Lightvessels in Ireland describes any lightvessel or light float previously stationed off the coast of Ireland. The Commissioners of Irish Lights are responsible for the majority of marine navigation aids around the whole of the island of Ireland.

Lightvessels

thumb|Kittiwake lightvessel for sale in 2009 moored in [[River Liffey]]

  • Guillemot: built 1921-23 – sold 1968 – set in concrete as the Kilmore Quay Maritime Museum retains much original equipment and fittings. Scrapped during 2011.
  • Kittiwake: built 1955 – Removed from station in 2009 and replaced with a superbuoy. Sold, then docked in Dublin's River Liffey and in 2022 removed from Alexandra Basin to be restored and placed on public display in a new docklands heritage project.
  • Osprey: built 1953-55 – sold 1975 – now known as Le Batofar, a nightclub/pub moored on the Seine in Paris
  • Petrel: built 1913-15 – sold 1968 – club house for Down Cruising Club in Ballydorn
  • Puffin Lightvessel, Roche's Point, County Cork – washed away in 1896

{|class="wikitable sortable" width="98%"

|-

! Name

! Built

! By

! Where

! Length

! Breadth

! Depth

!class="unsortable"|Frame!!class="unsortable"|Decks

! Cost £

! Withdrawn

!class="unsortable"|Fate

!class="unsortable"|Notes

|-

|Palmer's Light

|1735

|||

|||||

|||

|

|1768

|  

|Replaced by

|-

|Richmond

|1806

|||

|||||

|Oak||Oak, teak and elm

|1,500

|1826

|Broken up

|  

|-

|Seagull

|1824

|W. Roberts||Milford Haven

|67||20||

|Oak||Oak, teak and elm

|1,659

|1864

|Sold

|First purpose-built lightvessel

|-

|Star

|1825

|W. Roberts||Milford Haven

|67||20||9

|Oak||Oak, teak and elm

|1,841

|1855

|sold

| 

|-

|Relief

|1826

|W. Roberts||Milford Haven

|67|||20||

|Oak||Oak, teak and elm

|1,841

|1867

|Sold

| 

|-

|Brilliant

|1832

|Brady's||Dublin

|67||20||

|Oak||Oak, teak and elm

|1,983

|1867

|Sold

| 

|-

|Seagull II

|1853

|Charles Hill & Sons||Bristol

|82||21||11

|Oak||Oak, teak and elm

|3,651

|1867

|Sold.

| 

|-

|Petrel

|1854

|Charles Hill & Sons||Bristol

|82||21||11

|Oak||Oak, teak and elm

|3,800

|1867

|Sold.

| 

|-

|Brilliant II

|1856

|Wheeler||Cork

|82||21||11

|Oak||Oak, teak and elm

|3,200

|1913

|Sold.

| 

|-

|Star II

|1857

|Wheeler||Cork

|82||21||11

|Oak||Oak, teak and elm

|3,200

|1862

|Sold.

| 

|-

|Star III

|1862

|Charles Hill & Sons||Bristol

|91||21||10

|Oak||Oak, teak and elm

|4,189

|1911

|Sold and scrapped.

| 

|-

|Relief II

|1863

|Charles Hill & Sons||Bristol

|91||21||10

|Oak||Oak, teak and elm

|4,189

|1925

|Sold.

| 

|-

|Gannet

|1865

|Charles Hill & Sons||Bristol

|91||21||10

|Oak||Oak, teak and elm

|4,189

|1928

|Sold and scrapped.

|when stationed at DAUNT, run into by Largo Bay, in 1884

|-

|Comet

|1867

|J & W Dudgeon||Cubitt Town, London

|91||21||10

|Composite ship Wrought iron||Teak

|5,750

|1905

|Sold and scrapped.

| 

|-

|Shamrock

|1867

|Walpole, Webb & Bewley||Dublin

|96||21||10

|Oak||Oak, teak and elm sheathed with muntz metal.

|5,125

|1936

|Sold

|day markers were introduced

|-

|Osprey

|1868

|Walpole, Webb & Bewley||Dublin

|96||21||10

|Wood||Wood

|5,125

|1915

|Sold.

| 

|-

|Albatross

|1875

|Fletcher & Farnall, Millwall||London

|91||21||10

|Wood||Wood

|5,625

|8 September 1902

|Salvaged and sold.

|Run down and sunk on Kish by RMS Leinster.

|-

|Cormorant

|1878

|Victoria Shipbuilding Co||Passage West, Cork

|91||21||11

|Iron||Two thicknesses of teak, sheathed with muntz metal

|7,500

|1942

|Salvaged and sold.

|Renamed Lady December and moored at Hoo, Near Rochester, Kent.

|-

|Torch

|1881

|Milford Haven Co||Milford Haven

|91||21||11

|Iron||Two thicknesses of teak, sheathed with muntz metal

|8,100

|1945

|Sold and scrapped.

| 

|-

|Puffin

|1887

|Schlesinger Davis & Co||Wallsend

|91||21||

|composite||composite

|6,000

|8 October 1896

|Salvaged, beached at Rushbrooke, scrapped on beach.

|Sank during storm on Daunt, 8 October 1896, crew of 7 lost.

|-

|Shearwater

|1894

| Allsup & Sons||Preston

|96||||

|Steel sheathed with teak||Teak sheathed with muntz metal;

|7,900

|1955

|Sold and scrapped.

|watertight bulkhead

|-

|Guillemot

|1894

|Allsup & Sons||Preston

|96||||

|Steel sheathed with teak||Teak sheathed with muntz metal;

|7,900

|28 March 1917

|Sunk by a German submarine

|crew survived

|-

|Kittiwake

|1898

|Allsup & Sons||Preston

|96||24||12

|Steel sheathed with teak||Teak sheathed with muntz metal;

|7,900

|1956

|Sold and scrapped.

|first to have an engine to work the windlass and the first fitted with oil engines for the siren

|-

|Seagull

|1901

|Allsup & Sons||Preston

|96||24||12

|Steel sheathed with teak||Teak sheathed with muntz metal;

|7,900

|28 March 1917

|Sunk by a German submarine

|Crew survived

|-

|Fulmar

|1904

| J. Reid||Glasgow

|96||23||

|Steel||Iron

|6,600

|1964

|Sold for scrap

|Five watertight bulkheads

|-

|Comet II

|1904

| J. Reid||Glasgow

|96||23||

|Steel||Iron

|6,740

|1965

|Became Radio Scotland

|Crew rescued by 1936

|-

|Penguin

|1910

|Dublin Dockyard||Dublin

|100||24||

|Steel||Iron

|7,230

|1966

|renamed Hallowe'en, as a Youth Adventure Sea Training Vessel

|1995 Maritime Museum at Inveraray Pier

|-

|Tern

|1912

|L. Hawthorn & Co||Leith

|102||24||

|Steel||Iron

|7,420

|1967

|Sold and scrapped

|Wireless

|-

|Petrel

|1915

|Dublin Dockyard||Dublin

|102||24||

|Steel||Iron

|10,310

|1968

|Club House for Down Cruising Club, Strangford Lough

|now privately owned

|-

|Guillemot

|1923

|Cran & Somerville||Leith

|102||24||

|Steel||Steel

|17,700

|1968

|now Wexford Maritime Museum

|Set in concrete at Kilmore Quay. Scrapped in 2011.

|-

|Albatross

|1925

|H. Robb Ltd||Leith

|102||24||

|Steel||Iron

|15,650

|1970

|sold to Scouting Association of Ireland

|now privately owned in Arklow

|-

|Gannet

|1954

|Philip and Son||Dartmouth

|134||25||15

|Steel||Steel

|95,200

|still in service

|as an automatic light float

| 

|-

|Osprey

|1955

|Philip & Son||Dartmouth

|134||25||15

|Steel||Steel

|98,100

|1975

|Sold

|Moored on the Seine, Paris as the Batofar Restaurant

|-

|Shearwater

|1955

|Philip & Son||Dartmouth

|134||25||15

|Steel||Steel

|98,100

|1976

|Sold for scrap

| 

|-

|Kittiwake

|1959

|Philip & Son||Dartmouth

|134||25||15

|Steel||Steel

|124,128

|2005

|Sold

|moored beside O2 (Point Depot), Dublin

|-

|Skua

|1960

|Philip & Son||Dartmouth

|134||25||15

|Steel||Steel

|124,128

|2005

|Rotting at the North Quay of Arklow Harbour

|The "Blue Planet" charity are seeking restoration funds

|-

|Cormorant

|1964

|Charles Hill & Sons||Bristol

|133||||

|Steel||Steel

|145,750

|1983

|Sold

| 

|}

Lightvessel stations

  • Coningbeg, off the Saltee Islands, 14 km from the County Wexford coast, was established in 1824 and replaced on 26 February 2007 with a "Superbuoy"

See also

  • Lighthouses in Ireland
  • Lightvessel stations of Great Britain
  • List of lightvessels of Great Britain
  • List of lighthouses and lightvessels

<gallery>

File:Blackwater Lightship - Culm in the water?.jpg|Lightvessel on the Blackwater station, c.1890-1909

File:Batofar - Paris.JPG|LV Osprey, now a Parisian nightclub moored on the Seine, Paris

File:TheO2pic.JPG|LV Kittiwake, moored on the Liffey, Dublin

File:DauntRescueGribble.png|Oil painting by Bernard Finnigan Gribble of the rescue of the crew of LV Comet by 1936

File:Petrel.JPG|A model of LV Petrel. <br/>Note the day marker on the mast.

File:Irish lightvessel-Kilmore Quay Maritime museum.jpg|LV Guillemot 'berthed' in concrete at Kilmore Quay as a maritime museum.

</gallery>

References

  • Lightships in the Commissioners of Irish Lights service
  • Lightships from all over the world