stephenmckay
Poolbeg 2
Poolbeg Lighthouse in Dublin on a cool January morning.
The lighthouse, one of a formation of three, is located at the end of The Great South Wall (South Bull Wall), at the Port of Dublin, which extends from Ringsend's Poolbeg peninsula out into Dublin Bay. The wall was the world's longest at the time of its building, and remains one of the longest sea-walls in Europe. The original lighthouse here was built in 1768 however it was redesigned into its present form in 1820. It was painted red to indicate ‘port side’ for ships entering Dublin Bay and the North Bull Lighthouse (on the other side of the bay) is painted green to indicate ‘starboard’. The Great South Wall extends nearly four miles out into Dublin Bay from Ringsend. Navigation for sea vessels entering Dublin Bay and into the River Liffey has always been difficult and dangerous due to sandbanks and silting. In 1717 a decision was made to build a safe shipping lane with the help of a wall and so the first oak piles were driven in the boulder clay for what was to become the ‘South Bull Wall’. By 1795 the wall was completed with massive granite blocks brought from the quarries on Dalkey Hill. The base was 32 feet thick tapering to 28 feet at the top.
I had made a number of previously aborted attempts to capture this scene, but the notoriously high winds coming in off the Irish Sea prevented any aerial photography.
Poolbeg 2
Poolbeg Lighthouse in Dublin on a cool January morning.
The lighthouse, one of a formation of three, is located at the end of The Great South Wall (South Bull Wall), at the Port of Dublin, which extends from Ringsend's Poolbeg peninsula out into Dublin Bay. The wall was the world's longest at the time of its building, and remains one of the longest sea-walls in Europe. The original lighthouse here was built in 1768 however it was redesigned into its present form in 1820. It was painted red to indicate ‘port side’ for ships entering Dublin Bay and the North Bull Lighthouse (on the other side of the bay) is painted green to indicate ‘starboard’. The Great South Wall extends nearly four miles out into Dublin Bay from Ringsend. Navigation for sea vessels entering Dublin Bay and into the River Liffey has always been difficult and dangerous due to sandbanks and silting. In 1717 a decision was made to build a safe shipping lane with the help of a wall and so the first oak piles were driven in the boulder clay for what was to become the ‘South Bull Wall’. By 1795 the wall was completed with massive granite blocks brought from the quarries on Dalkey Hill. The base was 32 feet thick tapering to 28 feet at the top.
I had made a number of previously aborted attempts to capture this scene, but the notoriously high winds coming in off the Irish Sea prevented any aerial photography.