East Lighthouse
Client - The Rathlin Development and Community Association
Restoration of Northern Ireland's most north westerly lighthouse shows the possibilities of community enterprise
From the 1st of November, 1865, a light has shone out from the northeast corner of Rathlin Island, the northernmost part of Northern Ireland and the country’s only inhabited offshore island. For most of the 20th century, when heavy fog descended, the light was accompanied by a regular explosive blast to warn passing ships away from its rocks. While the explosions have since silenced, the Grade B1 lighthouse remains in use today but is automated, and its outbuildings – including the old explosives’ store and lightkeepers’ cottages – have deteriorated in condition. Now the Rathlin Development and Community Association have plans to restore the two semi-detached lightkeepers’ cottages as holiday lets and the remaining buildings for a blend of tourism, local enterprise and skills-building purposes.