Mew Island Lighthouse

Mew Island Lighthouse stands on a small island in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Copeland Islands group at the entrance to Belfast Lough. The present tower dates from the 19th century and is the latest in a series built to guide ships through dangerous waters. Earlier lights used coal, oil and gas before moving to electricity and finally to solar-powered LEDs. The original hyperradiant Fresnel lens, once the largest in the world, has been removed and is now displayed in Belfast. The lighthouse matters because it shows how navigation aids evolved over three centuries. George Halpin designed the 1815 tower that used twenty-seven lamps and reflectors. William Douglass created the 1884 tower with a massive tri-form lens lit by 324 gas burners. The hyperradiant optic was later adapted and installed here in 1928, using paraffin before switching to electric power in 1969. Its removal in 2014 ended a long tradition of manned lights in Ireland. Visitors find a 37-metre stone tower with a large lantern room and an adjacent keeper’s house. The island is surrounded by strong tides that once caused many wrecks. A fog signal building still shows the remains of the diaphone horn that sounded until 1991. The mercury float that once turned the lens is gone, replaced by solar panels on the lantern roof. The old coal gas plant stands empty beside the tower, a reminder of the island’s working past.