Wicklow Harbour Lighthouse, County Wicklow

Built in 1884 and operated by the Wicklow Port Authority, Wicklow east pier lighthouse is actually at the southern end of the harbour. Its an early example of mass concrete construction which while built at the fin de siècle seems to me to have more of an art deco quality about it than anything else with its simple cantilevered gallery and unadorned front entrance.

The name Wicklow is derived from the Norse Wykylo meaning Viking’s Loch. The Broad Lough feeding into the Leitrim river is separated from the Irish Sea by a narrow area of land known as the Murrough, an ancient Gaelic word meaning “sea warrior” possibly with reference to Wicklow’s history as a Viking stronghold. Being tidal, with a mixture of fresh and brackish water, this relatively small area attracts a wealth of birdlife such as black-headed gulls, great black-backed gulls, herring gulls, grey herons, little egrets, cormorants, shags, kingfishers and mute swans while the water life has on occasion included basking sharks entering the harbour to feed on plankton at the mouth of the river.

Location:    52°58’59.25″North,  6° 2’3.79″West.

Elevation:   11m

Character:  Fl WR 5s

Range:         11 km