Moville Lighthouse

Freestanding polygonal ‘pile’ lighthouse\beacon, erected c. 1870, mounted on structural iron frame. Polygonal iron-clad tower with canted polygonal roof, surmounted by polygonal light with domed cap roof and light mounted on structural iron frame. Cantilevered walkway to first and second levels with metal balustrade. Located south of Fish Quay on Lough Foyle, and to the south-east of the centre of Moville.

Occupying a conspicuous location in Lough Foyle to the south-east of Moville, this interesting structure is an integral element of the extensive maritime heritage of County Donegal. It is an example of a pile lighthouse, and is only one of three of its kind still surviving in Ireland, the other’s being located in Dundalk, and at Cobh. It was the largest of a series of pile lighthouses built in Ireland in the last decades of the nineteenth century. It was originally erected in 1882 to mark the navigation channel along Lough Foyle from Derry to the south to the open seas to the north, which became a very busy route during the second half of the nineteenth century with ships leaving to and from Derry to America and Australia amongst other destinations. It originally had a paraffin-powered light and, apparently, the keepers lived in Moville and rowed out and stayed on the lighthouse every night to ensure the light was maintained during the hours of darkness. The light was converted to run on compressed gas from cylinders in 1912, which could power the light for three months at a time without maintenance. It was more recently been converted to run on solar power. It is 13 metres high and flashes once every 2.5 seconds with a range of four miles. A red sector covers Moville Bank inshore. Run by the Harbour Board in Derry, this pile lighthouse is an integral element of the built heritage of the local area, and it adds considerable character to the seascape as enjoyed from the shore from Moville.