History of Blacksod Lighthouse
The waters of Blacksod Bay are extremely
treacherous. It is rated as one of the deepest inlets in all of Europe. Many a ship has floundered here. One of most
famous of these was the La Rata
Encoronada. This ship was part of the Spanish Armada and in command was Don
Alonzo de Leyva (Hutchison, 2013). Don Alonzo had been
appointed by King Philip 11 as the provisional commander –in-chief of the
entire Armada should the supreme
leader Medinia Sidonia be slain. The Rata
met a watery grave on September 17 1588 (Flanagan, 1995). Most on board
survived and those unable to carry on settled locally. To this day some of the
locals on the Erris Peninsula can trace their roots back to these survivors and
exhibit certain Spanish traits.
There is documented evidence of others shipwrecks in the vanity (Bourke, 2000). With this in mind it was agreed that 2 light houses be built. In charge of lighthouses in Ireland at this time were the Coast Guard. The Coast Guarded decided that the two lighthouses were to be situated at Blacksod and Blackrock. Blackrock is a small island about 12mls due West of Blacksod. Plans were drawn up and submitted to the hierarchy of the Coast Guard in 1863. J.S. Sloan was credited with having designed the building at Blacksod. The project then went for tender. 4 tenders were received for the construction and the successful bid was that of Bryan Carey from nearby Belmullet. The amount of the winning bid was £2,100. The building began in1864 and the lighthouse was commissioned on the 30th of June 1866. Nearby Termon Hill was the source of the red granite used in the construction. A tramway was constructed to ferry the large blocks of granite to the site. Gravity was used to propel the cargo to the site and the empty wagons were winched back up to the quarry (Eagle, 1999). Based on the success of this system a more permanent tramline was laid which facilitated the export worldwide of this high quality granite. This line was laid in 1889 and was taken up in 1909 (known, 2013). A peculiarity of Blacksod lighthouse is the shape. It is the only square shaped lighthouse in Ireland .
There is documented evidence of others shipwrecks in the vanity (Bourke, 2000). With this in mind it was agreed that 2 light houses be built. In charge of lighthouses in Ireland at this time were the Coast Guard. The Coast Guarded decided that the two lighthouses were to be situated at Blacksod and Blackrock. Blackrock is a small island about 12mls due West of Blacksod. Plans were drawn up and submitted to the hierarchy of the Coast Guard in 1863. J.S. Sloan was credited with having designed the building at Blacksod. The project then went for tender. 4 tenders were received for the construction and the successful bid was that of Bryan Carey from nearby Belmullet. The amount of the winning bid was £2,100. The building began in1864 and the lighthouse was commissioned on the 30th of June 1866. Nearby Termon Hill was the source of the red granite used in the construction. A tramway was constructed to ferry the large blocks of granite to the site. Gravity was used to propel the cargo to the site and the empty wagons were winched back up to the quarry (Eagle, 1999). Based on the success of this system a more permanent tramline was laid which facilitated the export worldwide of this high quality granite. This line was laid in 1889 and was taken up in 1909 (known, 2013). A peculiarity of Blacksod lighthouse is the shape. It is the only square shaped lighthouse in Ireland .