#Lighthouses - Lighthouse keeping is a 'lost tradition' in Ireland as the coastal network of Irish lights has converted to automation.
But there's still one last holdout, as the Journal.ie reports – not to mention the many former lighthouse keepers who have a lifetime of stories to share.
One of them is Gerald Butler, who today serves as attendant keeper at Galley Head lighthouse, included in the new Great Lighthouses of Ireland tourism initiative.
But his career – which began in 1969 at the age of 19, following his family's maritime leanings – previously took him to nearly every lighthouse in the State, including the isolated Fastnet Rock.
Sadly it's a profession that Ireland will never see again upon the retirement of Ireland's last keeper at Hook Lighthouse in Co Wexford.
“Once the era changed and the light keepers were gone the tradition went with them,” said Butler, who thinks what's "most important now is to preserve the history and preserve the heritage."
TheJournal.ie has much more on the story HERE.
