Moville Light restoration work completed

Moville Light Restoration work on Moville Light in Lough Foyle has been completed, according to Londonderry Port and Harbour Commissioners (LPHC). The small lighthouse has long been a strong symbolic image for the town and many local organisations - such as the boat club, GAA and local schools - use it in their logo.

“Moville Light is the Eiffel Tower of Moville,” says LPHC Harbour Master Bill McCann from Shrove. “Everybody associates Moville with the Lighthouse and there is a sense of pride surrounding it. It also plays a vital role in guiding shipping safely through Lough Foyle.”

Captain McCann says the restoration work was carried out by LPHC and involved replacing the handrail round the outside and the door of the housing on top, as well as refurbishing the housing and painting the cast iron structure. The 19th Century lighthouse is one of just three of its kind remaining in Ireland, according to the Commissioners of Irish Lights – who say the other two are at Dundalk and Cobh.

Bill McCann’s father, retired Captain Charlie McCann, says he remembers when the lighthouse was lit by a paraffin lamp, and a keeper would row out at night, light it and remain overnight in the single-roomed house on top in case the light went out. Since then the lighthouse has been converted to gas, and most recently to solar-power.

Moville Lighthouse is a quarter of a mile offshore from the town, is 13 metres high and has a distinctive white house on top. It flashes once every 2.5 seconds and is what is known as a “sectored” light – it flashes white or red, depending which way you approach it. “The light is white when you are in safely in the deeper water of the channel, but flashes red when you veer towards Moville Bank inshore,” says the harbour master.

The light can be seen from four miles away, and is one of a network of now unmanned lighthouses around the island. As on offshore lighthouse on the Lough, responsibility for its operation and maintenance rests with the Harbour Board in Derry, who say they are delighted that this latest restoration work is now complete.