Wicklow Head Lighthouses

Today we went to Wicklow Head which is about 30 minutes drive up the coast due north from here. As you can see the weather was beautiful and we ended up doing lots more than we planned. Our next stop was the local railway station where we arrived in time to see a special steam drawn train pull in and then on the way back we stopped off at a parish summer fete which was great fun and offered a huge variety of photo opportunities.
Today's blip though is this shot taken on Wicklow Head and showing my wife trying not to be photographed against the backdrop of 2 old lighthouses dating from over 100 years ago. The new lighthouse is further along the road and built right down at the waters edge.
Why, you might ask, are there 3 lighthouses on the one headland? The answer is typically Irish and therefore typically complex. The one on the left was built first. Brilliantly planned and wonderfully constructed from blocks of cut stone it proved to have one great drawback. Nobody thought to check, before building commenced, whether it could be seen clearly from far out at sea. Of course as it turned out, it wasn't. Now if there is one thing in this world that is pretty useless it's a lighthouse which is invisible to seamen.
And so, they decided to build a new one; the one on the right. This too was brilliantly planned though not quite so well built. When they lit the lamp on the top, guess what? Yes, you got it in one! It too couldn't be seen from out at sea. Talk about a comedy of errors. The problem you see is that there is a large grassy hill between both of them and the open sea. In the end a third lighthouse was built, this time on the seaward side of the hill right down at the edge of the ocean. It's not nearly as pretty as these, being of the traditional design with whitewashed walls but at least its beam can be seen for miles out at sea. Success at last!
Every cloud has a silver lining though and the first building has now passed into the hands of the National Heritage Trust who having refurbished it now let it out in weekly lettings as a luxury holiday home to those who can afford about 1500 euro per week. Yes, per week! Oh! before you send in your deposit, bear in mind that the kitchen is on the top floor up a flight of 109 steps. A long climb for a cup of coffee!!