On the morning of November 28, 1881, the people of Dursey Island, Co Cork, looked out on the Calf Rock to an extraordinary sight. The tower of the lighthouse was gone, swept away in one of the most severe storms of the century. The lighthouse had been constructed in 1866 with its light 136ft high.

PERIOD, but manageable, that’s the short take on the Waterford home Inisfail House, which goes under the auction hammer next Thursday, guiding at €1 million.

ISLAND LODGE, on the way to Waterford Castle’s island golf club and river ferry, is the sort of house design that gives dormers a redeeming lifeline.

Rose Martin