Location | Cork Harbour, Ireland |
---|---|
Coordinates | 51°50′43″N8°16′26″W / 51.84528°N 8.27389°W |
Tower | |
Constructed | 1851 |
Foundation | Screw-pile |
Construction | Cast-iron, metal-plate |
Shape | Octagonal |
Markings | White (house), red (platform/piles) |
Operator | Cork Harbour Commissioners [1] |
Fog signal | Horn |
Light | |
First lit | 1853 |
Focal height | 10 metres (33 ft) |
Range | 10 nmi (19 km; 12 mi) (white), 7 nmi (13 km; 8.1 mi) (red) |
Characteristic | Fl.(2) |
The Spit Bank Lighthouse close to Cobh in County Cork, Ireland is a screw-pile lighthouse which marks a shallow bank in the navigable channels of lower Cork Harbour. The platform was built by the blind Irish engineer Alexander Mitchell (who pioneered the screw-pile technology used), with the lighthouse itself designed by George Halpin. In use since its completion between 1851 and 1853, and renovated as recently as 2013, the landmark structure marks the boundary of compulsory pilotage for large vessels entering the Port of Cork.
Though Irish engineer Alexander Mitchell went blind in 1802 (before he turned 23), [1] he patented the screw-pile mooring in 1833, [2] and built the first screw-pile lighthouses in 1838. [3] These lighthouses included the Maplin Sands Light (1838) and Wyre Light (1839) in England. [4]
Based from Belfast, Mitchell moved to Cobh (then called Queenstown) in 1851 to supervise the foundation works for a lighthouse on the Spit Bank. [5] [6] Located in a relative shallow between Spike Island and Cove Fort, the lighthouse replaced an unlit buoy which marked a turn required by shipping to follow Cork Harbour's main navigable channel. [7] Despite his blindness, with assistance from his son and grandson, Mitchell reportedly supervised some of the work directly. [5] Contemporary accounts record how he was personally involved in construction of a number of his structures, transiting to the work sites in small boats, crawling on planks and examining joints by touch. [4] While living in the area, he also befriended logician George Boole – who was based at Cork's university. [4]
The structure's platform is supported by nine cast-iron screwpiles 60 centimetres (2.0 ft) in diameter and driven approximately 5.2 metres (17 ft) into the sea-bed. [8] The main light and octagonal sheet-iron lighthouse was designed by the engineer to the Commissioners of Irish Lights, George Halpin. [9] [10] With the foundation work laid relatively quickly, [11] the lighthouse was first lit in 1853. [9]
Located less than a half-mile from shore, and with no permanent accommodation, the light was managed by keepers who transited from the nearby town of Cobh. [4] A foghorn was added in the late 19th century, and the light updated and automated in the 20th century. [7] In use for more than 150 years, and one of only three remaining screw-pile lighthouses in Ireland, it was repaired following a collision in 1978, [1] and renovated in 2013. [12] [13]
As of 2016 it remained a working light, with a focal plane of 10 metres (33 ft) and white and red light lenses – depending on direction of approach. [12] The Port of Cork uses the Spit Bank Lighthouse as a boundary marker for the compulsory pilotage of large vessels entering the middle harbour. [14] [15] [16]
A screw-pile lighthouse is a lighthouse which stands on piles that are screwed into sandy or muddy sea or river bottoms. The first screw-pile lighthouse to begin construction was built by the blind Irish engineer Alexander Mitchell. Construction began in 1838 at the mouth of the Thames and was known as the Maplin Sands lighthouse, and first lit in 1841. However, though its construction began later, the Wyre Light in Fleetwood, Lancashire, was the first to be lit.
Alexander Mitchell, was an Irish engineer who from 1802 was blind. He is known as the inventor of the screw-pile lighthouse.
Cobh, known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. With a population of 14,418 inhabitants at the 2022 census, Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour and home to Ireland's only dedicated cruise terminal. Tourism in the area draws on the maritime and emigration legacy of the town.
Cork Harbour is a natural harbour and river estuary at the mouth of the River Lee in County Cork, Ireland. It is one of several which lay claim to the title of "second largest natural harbour in the world by navigational area". Other contenders include Halifax Harbour in Canada, Trincomalee Harbour in Sri Lanka and Poole Harbour in England.
Great Island is an island in Cork Harbour, at the mouth of the River Lee and close to the city of Cork, Ireland. The largest town on the island is Cobh. The island's economic and social history has historically been linked to the naval, ship-building, and shipping activities in the town's environs.
The Maplin Sands are mudflats on the northern bank of the Thames estuary, off Foulness Island, near Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England, though they actually lie within the neighbouring borough of Rochford. They form a part of the Essex Estuaries Special Area of Conservation due to their value for nature conservation, with a large colony of dwarf eelgrass and associated animal communities.
The History of Lighthouses refers to the development of the use of towers, buildings, or other types of structure, as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
The Cobh Heritage Centre is a museum located in Cobh, County Cork, Ireland. It is attached to Cobh railway station.
John Richardson Wigham was a prominent lighthouse engineer of the 19th century.
Belvelly Castle is a 14th or 15th-century tower house in County Cork, Ireland. It is situated next to the small village of Belvelly, opposite and overlooking the only road bridge connecting Fota Island to Great Island.
Events from the year 1868 in Ireland.
The Wyre Light was a 40-foot (12 m) tall iron screw-pile lighthouse marking the navigation channel to the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire, England.
Charles Guilfoyle Doran (1835–1909) was a leading figure in the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and the Fenian Brotherhood in Ireland from the middle of the 19th century. He was also Clerk of Works on the construction of St. Colman's Cathedral in Cobh, County Cork.
The Port of Cork is the main port serving the south of Ireland, County Cork and Cork City. It is one of the three "Ports of National Significance " as designated by National Ports Policy.
Screw piles, sometimes referred to as screw-piles, screw piers, screw anchors, screw foundations, ground screws, helical piles, helical piers, or helical anchors are a steel screw-in piling and ground anchoring system used for building deep foundations. Screw piles are typically manufactured from high-strength steel using varying sizes of tubular hollow sections with helical flights.
Gunfleet Lighthouse is a derelict screw-pile lighthouse lying in the North Sea, six miles off the coast at Frinton-on-Sea in Essex, constructed in 1850 by James Walker of Trinity House. George Henry Saunders was the contractor. Walker and Burges were the Engineers. It is 74 feet (23 m) in height and hexagonal in plan; mounted on seven piles forming a steel lattice and originally painted red. It was first lit on 1 May 1856, replacing a light vessel which had been on station there since 1850.
The Haulbowline Lighthouse is an active 19th century lighthouse. Described as an "elegant, tapering stone tower" it is located at the entrance to Carlingford Lough, near Cranfield Point in County Down, Northern Ireland. The lighthouse was built on the eastern part of the Haulbowline rocks, one of a number of navigation hazards at the seaward end of Carlingford Lough, which include a notable rocky shoal or bar across the mouth of the lough. The multi-purpose light was designed to help mark the rocks and, when first built, the depth of water over the bar, as well as acting as a landfall light for ships entering from the Irish Sea. Associated with the lighthouse are the leading lights at Green Island and Vidal Bank which mark the safe channel along Carlingford Lough, with Haulbowline displaying a reserve light in case of problems with these leading lights.
Straw Island Lighthouse is an active aid to navigation on an islet of the same name in Killeany Bay, northeast of Inishmore in County Galway, Ireland. Completed in 1878, it was the last of four lighthouses built in the 19th century on the Aran Islands. The commissioning of Straw Island marked the culmination of a lengthy 24 year campaign by the local islanders to have a lighthouse for safe passage into Killeany Bay and the harbour at Kilronan.
The Harbour lighthouse in Howth is a historic aid to navigation situated on the East pier of the harbour. It was built in the early 19th century to help guide shipping into the newly constructed harbour, which acted as the terminus for the packet service between Ireland and England. In 1982 it was decommissioned and replaced by a modern pole light on an adjacent extension of the pier.
Mew Island Lighthouse is an active lighthouse within the Copeland Islands of County Down in Northern Ireland. The current 19th-century tower is the most recent in a series of lighthouses that have been built in the islands, which have helped to guide shipping around the archipelago and into Belfast Lough.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)