Irish Lighthouses in Art: Fastnet, Fanad, Hook Head and Dublin Bay
Ireland has dozens of lighthouses, but a handful have become something more than navigation aids. They turn up on postcards, in photographers' portfolios and on living-room walls, because a lighthouse does what a good picture does: it gives the eye one clear place to rest. Here are five that artists keep returning to, and what is worth knowing about each.
Fastnet: Ireland's Teardrop
Fastnet Rock sits off the coast of West Cork, further out into the Atlantic than any other Irish lighthouse station. It earned the nickname Ireland's Teardrop because it was the last piece of Ireland that many nineteenth-century emigrants saw as they sailed for North America. The present tower, built from dovetailed blocks of Cornish granite, entered service on 27 June 1904 and is the tallest lighthouse in Ireland. An earlier cast-iron tower was judged unsatisfactory, which is partly why the granite one is so sturdy.
Our Fastnet Lighthouse print leans into the travel-poster tradition, with bold shapes that suit a hallway or a kitchen. If your taste runs to the south coast, Mizen Head makes a natural companion.
Fanad Head: the one on every list
On the Fanad Peninsula in Donegal, the lighthouse marks the entrance to Lough Swilly. It has been there since 1817, built in direct response to the wreck of HMS Saldanha six years earlier. Photographers love its position, white tower and red band against the open Atlantic, and it regularly appears on lists of the most beautiful lighthouses in the world.
The Fanad Head Lighthouse print is the one to choose if you want a calm, coastal photograph rather than a stylised poster.
Hook Head: eight centuries of light
Hook Head in Wexford is among the oldest operating lighthouses in the world. The tower is generally dated to the thirteenth century and is linked to William Marshal, who needed a safe approach for his port at New Ross; monks from a small monastery on the peninsula are said to have tended the first warning fires. The light was automated in 1996 and is now controlled remotely, but the medieval tower is still there.
Our Hook Head print catches the black-and-white tower with sea thrift in the foreground, a good fit for a quieter, neutral room.
Dublin Bay: Baily and Poolbeg
Two lighthouses frame Dublin Bay. Baily Lighthouse has guided ships around Howth Head since the 1810s. Poolbeg, painted red, stands at the end of the Great South Wall, which runs nearly four miles out into the bay. The first light there dates to the eighteenth century, and the present tower was built in 1820.
See both in print: the Poolbeg Lighthouse photograph from above, and the Baily Lighthouse at sunset. For a more historical take, Jonathan Fisher's aquatint Dublin Harbour from Poolbeg Lighthouse shows the older, sepia view.
Choosing a lighthouse print
Pick the lighthouse that means something to you: the one you holidayed beside, grew up near, or sailed past. Photographic prints suit modern rooms, while the retro posters work well in kitchens and hallways. Browse more in our Irish photographic prints, the wider landscape and seascape collection, or the full Irish art prints range.