a total loss except for the ship’s parrot which bore a silver collar inscribed Saldana. Soon after the loss of this vessel Captain Hill of the Royal Navy in Derry, whose experience of the north-west coast from Blacksod to Lough Foyle was second to none, wrote to one of the members of the Corporation for Preserving and Improving the Port of Dublin (the Ballast Board) suggesting that a lighthouse should be placed on Fannet Point. He also backed up his request by stating that the Saldana would not have been lost if there had been a light on Fannet.
Without question the Board approved Captain Hill’s request and they approached Trinity House, who gave their sanction in July 1814. The Admiralty Signal Tower on Fannet was taken over ostensibly to be used as a Keeper’s dwelling and also to prevent local inhabitants dismantling it for their own devices but it seems to have been taken down and used by the Corporation when the lighthouse and dwellings were built.
The first lighthouse was similar in size to two other towers being built around the same time, one at Mutton Island off Salthill, Galway Bay, and the other at Roche’s Point on the eastern entrance to Cork harbour. They were 5 feet 9 inches inside diameter by three stories high-ground, first floor and lantern.
The Deed of Conveyance for the property at Fanad Head was signed and the money paid to Lord Leitrim in Leitrim in April 1818 in accordance with the Inquisition dated October 1814.
Fannet Point Lighthouse was first lit on March 17th 1817. Its fixed or non-flashing catoptric light showed red to sea and white towards the Lough, and could be seen for fourteen miles in clear weather. The optic consisted of nine Argand sperm oil wick lamps and parabolic reflectors. The seaward lamps would have had red coloured lamp glasses.
In 1876 gas was suggested instead of colza or rape seed oil. This would have meant the construction of a gas works similar to Tory Island and certain other rock and mainland stations.
Trinity House made another recommendation in 1877, this time that Tory Island be altered to a first order group flashing light and the old Tory Island lens to be fitted into a new tower built at Fanad with a sectional light to show from the base of the tower over the Limeburner Rock. Still nothing was done until 1880 when the Inspecting Committee recommended adopting the Engineer’s and Inspector’s report for an occulting second order light using paraffin showing white with a red sector over the Swilly Rocks and a lower white sector light over the Limeburner Rock.
Construction went ahead and a new larger and higher tower, close to the original tower was built together with an extra dwelling. In both cases a connecting corridor joined the tower to the dwelling. The new lights went into operation on September 1st 1886. An auxiliary fixed white light in one of the windows at the base of the tower shone over the Limeburner Rock. The character of this light was changed in August 1932.
The 1906 apparatus was completely replaced in 1975 when the light was converted to unwatched electric, that is the night watch was discontinued and the light character altered from Group Flashing six white and red 15 seconds to Group Flashing five white and red 20 seconds and the nominal range of the auxiliary light was increased to 15 nautical miles. The Auxiliary light over the Limeburner Rock was discontinued in 1977 being replaced by another red sector in the main light, the other red sector is over the Swilly Rocks. The light is powered by 1.5kW lamps and even in bright sunlight their beam is stunning..
Today at Fanad Head the former lightkeeper’s houses have been converted into three stunning accommodation units for letting. Each one is named after another lighthouse visible from it, namely, Tory, Inishtrahull and Dunree. All have been finished to an extremely high standard and accommodate 4, 3 and 2 people respectively.
And be aware that the number of people who can go up into the tower at a time is strictly limited, tours must be booked in advance by email to info@fanadlighthouse.com or by calling to the ticket office at the lighthouse between 11 and 4pm Thursday to Sunday.
The group is committed to developing the lighthouse as a Gaeltacht project and will offer a complete service through Irish including signage, lighthouse tours and in any dealings with the public.
Stage 2 of the project is the construction of a Visitors’ Centre along the seafront on the approach to the lighthouse. Contractors are currently being selected for this development which is funded by Fáilte Ireland through the Commissioners of Irish Lights.
Forbairt Fhánada Teoranta would like to gratefully acknowledge the continued support of Donegal County Council, Údarás na Gaeltachta and Fáilte Ireland.
The Commissioners of Irish Lights will continue to be responsible for the Technical and Navigational aspects of the functioning Lighthouse.
Fanad Head is one of the twelve lighthouses which make up Great Lighthouses of Ireland and visitors from home and abroad now have the chance to visit or stay in a lighthouse and to find out about our history and heritage, to appreciate the spectacular natural world around us, to discover the technology at work today and to engage with our coastal communities.
The Fanad Lighthouse Tour is a memorable experience and you’d not want to miss one single second of this amazing journey.
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