Light House

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Round, tapering, light house completed in 1834 and situated at the N end of the S pier of Donaghadee Harbour.

The tower of the light house is four storeys high and topped with a octagonal ‘house’ for the lantern itself. The tower is constructed of horizontally grooved (rusticated) Anglesea limestone and is painted white. It rests upon a sturdy curved base (painted black). To the W ‘side’, and rising up through the base, is the equally sturdy looking doorway with broad plain ‘pilasters’ on tall thick bases and broad, squat, curved brackets supporting a thick plain entablature. There is a copper dedication plaque in the centre of the entablature, place there when the lantern was converted to electricity in 1934. The panelled door itself is recessed. Around the base are simple wrought iron railings with a gate directly in front of the door.

To the N and S ‘sides’ of the tower are three narrow recessed two pane windows (one each to the ground, first and second floors on both ‘sides’).

At the top of the tower is a corbelled platform on which rests the lantern house, which itself has a ‘battered’ base and curved cap. There are wrought iron railings at the edge of the platform. Directly below the corbelling are several tiny recessed windows.

Historical information

This light house was completed in 1834 as part of the new Donaghadee Harbour. The harbour itself was designed by John Rennie with the help of David Logan. Rennie died shortly after the commencement of work in August 1821, and was succeeded as chief engineer by his son (also named John). The south pier was completed in c.1825/6, but the light house was not finished until November 1834. The structure itself was originally unpainted and the lantern originally paraffin lit. In 1900 the lantern and the optic were badly damaged by fire. In 1934 Donaghadee became the first light house in Ireland to be converted to electricity and in 1950 a fog signal for the fishing fleet was added.

During the Second World War the light house painted black in a attempt to make it less of a land mark for enemy bombers.

For historical information concerning Donaghadee harbour itself see ref. HB24/07/022.

References- Primary sources

1. PRONI [There are numerous documents concerning the history and development of Donaghadee Harbour held within PRONI, many dating back to the early 1700s; they are: D.562/375397, 397, 412-13, 415, 434, 475, D.607/589, 1296, D.671/C/12, 81, D.1618/18/1, T.448 (p.330), T.615, T.1073/19, T.1129/370, T.2490. The documents concerning the building of the new harbour and light house (including the ‘Proceedings of the Commissioners for the improvement of the Harbour of Donaghadee’ c.1820-37, are held by the National Archives in Dublin.]

2. Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland Vol.7: Parishes of County Down II, ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB 1991), p.46.

Secondary sources

1. E.R.R. Green The Industrial Archaeology of Co. Down (HMSO 1963), pp.75-77, plate 33 [This book includes a copy of ‘plans, elevations, and sections of Donaghadee harbour from Sir John Rennie’s “British and Foreign Harbours”’.]
2. Hugh Dixon et al Historic buildings, groups of buildings, buildings of architectural importance in Donaghadee and Portpatrick (UAHS 1977), p.21.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
E. Spatial Organisation
F. Structural System
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
W. Northern Ireland/International Interest

Evaluation

Late Georgian (1834-36) light house of national interest situated on the south pier of Donaghadee Harbour. Due to the rapid decline in the fortunes of Donaghadee as a port during the mid nineteenth century, the harbour (completed in the early 1830s) has largely been left untouched and remains one of the very few intact examples of this period. The light house too has remained largely intact and (as well as its ongoing function as a beacon) remains a valuable element of the whole harbour grouping.