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Altacarry Head Lighthouse. |
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Co
Antrim |
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Altacarry Light is located on the corner of Rathlin Island, it guards the treacherous northeast corner of Ulster, funneling shipping inward bound from the Atlantic into the north channel. Some twenty years were to pass after an The lower light was located at the base of the tower and was fixed, that is it shone constantly. To aid inshore navigation and to warn shipping away from the Carrick-a-vaan Rock, just off Kenbane Head on the mainland the light displayed a red sector covering this area. The lower fixed light was discontinued on the 1st July 1894 at this time the output of the upper light was increased. January 1866 saw the introduction of a fog signal consisting of an 18 lb gun fired every 20 minutes during foggy weather, over a period of time the frequency of the explosions was reduced to 15 then to 8 minutes until 1918 when the gun was replaced with a double explosion every 5 minutes. Blackhead continued until 1912 when a vaporized paraffin burner and a new optic were installed at this time the light's characteristics were changed to four flashes every twenty seconds, in 1938 the red sector light over Carrick-a-vaan Rock was discontinued. The troubles in the north impacted on the lighthouses in Ulster when in 1972 for security reasons explosive fog signals were discontinued in all stations around the coast. On the 31st March 1995 the keepers were withdrawn from the station when it was converted to automatic The station is now cared for by an attendant and the equipment is monitored via a telemetry link from Irish Lights Dun Laoghaire, all radio beacon equipment at the station ceased to be used after 1st February 1999 |
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application
for a light on Rathlin was lodged before Trinity House approved the scheme
work began two years later in May 1849 on the light on Altacarry Head.
The light or rather lights as there were two came into operation on 1st
November 1856, the upper light's tower was built of island stone, it had
an overall height of 26.8 m (88ft) the lantern stood 74m (243 ft) above
HWS the original light was 'occulting' which means the period of light
exceeds the period of darkness in this case it was 50 seconds of light
followed by 10 seconds of dark.
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