Lighting the Mouth of the Foyle

Strove Lighthouse is located on a beautiful blue flag beach where Lough Foyle meets the wild Atlantic in north co. Donegal. This shipping lane has been used for hundreds of years by ships carrying Irish emigrants to America and Australia. This rugged coastline at the mouth of the Foyle River has also claimed hundreds of shipwrecks. To help prevent further wrecks two lighthouses were built at Dungaree Point in Shrove. The lamps were originally oil-powered but in 1961 they were replaced by electricity.  The new light was able to create an arc of 180 degrees. The lighthouse was originally manned by three keepers but with the advent of modern technology, the light became automatically controlled and now only one caretaker remains in the attached quarters.