The Point
GPS: 54.568799, -8.458601
Location
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At the end of St. John's Point, with Trabane Beach and the Lighthouse, you will find one of the most stunning areas in the whole of Ireland, simply called the "Point".
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Majestic views, the lighthouse, Eire sign and lookout post, as well as caves, sensational diving experiences and wildlife. Free parking is available at the lighthouse.
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Once you pass the gate at the Beach you are on private property, at the kind agreement of the landowner. Please take all rubbish with you, close gates and remember the cattle roaming around are residents, so take care not to disturb them!
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The Lighthouse
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The light was first turned on in November 1831.
It is incredible that only four 35 watt halogen bulbs at the centre of an array of reflector lenses can be seen up to 14 miles in clear weather keeping mariners safe. Initially the light was powered by paraffin; acetylene in 1931; electricity in 1962 with a diesel electrical generator as backup, and acetylene infrastructure was still in place if that failed.
It is now fully automated powered by batteries constantly being recharged by mains electricity.​​
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The lighthouse marks the North side of Donegal Bay and with the arrival of acetylene mariners could identify it by the on-off pattern of the light. Initially this was a pattern of four seconds on then 2 seconds dark, called an occulting light as it was mostly dark. This changed in 1942 to a 'flashing' light, with two seconds of light followed by six seconds of dark.
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In 1965 it changed again to 1.5 seconds then six seconds dark. This is what can be seen today.
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Tradition has it that the lighthouse, costing a £10,507 (a staggering amount in today's money) was built using stone from a nearby Napoleonic lookout tower, the foundations of which can still be found SW of the LDF Lookout Post.
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While automated, there is still a lighthouse keeper. Most recently this has been Eugene Brady. He carries our routine maintenance on this and other lighthouses in the area. His predecessor, Paddy Byrne lived on site from 1932 to 1980, with his wife and two children. Prior to the Byrnes we know of two other keepers, Michael Boyle and David O'Donnell.
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Interestingly, the acetylene was generated by dripping water on to carbide, producing carbide gas and lime.
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Lime was difficult to get rid of, but was used to whitewash houses. So whenever people of the Point wanted to paint their houses they take some buckets of lime from the lighthouse which sat in a huge pile at the bottom of the cliff.​
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The Lookout Post
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From the lighthouse, to the NE you can see the World War II LDF Lookout Post. There are 83 around the Irish coast.
It was manned by the Local Defence Force made up of local men with knowledge of the sea and local conditions. Many were former members of the IRA and old soldiers with service between 1916 and 1923.
They kept a log, the first entry was on 29/04/40. The entry on 10/08/40 indicating that British shipping was succumbing to U Boat attack. A few days later sadly shows an entry of a casualty of war, Trooper Albert Freeman’s body was washed ashore. He was buried at St Peter’s Church of Ireland graveyard, Killaghtee, Dunkineely. ​
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The Eire Sign
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Whitewashed stones placed on the ground at the head of St John’s Point, spell E I R E can be clearly seen from the sky, and were in close proximity to the LDF Lookout Posts. A declaration of Irish independence, sovereignty and neutrality.
However, the numbers were later added at the request of David Gray, the American Ambassador in Dublin, and an identifying number, St John’s Point is 70.
In the run up to D-Day on the 6th June, 1944, there was countless aircraft coming across the Atlantic from
America, who’s pilots were given a map with these navigational numbers on and therefore able to navigate
to their final destination.​​