Tarbert Lighthouse

52°35.30' North 9°21.46' West Aids to Navigation Light: Isophase White & Red 4 seconds.

This is a harbour light to guide vessels passing up or down the Shannon estuary, it helps to clear the Bowline Rock and also guides vessels into the Tarbert Roads anchorage.

The lighthouse is built on a tidal rock off the north side of Tarbert Island. Over the years the light has been known as Tarbert Rock, Tarbert Island, as the present list of lights calls it, and just plain Tarbert.

Towards the end of October 1829 the Limerick Chamber of Commerce forwarded a memorial from the masters and owners of vessels requesting a light on Tarbert Rock to clear the southern point of Scattery Island, to prevent running into Clonderalaw Bay, to mark Bowline Rock and also the Tarbert Roads.

Everything went surprisingly smoothly, Inspector George Halpin agreed, the mariners had no objection to paying one farthing per ton extra in dues, over 140,000 tons of shipping had used the Shannon estuary over a period of three years, Trinity House gave their consent and by February 1830 His Grace the Lord Lieutenant had approved.

An Inquisition held in Tarbert on 22nd June valued the Rock and an acre of ground on the island at £210. £10 for the tenant and the balance for Robert Leslie, the owner and a minor-aged three years, was lodged in a bank for him.

During February 1831 the Inspector suggested that the building should be undertaken by outside contract. This was agreed and Mr H. Baker’s proposal to build the tower for £2,300 was accepted but before the contract was signed Mr Baker died so further proposals were sought. Out of the seven received Mr R. Howard’s for £2,100 was accepted although it was not the lowest. Work on the tower commenced immediately and Mr Howard received the first instalment at the end of August 1831. The final instalment was paid in May 1832.

Inspector Halpin reported on 30th January 1834 that the lighthouse would be ready for lighting on 31st March. Notice to Mariners was given and a fixed white catoptric second order light, 58 feet (17.67m) above high water was established on the date announced.

In clear weather it could be seen at a distance of 13 miles (21km). The wall of the tower and stairs are of cut limestone, the floors and lantern blocking granite. The outside of the tower was and still is painted white. What was a conspicuous 74-foot (22.5m) high tower is now dwarfed by two gigantic chimneys of the Electricity Supply Board generating station.

The dwelling for the keeper was not started until after the light was established, again Howard was awarded the contract at a cost of £280. The total cost of the establishment to the end of 1836 was £10,008:8s:3d.

The 200 foot (61m) long, 5 foot 6 inches (1.6m) wide delicate cast iron approach foot bridge to the tower was not apparently built immediately. At a Board meeting on 11th November 1841 Inspector George Halpin reported, “The approach bridge has been of much service and the attendance and risk of boatage have been thereby dispensed with”. When and by whom it was built is not known but its date must have been around 1840-41.

Early in November 1879 the Inspecting Committee reported on the Shannon lights and recommended converting Tarbert from catoptric to dioptric. About this time Scattery Island was being constructed and the Engineer-in-Chief, Mr J.S. Sloane, suggested using the proposed third order dioptric lens ordered for Scattery Island at Tarbert and fitting a smaller fifth order optic at Scattery Island. This re-arrangement was carried out towards the end of 1871 and in December Mr Sloane inspected the new dioptric apparatus at Tarbert.

A year later in December 1872, the Inspector, Captain E.H. Hawes suggested a red sector from Tarbert to cover the Bowline Rock. The Inspecting Committee favourably approved but recommended postponing the alteration until local parties requested the sector.

On the 15th May 1905 the fixed light was changed to occulting 2.0 second flash, 2.0 second dark on the recommendation of the Inspecting Committee and at the same time a red sector was established over the Bowline Rock.

With the introduction in 1910 of larger lighted buoys in the Shannon, Inspector Captain Deane suggested a buoy depot should be located at Scattery Island and recommended £3,000 be provided in the 1913/14 Estimates. The Inspecting Committee did not favour Scattery Island so Inspector Deane came back with Tarbert Island as being more suitable. This time the Committee agreed to include it in the 1914/15 Estimates and Board of Trade sanction was obtained in October 1913. The outbreak of the first World War possibly held up progress but the 10 ton manual “Goliath” gantry crane, manufactured by E.G. Appleby of Westminster, London, was delivered by ILT “Tearaght” early in 1916; it was converted to electric operation in 1963 and eventually replaced in 1975 by a 12 tonne Leibherr “Goliath” gantry crane.

Tarbert was recommended for conversion to unwatched acetylene by the 1914 Inspection Committee on Tour but due to the war it was deferred although Board of Trade sanction had been obtained. The light was eventually converted on 1st April 1919, the acetylene being generated in a water to carbide plant in a small building near the landward end of the bridge to the tower.

A recommendation was made by the 1963 Tour of Inspection was to convert the light to electric as had been done with a number of other local unwatched lights. Ministry of Transport sanction was obtained in April 1964 and the light was converted on 8th December 1966, using three 100 watt Argenta electric lamps in place of the seven 20 litre acetylene burners. In the event of an electric supply failure a standby 3kw diesel driven alternator automatically takes over and if that fails then the Attendant fits a seven 20 litre burner which runs off an AK25 dissolved acetylene cylinder.

With the rationalisation of the Shannon lights between the Commissioners of Irish Lights and the Limerick Harbour Commissioners all Irish Lights navigational aids east of but not including Scattery Island were transferred on 1st January 1981 to the Limerick Harbour Commissioners. Tarbert is one of these lights but the buoy depot remained under Irish Lights, and the Attendant is in the interesting situation of being employed by two separate Boards of Commissioners. In 2006 the buoy yard was sold to ESB and the position of Attendant of the Tarbert Buoy yard was discontinued.