Coimisinéirí Soilse na hÉireann | |
 | |
 Flag | |
| Predecessor |
|
|---|---|
| Formation | 1867 |
| Type | Statutory corporation |
| Purpose | General lighthouse authority |
| Headquarters | Dún Laoghaire, Ireland |
| Services | Navigational aids |
Key people | Mark Barr, Chairperson Yvonne Shields O'Connor, Chief executive |
| Website | Official website |
TheCommissioners of Irish Lights (Irish:Coimisinéirí Soilse na hÉireann), often shortened toIrish Lights orCIL, is the body that serves as thegeneral lighthouse authority forNorthern Ireland and theRepublic of Ireland and their adjacent seas andislands. As thelighthouse authority for the island ofIreland it oversees the coastal lights and navigation marks provided by the local lighthouse authorities, the county councils and port authorities.
Irish Lights is funded throughlight dues paid into the General Lighthouse Fund (GLF) by ships calling both inIreland (including the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) and in Great Britain. The General Lighthouse Fund is managed by theSecretary of State for Transport in the United Kingdom and is split between the threeGeneral Lighthouse Authorities.[1][2]
Signal fires to guide shipping have long existed.Hook Head has the oldest nearly continuous light in Ireland, originally a signal fire or beacon tended by the monkDubhán in the fifth century.[3] Monks continued to maintain the light until theCromwellian conquest of Ireland in 1641.
Charles II re-established the lighthouse in 1667. He granted a patent for the erection of six lighthouses toRobert Reading, some replacing older lighthouses,[4] atHook Head,Baily Lighthouse atHowth Head, Howth sand-bar, Old Head of Kinsale, Barry Oge's castle (nowCharlesfort, nearKinsale), and the Isle of Magee.
In 1704Queen Anne transferred the lighthouses around the Irish coast to the Revenue Commissioners.
| Dublin Port Act 1786[a] | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act for Promoting the Trade of Dublin, by rendering its Port and Harbour more commodious |
| Citation | 26 Geo. 3. c. 19 (I) |
| Territorial extent | Ireland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 8 May 1786 |
| Commencement | 19 January 1786[b] |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | |
Status: Amended | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The Corporation for Preserving and Improving the Port of Dublin was established under theDublin Port Act 1786, an act of theParliament of Ireland.[5]
| Lighthouses (Ireland) Act 1810 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An act to enable the Corporation for preserving and improving the Port of Dublin, to erect, repair and maintain Light Houses round the Coasts of Ireland, and to raise a Fund for defraying the Charge thereof. |
| Citation | 50 Geo. 3. c. 95 |
| Territorial extent | Ireland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 15 June 1810 |
| Repealed | 1 May 1855 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | Merchant Shipping Repeal Act 1854 |
Status: Repealed | |
| Irish Lighthouses Act 1811 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Long title | An Act to amend and render more effectual several Acts for promoting the Trade of Dublin, by rendering its Port and Harbour more commodious: and for erecting, repairing and maintaining Light Houses round the Coast of Ireland, and to raise a Fund for defraying the Charge thereof. |
| Citation | 51 Geo. 3. c. 66 |
| Territorial extent | Ireland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 10 June 1811 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | Merchant Shipping Repeal Act 1854 |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Dublin Port Act 1867 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to alter the Constitution of the Corporation for preserving and improving the Port of Dublin, and for other Purposes connected with that Body and with the Port of Dublin Corporation. |
| Citation | 30 & 31 Vict. c. lxxxi |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 17 June 1867 |
Status: Amended | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
TheLighthouses (Ireland) Act 1810[6] transferred responsibility for all lighthouses around Ireland's coast to the Port of Dublin Corporation, with the lighthouse operation becoming known as the Irish Lights Board. TheDublin Port Act 1867[7] reconstituted the Port of Dublin Corporation into theDublin Port and Docks Board with responsibility purely for the port, and created the Commissioners of Irish Lights to act as the general lighthouse authority.
These acts, modified by the Irish Lights Commissioners (Adaptation) Order 1935,[8] remain the legislative basis for the CIL.[9]
Irish Lights has moved its headquarters fromDublin to a purpose-built new building in Harbour Road,Dún Laoghaire.
Handover of responsibility to theFoyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission as envisioned by the 1998Good Friday Agreement has not occurred.
Because of the automation of lighthouses, and the use of helicopters, CIL now only operates one vessel, ILVGranuaile III (ILV=Irish Lights Vessel), named after the pirate queenGrace O'Malley.[10] Delivered in 2000, she was built atGalați shipyard, Romania, fitted out atDamen Shipyards in the Netherlands.[11] She has a 2,625 gross tonnage (GT), length of 79.69 metres (261.5 ft) and is fitted with Class I dynamic positioning system. In 2003 she was involved in the recovery of the fishing boatPisces, which sank offFethard, County Wexford, in July 2002.[12] She is the third Granuaile to have served with the CIL. The firstGranuaile served from 1948 to 1970, followed byGranuaile II from 1970 and 2000.
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The Commissioners of Irish Lights is a cross-border body, with its headquarters in Dublin. The current flag of the Irish Lights features lightships and lighthouses between the arms of theSt. Patrick's Cross.[14] TheSt. George's Cross was used until 1970.[15] CIL vessels inNorthern Ireland fly theBlue Ensign defaced with the commissioners' badge and those in the Republic fly theIrish tricolour.[14]
The CIL operate and maintain the majority of theaids to navigation around theIrish coastline. This includes 64 lighthouses, 20 beacons and over 100 buoys. It also operates more than 100automatic identification system transmitters, and 23radar beacons.[16]
In the Lighthouse Service the cap badge originally was a St George's Cross surrounded by a wreath of laurel leaves but from 1970 the St Patrick's Cross has been used.
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