Kilcredaun Lighthouse

On 11^th of March 2011 after 187 years of service, Kilcredaun Lighthouse at Carrigaholt on the north of the Shannon Estuary, blinked its shimmering beam for the last time as technology overtook the past and the light was finally decommissioned.

The short squat tower is in fact older than its sister at Loop Head. The original lighthouse on the head was demolished and its replacement followed Kilcredaun’s debut in 1824. While Loop Head is the more famous of the lighthouses, Kilcredaun definitely has the best views. On the headland, you’re looking out onto the wild Atlantic but at Carrigaholt you’re looking over the estuary. Ballybunion is located about seven miles across the water, while Beale Strand, the Cliffs of Dooneen and Carrigaholt Castle are all visible on a clear day.

Before the lighthouse was electrified in 1979, the lens was gas operated and the gas was manufactured on site using carbide and water. An interesting adjunct to this process was that the waste from it was used to paint most of the local houses. The sludge left over from the gas making process resembled lime except its consistency was more thick and gooey. Thinned out with water, it made an ideal whitewash.

Visible from the lighthouse is the Kilstiffin Bank, where according to rumour lies a submerged village. This may in fact refer back to the 1755 and 1761 tsunamis after the devastating earthquakes in Lisbon and which inundated the southwest coast. Whatever the truth of it, local lore has it that the village rises from the sea once a year and that anyone who catches the eye of one of the residents is not long for this life!

Inactive since 2011.

Location: 52°34’43.54″North, 9°42’41.03″West.