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Lightvessels in Ireland

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{{For|Lighthouses|List of lighthouses in Ireland}}

{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}

Lightvessels in Ireland describes any lightvessel or light float previously stationed off the coast of Ireland. The Commissioners of Irish Lights are responsible for the majority of marine navigation aids around the whole of the island of Ireland.

Lightvessels

File:Kittiwake (lightship) -Dublin Docklands-5thOct2008 (2).jpg]]

  • Guillemot: built 1921-23 – sold 1968 – set in concrete as the Kilmore Quay Maritime Museum retains much original equipment and fittings. Scrapped during 2011.http://www.wexfordcameraclub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1300478453 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120830122939/http://www.wexfordcameraclub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1300478453 |date=30 August 2012 }}
  • Kittiwake: built 1955 – Removed from station in 2009 and replaced with a superbuoy.{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}}{{cite web |url=http://www.irishseashipping.com/news/2009/02_2009/02_2009.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214205947/http://irishseashipping.com/news/2009/02_2009/02_2009.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=14 February 2009 |title=JHLPHOTOGRAPHY |publisher=irishseashipping.com}} Sold, then docked in Dublin's River Liffey and in 2022 removed from Alexandra Basin to be restored and placed on public display in a new docklands heritage project.{{Cite news |last=Kelly |first=Olivia |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/dublin/2022/12/29/harry-crosbie-threatens-legal-action-against-dublin-port-company-over-ship-ownership/ |title=Harry Crosbie threatens legal action against Dublin Port Company over ship ownership |website=The Irish Times |date=29 December 2022 |access-date=10 April 2025 }}
  • Osprey: built 1953-55 – sold 1975 – now known as Le Batofar, a nightclub/pub moored on the Seine in Paris{{cite web |url=http://www.feuerschiffseite.de/SCHIFFE/IRLAND/osprey/ospreygb.htm |title=Irish Lightvessel Osprey – Lightship Batofar |publisher=www.feuerschiffseite.de |accessdate=31 October 2009 |last=Klempau |first=Iris |archive-date=8 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080508025311/http://www.feuerschiffseite.de/SCHIFFE/IRLAND/osprey/ospreygb.htm |url-status=dead }}
  • Petrel: built 1913-15 – sold 1968 – club house for Down Cruising Club in Ballydorn{{cite web |url=http://www.feuerschiffseite.de/SCHIFFE/IRLAND/Petrel/petrelgb.htm |title=Lightship PETREL |publisher=www.feuerschiffseite.de |accessdate=31 October 2009 |last=Klempau |first=Iris |archive-date=20 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090820001147/http://www.feuerschiffseite.de/SCHIFFE/IRLAND/Petrel/petrelgb.htm |url-status=dead }}
  • Puffin Lightvessel, Roche's Point, Cork – washed away in 1896

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class="wikitable sortable" width="98%"
Name

! Built

! By

! Where

! Length

! Breadth

! Depth

!class="unsortable"|Frame

class="unsortable"|Decks

! Cost £

! Withdrawn

!class="unsortable"|Fate

!class="unsortable"|Notes{{cite web|url=http://www.cil.ie/sh675x4532.html|title=Lightships in the Irish Lighthouse Service|publisher=Commissioners of Irish Lights|accessdate=1 November 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090101132933/http://www.cil.ie/sh675x4532.html|archivedate=1 January 2009|df=dmy-all}}

Palmer's Light

|1735

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{{center|—}}{{center|—}}

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{{center|—}}

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|1768

|  

|Replaced by {{nowrap|Poolbeg Lighthouse}}

Richmond

|1806

|{{center|—}}

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|Oak

Oak, teak and elm

|1,500

|1826

|Broken up

|  

Seagull

|1824

|W. Roberts

Milford Haven

|67

20{{frac|9|1|2}}

|Oak

Oak, teak and elm

|1,659

|1864

|Sold

|First purpose-built lightvessel

Star

|1825

|W. Roberts

Milford Haven

|67

209

|Oak

Oak, teak and elm

|1,841

|1855

|sold

| 

Relief

|1826

|W. Roberts

Milford Haven

|67

|20{{frac|9|1|2}}

|Oak

Oak, teak and elm

|1,841

|1867

|Sold

| 

Brilliant

|1832

|Brady's

Dublin

|67

20{{frac|9|1|2}}

|Oak

Oak, teak and elm

|1,983

|1867

|Sold

| 

Seagull II

|1853

|Charles Hill & Sons

Bristol

|82

2111

|Oak

Oak, teak and elm

|3,651

|1867

|Sold.

| 

Petrel

|1854

|Charles Hill & Sons

Bristol

|82

2111

|Oak

Oak, teak and elm

|3,800

|1867

|Sold.

| 

Brilliant II

|1856

|Wheeler

Cork

|82

2111

|Oak

Oak, teak and elm

|3,200

|1913

|Sold.

| 

Star II

|1857

|Wheeler

Cork

|82

2111

|Oak

Oak, teak and elm

|3,200

|1862

|Sold.

| 

Star III

|1862

|Charles Hill & Sons

Bristol

|91

2110

|Oak

Oak, teak and elm

|4,189

|1911

|Sold and scrapped.

| 

Relief II

|1863

|Charles Hill & Sons

Bristol

|91

2110

|Oak

Oak, teak and elm

|4,189

|1925

|Sold.

| 

Gannet

|1865

|Charles Hill & Sons

Bristol

|91

2110

|Oak

Oak, teak and elm

|4,189

|1928

|Sold and scrapped.

|when stationed at DAUNT, run into by Largo Bay, in 1884

Comet

|1867

|J & W Dudgeon

Cubitt Town, London

|91

2110

|Composite ship Wrought iron

Teak

|5,750

|1905

|Sold and scrapped.

| 

Shamrock

|1867

|Walpole, Webb & Bewley

Dublin

|96

2110

|Oak

Oak, teak and elm sheathed with muntz metal.

|5,125

|1936

|Sold

|day markers were introduced

Osprey

|1868

|Walpole, Webb & Bewley

Dublin

|96

2110

|Wood

Wood

|5,125

|1915

|Sold.

| 

Albatross

|1875

|Fletcher & Farnall, Millwall

London

|91

2110

|Wood

Wood

|5,625

|8 September 1902

|Salvaged and sold.

|Run down and sunk on Kish by RMS Leinster.

Cormorant

|1878

|Victoria Shipbuilding Co

Passage West, Cork

|91

2111

|Iron

Two thicknesses of {{convert|3|in|adj=on}} teak, sheathed with muntz metal

|7,500

|1942

|Salvaged and sold.

|Renamed Lady December and moored at Hoo, Near Rochester, Kent.

Torch

|1881

|Milford Haven Co

Milford Haven

|91

2111

|Iron

Two thicknesses of {{convert|3|in|adj=on}} teak, sheathed with muntz metal

|8,100

|1945

|Sold and scrapped.

| 

Puffin

|1887

|Schlesinger Davis & Co

Wallsend

|91

21{{frac|11|1|4}}

|composite

composite

|6,000

|8 October 1896

|Salvaged, beached at Rushbrooke, scrapped on beach.

|Sank during storm on Daunt, 8 October 1896, crew of 7 lost.

Shearwater

|1894

| Allsup & Sons

Preston

|96

{{frac|22|2|3}}{{frac|11|3|4}}

|Steel sheathed with teak

Teak sheathed with muntz metal;

|7,900

|1955

|Sold and scrapped.

|watertight bulkhead

Guillemot

|1894

|Allsup & Sons

Preston

|96

{{frac|22|2|3}}{{frac|11|3|4}}

|Steel sheathed with teak

Teak sheathed with muntz metal;

|7,900

|28 March 1917

|Sunk by a German submarine

|crew survived

Kittiwake

|1898

|Allsup & Sons

Preston

|96

2412

|Steel sheathed with teak

Teak sheathed with muntz metal;

|7,900

|1956

|Sold and scrapped.

|first to have an engine to work the windlass and the first fitted with oil engines for the siren

Seagull

|1901

|Allsup & Sons

Preston

|96

2412

|Steel sheathed with teak

Teak sheathed with muntz metal;

|7,900

|28 March 1917

|Sunk by a German submarine

|Crew survived

Fulmar

|1904

| J. Reid

Glasgow

|96

23{{frac|12|1|4}}

|Steel

Iron

|6,600

|1964

|Sold for scrap

|Five watertight bulkheads

Comet II

|1904

| J. Reid

Glasgow

|96

23{{frac|12|1|4}}

|Steel

Iron

|6,740

|1965

|Became Radio Scotland

|Crew rescued by {{ship|RNLB|Mary Stanford|ON 733|6}} 1936

Penguin

|1910

|Dublin Dockyard

Dublin

|100

24{{frac|12|1|4}}

|Steel

Iron

|7,230

|1966

|renamed Hallowe'en, as a Youth Adventure Sea Training Vessel

|1995 Maritime Museum at Inveraray Pier

Tern

|1912

|L. Hawthorn & Co

Leith

|102

24{{frac|13|1|4}}

|Steel

Iron

|7,420

|1967

|Sold and scrapped

|Wireless

Petrel

|1915

|Dublin Dockyard

Dublin

|102

24{{frac|13|1|4}}

|Steel

Iron

|10,310

|1968

|Club House for Down Cruising Club, Strangford Lough

|now privately owned

Guillemot

|1923

|Cran & Somerville

Leith

|102

24{{frac|12|1|2}}

|Steel

Steel

|17,700

|1968

|now Wexford Maritime Museum

|Set in concrete at Kilmore Quay. Scrapped in 2011.

Albatross

|1925

|H. Robb Ltd

Leith

|102

24{{frac|13|1|4}}

|Steel

Iron

|15,650

|1970

|sold to Scouting Association of Ireland

|now privately owned in Arklow

Gannet

|1954

|Philip and Son

Dartmouth

|134

2515

|Steel

Steel

|95,200

|still in service

|as an automatic light float

| 

Osprey

|1955

|Philip & Son

Dartmouth

|134

2515

|Steel

Steel

|98,100

|1975

|Sold

|Moored on the Seine, Paris as the Batofar Restaurant

Shearwater

|1955

|Philip & Son

Dartmouth

|134

2515

|Steel

Steel

|98,100

|1976

|Sold for scrap

| 

Kittiwake

|1959

|Philip & Son

Dartmouth

|134

2515

|Steel

Steel

|124,128

|2005

|Sold

|moored beside O2 (Point Depot), Dublin

Skua

|1960

|Philip & Son

Dartmouth

|134

2515

|Steel

Steel

|124,128

|2005

|Rotting at the North Quay of Arklow Harbour

|The "Blue Planet" charity are seeking restoration funds{{cite web|url=http://blueplanetchatity.ning.com/|title=Blue Planet Charity|work=Lightship Skua, promoting renewaible energy|accessdate=28 January 2010|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091108154950/http://blueplanetchatity.ning.com/|archivedate=8 November 2009|df=dmy-all}}

Cormorant

|1964

|Charles Hill & Sons

Bristol

|133

{{frac|26|1|2}}{{frac|19|1|2}}

|Steel

Steel

|145,750

|1983

|Sold

| 

Lightvessel stations

  • Coningbeg, off the Saltee Islands, 14 km from the County Wexford coast, was established in 1824 and replaced on 26 February 2007 with a "Superbuoy"{{cite web |url=http://www.enniscorthyecho.ie/news/story/?trs=cwojqlauoj |title=End of service for the Coningbeg |publisher=Enniscorthy Echo |date=15 March 2007 |accessdate=31 October 2009 }}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

See also

Gallery

File:Blackwater Lightship - Culm in the water?.jpg|Lightvessel on the Blackwater station, c.1890-1909

File:Batofar - Paris.JPG|LV Osprey, now a Parisian nightclub{{cite web |url=http://www.batofar.org/?cat=449 |title=Beat the Boat: Batofar |publisher=www.batofar.org |accessdate=1 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091210054304/http://www.batofar.org/?cat=449 |archive-date=10 December 2009 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }} moored on the Seine, Paris

File:TheO2pic.JPG|LV Kittiwake, moored on the Liffey, Dublin

File:DauntRescueGribble.png|Oil painting by Bernard Finnigan Gribble of the rescue of the crew of LV Comet by {{ship|RNLB|Mary Stanford|ON 733|6}} 1936

File:Petrel.JPG|A model of LV Petrel.
Note the day marker on the mast.

File:Irish lightvessel-Kilmore Quay Maritime museum.jpg|LV Guillemot 'berthed' in concrete at Kilmore Quay as a maritime museum.

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20090101132933/http://www.cil.ie/sh675x4532.html Lightships in the Commissioners of Irish Lights service]
  • [http://www.feuerschiffseite.de/startgb.htm Lightships from all over the world] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070605141531/http://www.feuerschiffseite.de/startgb.htm |date=5 June 2007 }}

{{Irish lighthouses}}

{{Lightvessels}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lightvessels In Ireland}}

Ireland

Category:Ireland transport-related lists

Category:Water transport in Ireland