Sherkin Island Light

Freestanding circular-plan coast light, built 1885. Cast-iron construction having banded shaft, cast-iron balcony, battered base and domed cap with pointed cylindrical finial. Square-headed opening with fixed pane windows. Square-headed opening with cast-iron door. Detached two-bay single-storey former lighthouse keeper’s house with gable-fronted porch, built 1885, with recent renovations. Pitched artificial slate roofs with rendered chimneystack, recent rooflights and uPVC rainwater goods. Painted rendered walls with platband. Square-headed openings with replacement uPVC windows and tooled limestone sills. Square-headed door opening with replacement timber battened door and inscribed limestone lintel. Enclosed by roughcast rendered walls and piers.

This coast light is one of a number of signal devices which were built as navigations aids along the West Cork coastline. It has a purely functional importance relating to the maritime safety of Baltimore Harbour, however in conjunction with the lighthouse keeper’s house and associated structures, it forms part of a notable historic architectural ensemble.