The last lighthouse to be automated in Ireland

The Baily Lighthouse is located at the end of a promontory on Howth overlooking Dublin Bay. This is the historic shipping channel between Dublin and Wales and over the centuries hundreds of ships and thousands of lives have been lost to the sea. This was also the location where the Vikings fled after the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. The first light signal was built here in 1667 and the Baily Lighthouse was built in 1814 – 134 feet above the sea. Its fog bell was added in 1853 after 80 lives were lost close by when The Queen Victoria sank. In 1996, the lighthouse was converted to automatic operation, and the last of ‘The Keepers’ left in 1997, making The Baily the last Irish lighthouse to go automatic.

Thanks to Ireland from the air for cool drone footage

Larry Mullen Jr, a long-term residence of Howth (b.1962) is best known as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band U2. He has received 22 Grammy Awards and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2016, Rolling Stone ranked Mullen the 96th-greatest drummer of all time.