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Buncrana Pier Light

Lighthouse
Buncrana Pier Light
Photo: Greg Clarke from Buncrana, Donegal, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · Report the wrong picture

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Buncrana Pier and Lighthouse
Buncrana Pier and Lighthouse · Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Original Geograph photograph
End of ferry pier, Swilly Road, Buncrana, Co. Donegal
End of ferry pier, Swilly Road, Buncrana, Co. Donegal · Photo: P L Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Original Geograph photograph

What is recorded here

Lighthouse, erected 1876, on circular-plan comprising cylindrical shaft with wrought-iron brackets supporting circular metal platform over with protective metal railings, and surmounted by cast-iron light-base. Reflector contained within protective ironwork casing with tinted red glass sectors. Formerly sited at west…

Read the whole record
Lighthouse, erected 1876, on circular-plan comprising cylindrical shaft with wrought-iron brackets supporting circular metal platform over with protective metal railings, and surmounted by cast-iron light-base. Reflector contained within protective ironwork casing with tinted red glass sectors. Formerly sited at west end of main pier, recently removed.
This interesting and unusual former lighthouse, of late nineteenth-century date, retains its original form and character. It is well constructed using good-quality cast- and wrought-iron, and it is a feature of some historic and technical merit. It was originally established along the pier in Buncrana in January 1876 by a James Tocker, using a cast-iron pillar formerly at Newcastle, Co. Down. It originally had an oil lamp but this was later converted to acetylene in 1916 and to electric in 1951. It served from January 1876 to January 2009, when it was decommissioned by the Commissioners of Irish Lights. It formerly had a range of 15 nautical miles in the white sector(s) and 12 nautical miles in the red sectors. However, the Buncrana Historical Society had it restored by Crana Engineering and it was resited here in August 2010, overlooking Lough Swilly. This former lighthouse is not only a refined piece of Victorian technical engineering, but also an integral element of the region's rich maritime heritage.

The story behind this place

This former lighthouse is not only a refined piece of Victorian technical engineering, but also an integral element of the region's rich maritime heritage.

From the Buildings of Ireland (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage) record 40815073

Places near here

Photo credits
  • National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
  • Golfing in Ireland; photographer not stated, Source publisher
  • David Dixon, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Maker not stated on source page, donegal.ie
  • Buncrana GAA (publisher); image bears a small maker watermark that needs confirmation before reuse, buncranagaa.com
  • Maker not stated on source page, www.airbnb.ca
  • Maker not stated on source page, jp.pinterest.com
  • Maker not stated on source page, www.pinterest.com
  • Maker not stated on source page, nz.pinterest.com
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