Overview
You cannot land on Eagle Island – Irish Lights keeps it closed – but its story is one of the most violent on the Irish coast. At midday on 11 March 1861 a wave broke into the East tower’s light room, smashed 23 panes of glass and washed the lamps down the spiral stair; so much water poured down the tower that the keepers could not open the door at the base and had to drill holes to drain it.
The island – Oileán sa Tuaidh in Irish – is a conical rock a little over a mile off the northern tip of the Mullet Peninsula in County Mayo, its white tower throwing a light 67 metres above the sea. It sits right at the drop-off of the continental shelf, straight in the path of the Atlantic swell, which is why it has taken such a battering over the years. Most people see it from a boat or from the mainland headlands near Belmullet.
A history forged in storms
The idea of a light here surfaced in 1830, when Coast Guard commanders Blake and Glascock asked for a beacon to ease the passage past the rocks between Blacksod Bay and Broadhaven Bay. George Halpin, inspector for the Ballast Board, recommended Eagle Island over Blackrock or Inishmann Point, Trinity House sanctioned it in November 1830, and two stone towers went up – Eagle Island East and Eagle Island West.
Built from stone cut on the island, the towers stood 132 yards apart with their lanterns aligned at 220 feet (67m) above high water, so that together they made a leading line past hazards such as the Stags of Broadhaven. The lights were first shown on the night of 29 September 1835. The whole establishment had cost £36,418 by the end of 1839.
From the start the sea fought back. A wave swept the half-built West tower and much of its building material into the ocean during construction, and even after a heavy storm wall went up on the seaward side the island stayed a battleground:
- 17 January 1836 – a rock thrown up the cliffs shattered a window 27 metres up the West tower and put the light out. The keepers had it going again within the hour.
- 5–6 February 1850 – gales damaged both lanterns. The lights were back on by 11 February; a repairman could not land until the 14th, by which point they were already working.
- 29 December 1894 – a storm wrecked the dwellings at the East station and damaged the sea wall. Families sheltered in the tower overnight before the women and children were taken off to Belmullet.
After 1894 the Commissioners’ engineer recommended abandoning the East station. A new dioptric lens went into the West tower on 1 November 1895, and the East tower was discontinued and cut down by 20 feet so it would not shadow the working light.
Life on the island
The 1841 census recorded two lighthouses and seven dwellings on Eagle Island, a townland of Kilmore parish. Life was isolated and dangerous, but families stayed until the end of the nineteenth century, when they were rehoused at Corclough on the mainland. Shore houses on the Termoncarragh Road let keepers signal the island by semaphore until they too were abandoned in 1955. Keepers lived on the rock until the station was automated on 31 March 1988, ending more than 150 years of habitation.
The lighthouse today
Only the West tower still works. It stands 11 metres tall, was converted to electric power in 1976 and is now automated and watched remotely from the Irish Lights depot at Dún Laoghaire, with an attendant handling routine maintenance. The light shows three white flashes every 20 seconds (Fl (3) W 20s) and carries 18 nautical miles. Maintenance crews reach it by helicopter from Blacksod, which serves as the base for both Eagle Island and Black Rock.
The station once relied on a range of aids to navigation. An explosive fog signal ran from 1917 until 1923, when the charges were removed by the Irish Free State Army; it was re-established in July 1924 and lasted until a diaphone replaced it in September 1927, which in turn sounded until 1985. A radiobeacon broadcasting the Morse signal ‘GL’ operated from 1937 – one of a chain of six stations across Ireland, Scotland, the Scilly Isles and France – until 1999, when satellite navigation made it redundant.
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Height of tower | 11 m |
| Light focal height (MHWS) | 67 m |
| Light characteristic | Fl (3) W 20s |
| Range | 18 nm |
| Year first lit | 1835 |
| Automated | 31 Mar 1988 |
| Owner | Irish Lights |
Wildlife and the eagles
The island is named for the golden and white-tailed eagles that once nested on these cliffs. Like most large raptors in Ireland, they were wiped out in the early twentieth century through persecution and habitat loss. White-tailed eagles have since been reintroduced elsewhere, notably around Killarney, but nesting on Eagle Island has not been confirmed – so come for the rock and the sea, not on the promise of an eagle.
The water is the bigger draw for wildlife. Divers rate it: the walls drop through the 25–45m range, dotted with jewel anemones, and are usually worked on the north-east and north-west sides. Seals and porpoises pass through, and the cliffs hold razorbills, guillemots and kittiwakes.
Viewing and access
The island is closed to the public – Irish Lights restricts landing to protect both the habitat and the old stone structures. The honest way to see it properly is from the water: licensed operators out of Belmullet and Blacksod run half-day cruises that circle Eagle Island along with Blackrock and Ballyglass, usually with commentary on the history and wildlife. Failing that, the headland road north of Belmullet gives a clear line to the tower against the Atlantic, and you can pick it out on the horizon from the accessible Blackrock and Ballyglass stations.
Nearby
- Ballycroy (Wild Nephin) National Park – blanket bog, mountain trails and coastline, good for hiking and red deer.
- Achill Island – Ireland’s largest island, with high cliffs and sandy strands.
- Bangor Trail – a tough hillwalk across the Erris hinterland with long Atlantic views.
Practical information
Getting there: follow the R314 to Belmullet, then the signs to the northern coastal viewpoints; there is parking in Belmullet and in lay-bys near the headland. Half-day boat tours leave from Belmullet harbour and Blacksod – book ahead in July and August, when weather windows and vessel space are tight.
Facilities: none on the island. Belmullet has parking, cafés and a visitor information centre with maps for the coastal walks.
Safety: the water around Eagle Island is known for sudden swell and strong currents, and operators will move or cancel trips when the forecast turns. From the mainland, wear sturdy footwear and keep well back from the cliff edges.
Full technical and historical detail is on the Irish Lights Eagle Island page. Boat departures hang entirely on the swell, so treat any trip as weather-dependent and keep a mainland viewpoint in reserve for the day the sea says no.