Blackhead Lightkeepers' Houses
| Blackhead Lightkeepers' Houses | |
|
Irish Landmark Trust | |
|---|---|
 The lightkeepers' cottages behind the lighthouse | |
| Grid reference: | J48749344 |
| Location: | 54°46’1"N, 5°41’22"W |
| Built c. 1901 | |
| Information | |
Blackhead Lightkeepers' Houses are a set of lighthouse keeper's cottages standing behind the Blackhead Lighthouse on a cliff on the east coast of County Antrim, on the north shore of Belfast Lough: a place giving stunning views across the sea and the coastline of County Antrim.
The cottages were built to house the keepers of the Black Head Lighthouse, providing a light at the entrance to Belfast Lough. The cottages were vacated when the light was automated, and have since been acquired and restored by the Irish Landmark Trust, which lets them as holiday cottages.
The lighthouse was built on the north shore of the entrance to Belfast Lough in 1901, opposite its twin across the Lough on Mew Island. These two lights have for over a hundred years protected the vast tonnage of commercial shipping which has sailed into and out of the Port of Belfast, and the new-built ships of the city's busy shipbuilding industry in its day. The keepers would have watched the Titanic sail out of the lough n 1912. The houses contain interesting fragments of lighthouse paraphernalia, including the whistle pipe system used to wake up the next watch, and a tunnel that was used to walk between the lighthouse and quarters during stormy weather.
Nearby
A popular coastal path leads along in front of the lighthouse to the Victorian town of Whitehead, twenty miles up the coast north of Belfast. Beyond are the famed Glens of Antrim.
Outside links
- Blackhead Lightkeeper’s House – Irish Landmark Trust
