Qualla: Eagle Island lighthouses

Eagle Island lighthouses: Introduction

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit MickReynolds, CC BY-SA 4.0. The original 1841 census of Eagle Island recorded two lighthouses and seven dwelling houses standing on a rock at the edge of the Continental Shelf. By the 1911 census, only one dwelling house was listed. The Atlantic had not stopped attacking the island in the intervening seventy years. Despite the construction of a massive storm wall to protect the lighthouses, waves came over the top and struck the lights themselves, repeatedly. It became clear, slowly and against the wishes of the families who had made a life here, that Eagle Island was not suitable for human habitation.

Read more: Eagle Island lighthouses on Qualla

Image: MickReynolds | CC BY-SA 4.0

Eagle Island lighthouses: A Compromise on a Rock

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit MickReynolds, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Eagle Island lighthouses owe their existence to a disagreement. The Coastguards had complained in the late 1820s about the conditions at Blackrock, the much higher exposed pillar of rock further south in Blacksod Bay. They wanted lights to help shipping. The Board of Irish Li...

Read more: Eagle Island lighthouses on Qualla

Image: MickReynolds | CC BY-SA 4.0

Eagle Island lighthouses: The Edge of the Shelf

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit MickReynolds, CC BY-SA 4.0. Eagle Island sits just inshore of the Continental Shelf, which means the Atlantic loses its footing here. Waves that have travelled three thousand miles unimpeded suddenly find the sea floor rising under them, and they rear up before breaking. The exposure was unusual even by Iri...

Read more: Eagle Island lighthouses on Qualla

Image: MickReynolds | CC BY-SA 4.0

Eagle Island lighthouses: Moving the Families Off

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit MickReynolds, CC BY-SA 4.0. By the end of the nineteenth century, the impossibility of family life on the island had been accepted by the authorities. The wives and children of the lighthouse keepers were rehoused near Corclough on the mainland, leaving only the keepers themselves to maintain the lights on ...

Read more: Eagle Island lighthouses on Qualla

Image: MickReynolds | CC BY-SA 4.0

Eagle Island lighthouses: The Last Keeper Leaves

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit MikaLaureque, CC BY-SA 4.0. On 31 March 1988 the Eagle Island lighthouse was made automatic. The remaining keepers were withdrawn. The light still flashes; the Commissioners of Irish Lights maintain it remotely, and ships still rely on it to fix their position when approaching the Mullet from the northwest....

Read more: Eagle Island lighthouses on Qualla

Image: MikaLaureque | CC BY-SA 4.0