Blacksod Lighthouse

I drove to the very end of Belmullet Peninsula. The area didn’t seem to be very busy. There was a port here and also a lighthouse. Lighthouses are always interesting. This one, Blacksod Lighthouse, is probably one of the stranger lighthouses I have seen in Ireland. For one thing, the lighthouse doesn’t look like a light house. One would probably struggle to figure out that it was actually one if you don’t see the ocean facing side. The structure of the lighthouse looks a lot more like a house. The lighthouse part of the structure is just a level above the house which houses the lamp. If you approach from the front door, you probably won’t even notice it.

Blacksod Lighthouse actually faces Achill Island, you can see Slievemore in the distance. I had no idea Achill was actually that near and that far. Historically, Blacksod Lighthouse played a role in World War II. Blacksod Lighthouse had always supplied weather reports to the British as per agreement in independence. This continued during the war even if Ireland was officially neutral. The reports from Blacksod resulted in the delay of the landings are Normandy by a few days. Who knows how history would have turned out had the Allies pushed through with the original date.

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