Great Lighthouses of Ireland (series two, programme three) continues this Sunday, May 22nd 2022 on RTÉ One TV at 6.30 pm
Lighthouse technology is constantly evolving, ensuring that lights are as bright as possible for the safety of the mariner at sea. This third episode explores the fascinating history of lighthouse optic engineering and ingenuity, from the basic oil burners and reflectors of the 1700s to the invention of the Fresnel lens which dramatically enhanced the power of the light; improvements to the light sources, and how lighthouses got their characteristic flashes.
A short distance from Cromwell Point lighthouse, Valentia Island, Co Kerry, is the landing place for the first transatlantic cable: the most advanced communications technology in the world in the mid 19th century.
Mícheál Lyne, Kerry Historian
Spanning 2,500 miles from Newfoundland to Valentia, across an ocean which is 2 miles deep in places, the successful laying of the cable has been described as the equivalent of the moon landings for the people of that era.
After two attempts, the third proved to be successful and in 1866 the entire cable was carried and laid by one ship, ‘The Great Eastern’, whose first officer was Robert Halpin from Wicklow Town, Co. Wicklow. The Valentia cable station had a huge economic and social impact on the island, and the last telegraphic message was sent in 1966 as radio wave technology took over.
Ireland’s lighthouses also played a part in the development of radio wave and wireless technology. Radio wave pioneer Guglielmo Marconi was born in 1874 to an Irish mother and an Italian father. Marconi was able to achieve what had previously been regarded as impossible, and prove that electrical waves could cross the Atlantic wirelessly and without the need for cables. By 1904, radio signalling technology had been installed on the Fastnet lighthouse meaning the keepers could be contacted quickly from the shore, and could also send danger signals and messages about the light. A new chapter in technology began as radio waves were used to save lives at sea.
Perhaps the most challenging job of all within the lighthouse service was that of a lightshipman.
David Higginbotham, a former Lightship man is interviewed in Programme Three of RTE's Great Lighthouses of Ireland
Even tougher than living on a remote lighthouse station, lightships were anchored into place and truly at the mercy of the sea. For almost 250 years lightship men were stationed around the Irish coast, displaying incredible bravery, integrity and strength of mind. Former lightship men describe conditions on a lightship, including the psychological challenges, food shortages, overdue reliefs and the constant threat of being struck by another vessel.
The loss of the Puffin lightship near the Daunt Rock in 1896 illustrates just how dangerous it was to be a lightshipman. Despite being the height of technology, the Puffin was destroyed in a violent storm with the loss of all 8 crew who were never found. Using 19th-century diving technology, the wreck of the Puffin was found against all odds and brought to shore. Ireland’s lightships were gradually replaced by automatic buoys, and the last lightship ‘The Gannet’ was decommissioned in 2009 and removed from the Co. Down coast.
Great Lighthouses of Ireland is produced and directed by David Hare of InProductionTV for RTÉ in association with Irish Lights
