Aran Island Lighthouse

Freestanding four-stage lighthouse on tapering round plan, built 1862-3, having doorway to east at second stage level reached by ramp/flight of steps having flanking rubble stone walls. Faceted glass and metal lantern to top, with metal domed cap having metal finial. Metal walkway around base of lantern, with decorative cast-iron railing. Painted ashlar granite walls. Square-headed window openings, having smooth-rendered reveals, stone sills and six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows, with wrought-iron security bars to lower two stages. Square-headed doorway to east at first floor level with timber door. Square-headed doorway to south at first stage with timber door and wrought-iron gate. Rubble stone and rendered rubble stone walls to site. Detached four-bay single-storey former lighthouse keepers' dwelling to southeast, built c.1863-5, and pair of semi-detached two-bay two-storey former lighthouse keepers' dwellings to south, built c.1910. Located on north-west tip of Árainn Mhór [Aran Island]. Rubble granite boundary wall to south, having gateway with rendered stone piers and recent metal gate.

This lighthouse forms a spectacular and elegant feature in a dramatic coastal landscape. It is well built, using good-quality ashlar granite. The metal walkway to the base of the lantern, with its attractive cast-iron, adds some decorative interest to an otherwise stark form. The integrity of the structure is enhanced by the retention of salient fabric, including timber sash windows. It was designed by George Halpin Jnr, son of George Halpin Snr, Inspector of Works and Lighthouses for the Ballast Board from 1810 until his death in 1854. The light was first exhibited on the 1st of February 1865 and was replaced in 1876. The lighthouse replaced an earlier one at this location, completed in 1798 by Thomas Rogers on behalf of the Barrack Board. In 1810 the lighthouse had come under the control of the Ballast Board and improvements were made to the light during the period 1817-24. When the lighthouse on Toraigh [Tory Island] was established in 1832, the light on Árainn Mhór [Aran Island] was discontinued, despite protests from mariners using those waters, but in 1859 approval was granted for its re-establishment. Masonry from the old tower and dwellings was partly used in the lighthouse. Two single-storey semi-detached dwellings for the keepers and their families were also built at this time. The lighthouse was converted to electric power in 1953 and automated in 1976 and the keepers withdrawn. Set in an exposed and isolated situation on north-west tip of Árainn Mhór [Aran Island], this lighthouse and associated structures act as monuments to the skill and dedication of those involved in its construction, and to the lighthouse keepers stationed here from the early nineteenth century onward.