Shining a light on Broadhaven Lighthouse

When the sun shines I head to the Mayo coastline. My most recent excursion was to photograph Broadhaven Lighthouse, often called Ballyglass Lighthouse, located on the north-eastern tip of the Mullet peninsula at Gubbacashel Point.

Lighthouses have always fascinated me. Most of the towering lighthouses that are dotted along the Mayo coastline date back to the 19th century and all have been at the centre of exciting and colourful events in Mayo’s maritime history.

Then there are the offshore lighthouses such as Eagle Island and Blackrock that stand alone on rocky islets and reefs that are battered for weeks at a time by the wild Atlantic.

These towering sentinels are a lasting testament to the magnificent skills of the engineers who against the odds designed and built these structures without today’s powerful tools and technology.

The 27 metres high Broadhaven Lighthouse was first established on June 1st, 1855, and was converted to an unwatched station on December 1st, 1931.

Nearby is Ballyglass RNLI station, at Ballyglass pier. The Ballyglass RNLI crew is one of the most active in Ireland and a lifesaver on many occasions for seafarers in trouble along Mayo’s treacherous coastline.

And, although Broadhaven Lighthouse is not part of the inaugural Great Lighthouses of Ireland Shine a Light on Summer over the May bank holiday weekend, it’s a lovely building like all the other Mayo lighthouses that is worth visiting any time of the year.