IN THE days before easy communications, to a ship on the final and perhaps most treacherous part of its voyage, the flash of the lighthouse would have signaled the end of a long journey and safe harbour for some well-earned respite.
To present-day admirers, the lighthouse represents a unique part of our maritime history and an aesthetically pleasing part of our built heritage.
Collins Press have recently published ‘The Lighthouses of Ireland’ by the artist and illustrator, Roger O’Reilly, who grew up near the pilot lights marking the entrance to the Boyne Estuary in Co Meath.
He was also inspired by the light of the Rockabill lighthouse off the Skerries coast which illuminated the southeast horizon at night.
The reassuring glow of these beacons has remained with him ever since and two years ago he undertook a journey criss-crossing the country to capture these sentinels in dramatic portraits.
Gathered in this extraordinary collection of over 80 individual illustrations, each beloved landmark has a wealth of practical and insightful information.
This Illustrated celebration of the lighthouses dotted along our shores will be treasured by landlubbers and mariners alike who find comfort, intrigue and excitement in these beautiful structures.
The book is available in all good bookstores now or on www.irelandposters.ie