World famous lighthouse & golf course

The Old Head of Kinsale Lighthouse was built in 1853 and is located in one of Ireland’s most spectacular coastal areas. This large promontory juts out into the Atlantic Ocean rising hundreds of feet above the water and is now one of the most prestigious golf courses on the planet: The Old Head Golf Links. There are references to a lighted beacon at this location in pre-Christian times however the present lighthouse was built in 1853 and was continuously manned up until 1987 when the lighthouse was automated. By a tragic accident of history, the Old Head Lighthouse is the nearest point of land to one of the most famous historical shipwrecks. The RMS Lusitania lies just over 11 miles due south of the Old Head after being hit by a single torpedo fired by a German Submarine at 2.10 pm on the 7th of May 1915. The ship listed so badly that lifeboats crashed into passengers crowded on deck and dumped their loads into the water. Most passengers never had a chance as the giant ship slipped beneath the sea within 18 minutes. One thousand one hundred nineteen of the 1,924 aboard died.

Thanks to Darren J Spoonly Photography for fab drone footage