An Irishwoman's Diary

Tradition had it that any "eligible maiden" who hopped three times around the base of the Metal Man's tower marking Tramore Bay, Co Waterford, would find a good husband within the year. And same husband would find a fine spouse, given that the hopping distance was a good 80 yards on bumpy ground. The pisreog never really applied to the beacon's brother over in the north-west, however, given that Sligo's famous Metal Man stood out to sea.

It was the local shipowners who asked that the effigy of the sailor - arm outstretched to warn ships away - be erected on Perch Rock, off Oyster Island in Sligo Bay some 192 years ago. Next month, this Metal Man enters the 21st century; he is due to be "solarised" by his masters, the Commissioners of Irish Lights, as part of a programme to convert both offshore and inshore lights to renewable energy sources.

The existing gas-powered lights within the Metal Man and on Oyster Island will be replaced by "new, synchronised solar electric" installations from March 13th, "or as soon thereafter as circumstances permit", according to the commissioners, who hold responsibility for all navigational lights, marks, buoys and beacons around this island. It was back in 1989 that the Commissioners began switching all their buoys in service to solar power, with much success; over the past three years, the organisation has been engaged in converting its offshore lights, including Eagle Island, Co Mayo, Skellig Rock off Kerry, and Slyne Head, north of Galway.

Unique images

Even as they fine tune those new energy sources, the Commissioners are marking a little bit of history this month with the publication of a series of unique images. For a period of 29 years, during the late 1800s and early 1900s, over 100 photographs of navigational marks around this coast were taken by a former commissioner and scientific advisor to the organisation, Sir Robert Ball. Ball was an astronomer, mathematician, author and lecturer, and one of his duties as Commissioner was to participate in the annual coastal inspection.

Long before the days of air transport and helicopters, this inspection was a serious affair. It entailed visiting up to 100 lighthouses, lightships and smaller navigational marks to make sure that the signalling systems were working properly. Ball never travelled without at least one camera and he took it with him when the hardy Commissioners disembarked from their steamer, Alexandra, into small rowing boats to reach hazardous jetties. Sometimes they even had to be hoisted ashore by lighthouse staff, using manually operated derricks.

Ball coped with all this, and with using his cumbersome equipment on a heaving deck, though he had no sight in one eye. His collection was a photographic equivalent of essential information gathered for Admiralty Charts; it is also an invaluable historical record, given rapid developments in maritime technology. At the time, fog signals, including cannons, had to be ignited by hand, while bells were rung by an electrically-charged striker, and large telescopes were deployed to send and receive signals. The images mark the construction of Fastnet, and also capture the harsh lives lived by keepers and their families, before the Commissioners' automation programme was completed at Baily off Howth in March, 1997.

Exhibitions

Ball's lighthouse record was donated by the Commissioners to the National Photographic Archive three years ago, as part of a collection comprising some 1,000 of his shots. An exhibition of his work was mounted by the archive at the time, and was opened against last Friday at Meeting House Square, Temple Bar, Dublin, to coincide with publication of a book of the same by the National Library, in association with the Commissioners. By pure coincidence, lighthouses were also the theme of an exhibition opened in the Kenny Gallery, Galway the previous evening by the maritime historian Dr John de Courcy Ireland.

Lights and their remote locations have always fascinated the Sligo-based artist Vivien Murray, who is a fifth-generation Australian. A qualified nurse and midwife, she has benefited from the navigations marks herself as someone who has spent some time at sea. She worked for a year on a Greek passenger liner cruising the world, and spent several more stints on ships, in between time in a kibbutz in Israel. She has lived in Sligo since 1975, and taught yoga until enrolling in her first course in art and design.

Round rooms

Three pink pears and a jug, three red pears and a fruit bowl in a window looking out on Hook Head light, and many more snapshots of life in round rooms built to withstand exposure to the elements feature in the paintings on display. They "appear straightforward, yet are deceptively complex", according to fellow artist Catherine MacConville. The "simplicity, stillness and self-sufficiency of the interiors" created by Murray "contrast with the ephemeral activity viewed through her windows", she says.

The exhibition, named "Counterpoint", continues until March 13th. Also in Galway, there has been a second print run of Brendan O'Donnell's photographic record Galway, A Maritime Tradition, produced with assistance from the Heritage Council at €12.

And that book of images from Sir Robert Ball's collection, entitled For the Safety of All: images and inspections of Irish lighthouses, available from the National Library, the National Photographic Archive and bookshops, price €13.