MIZEN HEAD IRISH LIGHTS SIGNAL STATION
Carn Uí Néid
Goleen, County Cork

The Mizen Head Peninsula is the farthest southwesterly point in Ireland. In 2003, Reader's Digest voted this area one of the '100 Amazing Places of Britain and Ireland'.

The 100 year old Mizen Head Lighthouse is perched on the edge of a steep cliff above the sea and was once a fully manual lighthouse. Now automated, it's open to the public as a museum. Rooms once housing light keepers now house exhibits dedicated to the life of a light keeper, seafaring and local history.

Visitors are welcome to walk around the grounds surrounding the lighthouse and step out to the actual light beacon. First things first...getting there.

It's a lovely drive up to the visitor's center, with dramatic views of sea and cliff, of dipping gulls and kittiwakes, all around Barley Cove.

And there's certainly a lot to see here, including the visitor's center, the 99 Steps, suspension bridge, and the lighthouse of course.

Visitors will first encounter the visitor's center. The center is comprised of three areas of interest: the cafe, the gift shop and Fastnet Hall.
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Fastnet Hall, named after Fastnet Lighthouse which is situated off the Cork coast, is a creative interpretive center. Displays include:

• Hands – the Lighthouse Keepers’ hobbies, including model building, gardening, baking, painting, knitting and more
• Water and Rock – the spectacular mosaic water feature in the Entrance Hall
• Fastnet Rock – 10th scale model of the famous lighthouse surrounded by a 35 model of the Mizen skyline
• Sky to Seabed – 500 tiles individually crafted from the ceiling to the floor
• Wildlife on the Mizen – a collage by Richard Mills
• Navigational Aids Simulator – the first in Ireland of its kind. Real journeys simulating ECDIS, Radar, weather conditions, other shipping conditions are displayed
• Automatic Weather Station – showing present weather
• Lighthouses of the South West Coast by John Eagle
• The Shamrock – the restoration of the West Cork Yacht
• Local Keepers and the Irish Lights – a film by Tish Barry

The cafe offers visitors a variety of refreshments, including soups and sandwiches, some desserts and a selection of beverages, including wine.

The gift shop stocks a selection of nautical and lighthouse souvenirs, including Mizen and Fastnet items.

The stroll down to the lighthouse takes about ten minutes, but there's a lot to see on the way. The path from the visitor's center includes:

• Propeller of the SS Irada – taken from the sea off Mizen by a team of local divers. The last blade was attached in March 2003
• International Code Flags
• Lightbuoy from Foreland, Belfast Lough
• Irish Lights Cutter – used to provision Lighthouses
• The famous 99 Steps – a test of your fitness
• The Suspension Bridge – it's a short walk across the bridge to the lighthouse

Mizen Head is a renowned spot of sea watching. Be on the look out for:

• Dolphins, whales and basking sharks
• Seals – best seen from the suspension bridge
• Choughs, kittiwakes and gannets
• Ancient Rocks – Old Red Sandstone
• Views – there are stunning views up the west and south coasts, and a horizon that stretches forever
• Remains of L'Imaptience – a French frigate ship from Wolfe Tone's fleet
  

Once across the bridge and onto the island home of Mizen Lighthouse there are many interesting things to see:

• Radio Transmission Hut – this was the first radio beacon in Ireland, the second in the world
• The Old Fog Signal House – at the end of the point
• The lights at the end of the world – USA next stop

The old lighthouse is a museum in its own right. Each room in the building has been dedicated to subject relating to the lighthouse or area, or restored to their original stature. Visitor's are welcome and encouraged to look around:

• The Keepers' Kitchen and Bedroom – These rooms have been restored so that visitors can see how the men of the Irish Lights lived between the lighthouse's sanctioned in 1906 until the time it was automated in 1933
• The Engine Room – This room still has the massive generator, the last one of three used to power the station the beacon in emergencies. A short film by Norris Davidson called ‘The Land is the Danger’ plays in this room
• The Maps and Archives Room – This area has been named on maps and charts since the time of Ptolemy (83-168... ancient mathematician, geographer, astronomer, and astrologer). This room houses copies of a unique collection of maps and coastal pilots that held in the security stores of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Irish Lights Archives show the everyday life on a station.
• The Radio Room – This room follows the history of radio communications at Mizen head Signal Station. Sgr. Guglielmo Marconi came to the Mizen peninsula to try to get his first radio message across the Atlantic. He had masts at Brow Head and put a telegraphic transmitter on the Fastnet Rock Lighthouse. Read more about Marconi and transatlantic communications. A recent storm took all the sand out of Galley Cove and exposed the huge cables that connected the Fastnet with his radio room in Crookhaven. Also looked at in this room is the history of the first radio Beacon in Ireland. In 1931 it spanned the whole gorge at the Bridge.
• Mizen Environment – The corridor through the main building has been turned into a cave with displays of the ecology and heritage of the Mizen Peninsula.
• The Building of Fastnet Lighthouse – This is a great display about the building of the Fastnet Rock Lighthouse, a traditional lighthouse built 4.5 miles off the coast of County Cork on Fastnet Rock in 1897.
• Sea life and underwater wrecks – There are over 80 major wrecks round the Mizen Head Peninsular and hundreds of smaller boats, including L'Imaptience, Wolfe Tone's French frigate.
• The Fastnet Race – This is a world famous boat race from Cowes to Plymouth round Fastnet Rock and takes place biennially...every two years.

visitors center

Fastnet Lighthouse display

propeller from the ship Irada

Light keeper hobbies

model building

painting

knitting

baking

gardening