Islands of Ireland: Did a London bureaucrat put Crookhaven's Rock Island lighthouse in the wrong spot?

The lighthouse was eventually constructed at Rock Island Point in 1841 to a design by George Halpin. The land was leased from a Richard Notter who owned the entire island. The Notter family was of German origin and very well established in the village.

However, it was argued that the lighthouse was built in the wrong place. Experienced sailors requested that it be built on the Alderman’s Rocks just off Rock Island but were over-ruled by a decision from HQ in London. Brow Head to the west would surely have been the optimum choice, protecting all sea-going vessels intent on passing the Mizen Head.

By 1854, when the Fastnet lighthouse became operational, the families of the lighthouse keepers also lived in cottages on the Rock Island.

A book on fatalities in Irish lighthouses has just been published and details the story of one unfortunate lighthousekeeper who died at Rock Island. When The Lights Go Out by Peter Goulding recounts the story of John Kelly who drowned in 1882: “Kelly was described as a man of excellent character and an excellent officer."

The lighthousekeeper developed the curious habit of bathing his head and followed a ritual in so doing. He would remove his jacket, place his watch on the sleeve to protect it from seawater. He would then lean forward to sink his head into the briny. An inquest surmised that he overbalanced and pitched into the sea. “John Kelly had vanished in to the deep,” writes Peter. His body was recovered six weeks later.

An innovative approach to lobster fishing was brought to the island by a one-legged Breton and 'sea-dog' called Pierre Trehiou in the 1920s, as detailed in Aidan Power’s authoritative study. Lobster ponds were built to store the lobster which were caught up and down the coast and the initiative operated successfully for several decades. Trehiou traded wine and rum with the islanders for nets and tobacco. And three of his own traditional Breton lobster boats fished for the crustacean.

There are several other interesting buildings of note on the island: a line of coastguard cottages look out to sea; Rock Island House dominates the western end; to the east were a post office and school as well as a watchtower. It even has its own satellite island (Lamb’s) and nearby is Granny’s Island derived from Oileán Greanaí meaning a ‘gravelly place’.

The island is just over 1km long and with a microclimate providing seemly temperatures, its few boreens are adorned with wildflowers. The population peaked in 1841 at 119 people — many of whom were the families of the lighthouse workers. The children attended the Protestant school on the island. With the decline of most industries in the village, chiefly fishing but also mining, the population dwindled. By 1901 there were 75 people living there and by 2006, just seven.

The coastguard station was established in the early 19th century as a means of keeping an eye on smuggling activity which was rife in the area and at several other coastal regions. In fact, Crookhaven was a hotbed of contraband under the English pirate William Hull in the 17th century. One lighthousekeeper called Higginbotham, whose son had sold some contents of a wreck, was censured for allowing the sale proceed. The man protested his innocence but to no avail.

How to get there: Take N71 from Cork to Ballydehob, then the R592 to Crookhaven

Other: Rock Island, Crookhaven: A Coastal Townland's History since 1800 by Aidan Power; irishlights.ie; When The Lights Go Out by Peter Goulding