Ballycotton lighthouse a beacon for local tourism venture

A landmark lighthouse built on an island off Cork in the mid-1800s is set to open for its first guided tours today as part of an ambitious new tourism venture.

Fri, 11 Jul, 2014 - 01:00

Eoin English

The backers of the Ballycotton Island and Lighthouse Tours project hope it will help attract up to 50,000 people to the region every year, and boost the local economy.

They launched their new 12-passenger licensed ferry, Yassy, in the fishing village’s scenic harbour yesterday ahead of its first official tourist sailing this afternoon.

Former lighthouse keeper, Eddie Fitzgerald, who served on the Ballycotton lighthouse in the late 1960s, is among a team of guides who will take visitors on tours of the island, and the lighthouse compound.

People will also be able to climb the lighthouse tower to enjoy stunning views of Ballycotton Bay from its balcony.

“Lots of people have said over the year ‘gosh we’d love to get out there’, but it’s never been feasible until now,” Eddie said.

“I’m quite excited about the venture really and I’ll be able to share a lot of my own personal stories about my time on the island.

“A lot of our work was routine — maintaining the light, and fog signal, doing the weather reports, and acting as unofficial coast guard. We had our own herd of goats as well.”

The lighthouse compound was built on the nine-acre island in 1845, and its lantern was first lit in 1851.

It was a strategically important lighthouse given its proximity to coastal shipping lanes, and to the mouth of Cork Harbour.

Its tower had a single black stripe which acted as a navigational aid, but it was painted fully black in 1902 — one of just a handful of all-black lighthouse towers in the country. During Mr Fitzgerald’s time there, its lamp and fog signal engines were powered by paraffin. The lighthouse was automated in 1992, and its fog signal decommissioned in 2011.

Since its construction, the lighthouse and its island has only been accessible to Commissioners of Irish Lights staff and their families, until now.

The public tours venture was the brainchild of Ballymaloe Relish founder Yasmine Hyde who started working on the project three-and-a-half years ago with a small team of volunteers.

They set up a company and secured a lease agreement with the Commissioners of Irish Lights, and secured €90,000 funding from the South and East Cork Area Development.

“We are amazed at how long it’s taken to come to this day. But we had a great resilient team on the ground who kept driving it on, bit by bit,” Ms Hyde said. “A lot of work and a lot of money has gone into this, so it’s a relief to finally see it take off.”

The daily boat tours will sail, weather dependent, from Ballycotton pier at 10am, 12noon and 2pm seven days a week. The round-trip takes about two hours. There are steps on the piers, and a steep climb up to lighthouse compound, not suitable for people with restricted mobility.