Survey Data
Reg No
40900215
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Historical, Social
Original Use
Lighthouse keeper's house
Date
1810 - 1900
Coordinates
248907, 464991
Date Recorded
10/10/2008
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Remains of former lighthouse (on circular-plan), built 1812. Now out of use with lantern and part of top of tower removed c. 1959 following construction of new lighthouse to the west end of Inishtrahull. Constructed of local rubble stone construction, formerly rendered. Square-headed openings, fittings now removed. Remains of collection of single-storey former lighthouse keeper’s houses, built c. 1900, and ancillary structures to the west of remains of lighthouse having flat-roofs, rendered walls and square-headed openings. Rubble stone walls to site, including boundary wall enclosing large rectangular site to the west of former lighthouse. Former island cemetery\burial ground adjacent to the east. Located on an elevated site on the summit of a hillock to the east end of Inishtrahull, and about 5 miles to the north of Malin Head.
Appraisal
This former lighthouse and associated structures is an integral element of the extensive maritime heritage of County Donegal. The lighthouse was originally built to designs by George Halpin (1779 - 1854), a Senior Inspector of Lighthouses, acting on behalf of the ‘Corporation for Preserving and Improving the Port of Dublin’ (the Ballast Board). Halpin designed and\or supervised the construction of many lighthouses throughout Ireland, including those on Tory Island, Fanad Head, St. John’s Point (see 40909717), Inishowen, Rathlin O'Birne (see 40908904), and at Rotten Island (see 40909716), near Killybegs, in County Donegal. This lighthouse on Inishtrahull originally had a faceted glass lantern, and a metal platform with around the base of the lantern (both added in 1863 – 4, manufactured by Messrs Edmundson of Dublin) supported on stone corbels – it was similar in appearance to the lighthouse at St. John’s Point (see 40909717), a structure designed by George Halpin and built between 1829 – 31. Work on this lighthouse on Inishtrahull started in 1812, and it was established on the request of the Royal Navy as an aid to navy shipping using Lough Foyle and Lough Swilly. The first Light was established on the 17th March 1813. The height of the tower was approx. 12.8 meters. Later a dioptric apparatus was installed in the tower and came into operation on 29 September 1864 (by Messrs Chance of Birmingham). This lighthouse was decommissioned in 1958 following the construction of the new lighthouse (see 40902***) to the west end of Inishtrahull. The lantern and the upper sections of the tower itself were removed in 1959 after it was discovered that the light from the new lighthouse was partially obscured by the old tower. The now ruinous collection of single-storey former lighthouse keepers’ houses and associated ancillary dwellings survive in relatively good condition, despite a long period of disuse. These buildings are very similar in form to those still in use at a number of lighthouse locations around Ireland. They were probably built around 1900. Set in an elevated site on the exposed and isolated island of Inishtrahull, this lighthouse and associated structures acts as a monument to the skill and dedication of those involved in its initial construction, and who worked here from the early-nineteenth century until the mid-twentieth century, and is an addition to the built heritage of County Donegal.