Great Lighthouses of Ireland

Ireland’s lighthouses are vital to the nation’s survival. As an island nation, almost everything we consume from food, to electronics, fuel and vehicles arrive by sea. Lighthouses aid the safe passage of ships around our dangerous coastal waters. The story begins at Hook Head, a treacherous peninsula known locally as “The graveyard of a thousand ships”. Hook Head is home to a 800-year-old lighthouse: the oldest working lighthouse in the world.

More stories about the lighthouses around the nation, beginning with James Morrissey exploring the history of the one at Fastnet off the coast of Co Cork.