lighthouse

Freestanding single-bay three-stage lighthouse, established 1818, on a circular plan. Decommissioned, 1857. In ruins, 1898. Renovated, 1993, to accommodate alternative use. Now disused. Limestone ashlar battered walls on cut-limestone chamfered plinth with cantilevered walkway on cut-limestone thumbnail beaded corbels supporting cast-iron railings centred on lantern. Square-headed door opening with cut-limestone step threshold, and cut-limestone lintel framing replacement timber fitting. Square-headed window openings with cut-limestone sills, and cut-limestone lintels framing replacement timber fittings. Interior retaining cast-iron spiral staircase with cast-iron balusters supporting cast-iron banister. Set in shared grounds with piers to perimeter having lichen-spotted cut-limestone shallow pyramidal capping supporting flat iron gate.

A lighthouse erected to designs attributable to George Halpin Senior (1776-1854), Inspector of Works and Lighthouses for the Ballast Board (appointed 1810), representing an important component of the early nineteenth-century built heritage of Inis Mór [Inishmore] with the architectural value of the composition, one originally topped with a "flashing" or revolving optic in order to distinguish it from the "non-flashing" Clare Ireland Lighthouse (1818) in County Mayo and Loop Head Lighthouse (1802; replaced 1854) in County Clare, confirmed by such attributes as the compact plan form; the gently tapering silhouette; the construction in a silver-grey limestone demonstrating good quality workmanship; and the iron work encircling an abbreviated lantern.