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Lighthouse Tours of Ireland
Hi, I'm John Eagle. I give tours round the Irish coast looking at lighthouses. I was the first person to make a complete set of postcards of Irish lighthouses and I have had 2 books about them published. I am passionate about taking people round the lights of Ireland
Would you like to join in the fun? There has never been a better time to visit Ireland
As seen in the Lighthouse Digest
Click to download the tour brochure pdf
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I conduct 3 tours each year. They are lots fun, we get up close and personal with many lighthouses and on two of the tours we actually spend a couple of nights at lighthouses. We get tours inside some of them, like Hook Head, Loop Head, The Baily and Cromwell Point. I have made lots of friends from America, Australia, Germany, Holland, Ireland and Great Britain. So please come along and join in the fun
Southern Lighthouse Tour ~ Eastern LighthouseTour ~ Northern Lighthouse Tour
I also arrange special weekly tours. You decide what lighthouses you would like to see and I will arrange the boat trips, the transport, places to stay, so you can sit back and enjoy a holiday of a life time in Ireland. I will pick you up at your hotel, or meet you off your plane, pick up your luggage and drive you where you would like to go.
If you wish we can go and look at castles along the way, maritime museums, whiskey distilleries, tour the coastline and get off the beaten track. For instance I can show you roads on the Beara Peninsula in South West Ireland few tourists ever see, back roads that go deep into hidden valleys. Many visitors to Ireland come to see the Ring of Kerry, the Cliffs of Moher, the Giant's Causeway and kiss the Blarney Stone, and they think that's Ireland sorted. There is a lot more to Ireland than that
Above is an oil painting I did of my local village of Eyeries, set close to the Atlantic Ocean, each house painted a different colour to the next. The village has featured in numerous movies like 'The Purple Taxi' starring Fred Astaire and 'Falling for a Dancer' with Colin Farrell
If you would like to know more about my personalised tours please contact me or review the Beara Valleys Tour click here |
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June 23nd to July 1st 2013
Reservations closed for 2013
Itinery for 2014 will be similar dates
8 day tour of the lighthouses of Ireland's southern coast including Inisheer, Skellig Michael, Fastnet, Mizen, Hook, Bull Rock, Youghal, Ardnakinna and Roche's Point. We meet men who worked the lighthouses and we spend 2 nights at Galley Head lighthouse and see the famous puffins on Skellig Michael. There are 4 boat trips, and guided tours inside some of the lighthouses.
Your guide is the author of
'Ireland's Lighthouses ~ A Photo Essay by John Eagle'
Galley Head
Start near Ennis in Co. Clare, goes along the south coast and finishes in Cork City
We spend 2 nights at Galley Head lighthouse (above)
We also get up close and personal with the Fastnet Rock lighthouse, Skellig Michael and go on a guided tour of the Hook lighthouse
Click here for tour details
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August 16th to 24th 2013
To view the tour itinery please click here
6 places booked, only 2 places now available
We start near Ennis in Co. Clare and make our way north to Rossaveal for boat trip to the Aran Islands. We will see at a distance Straw Island, Eeragh and the old lighthouse on Inishmore
Lighthouses we get to visit include
Blacksod
Inishowen
Blackhead
The Baily
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Fabulous trip John! "Extreme Lighthousing" does not say enough. You got us into places we would not have seen and best of all we got to meet several people associated with the lighthouses that we would not have met without you. I will especially remember our talk with Mr. O'Driscoll , the last keeper of Fastnet, and his wife Maura. Your boat trips are the only way to understand just how impressive the offshore lights - and the people who lived there - really are. I was expecting to be impressed with Fastnet, and I was, but Calf Rock amazed me. The island is so small, just covered with steps cut into the stone, and people lived through the tower being broken in half. And then during our visit to Bull Rock, we got to take the boat through the tunnel. I will be bragging on that feat for years. The B & Bs you took us to were so nice. I especially remember Josephine's place and walking just outside to see Eagle Island and Blackrock Mayo. I had fun making breakfast in the keeper's kitchen at Blackhead Antrim, but it wasn't as good as Jospehine's. My trip isn't over - there is so much more to learn about the places we saw. I want to learn more about the monks on Skelligs Micheal and I need to find the books Mr. O'Driscoll told me about. I hope to see you again in a few years John. Can't wait!
2011 Extreme Lighthouse Tour participant Laura Chewning from the USA
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go through the Bull Rock Tunnel
The cost is 400 euros a trip divided by the number of people going, maximum 10. So if there's 10 people it's 40 euros a head
If you are interested then please contact me
Watch the video of going through the arch
It is far from easy to do this boat trip which makes it more challenging, you need patience and a desire to go. I was forced to cancel 4 trips in 2012 due to bad weather. If you get to go through the needle then consider yourself one of the lucky ones. It is a lot of fun
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| Pictures below are from the Southern tour |
Pictures below are from the Northern tour |
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| At the Fastnet lighthouse August 20th 2011 |
St. Johns Co. Down |
At the Fastnet lighthouse August 20th 2011 l-r Bette Keeping, Gerry Douglas-Sherwood, Claus Peter Hempelmann, Keith Morton (Hon. Secretary of the ALK), Nancy Ohlson, Kirsten Hempelmann, Judy Weeks, Laura Chewning, Kim Fahlen and sheepdog Suzie. Please click here to watch a short video |
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| The Baily, where we get a guided tour |
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| About to go through the Bull Rock tunnel which runs beneath the lighthouse. Spooky but fun! |
Blackhead in Co. Antrim |
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The Fastnet lighthouse, we go round this in a boat
Click here to see pictures from the 2012 tour
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Blacksod in Co. Mayo |
| Please click here for 2013 tour details |
The 2013 Northern tour is open for reservations click here |
John, I need to thank you for all the work and planning that went into our trip. I have dreamed of seeing Ireland for many years. Our trip was unbelievable! Your choice of Tommy for our driver was inspired. He was so helpful. Listening to the Irish accent was a treat everywhere we went. We saw so much in our time in Eire. It is so hard to choose a favorite! The new friends must be first. Fastnet, Skelligs, The Hook, are each special in their own way, but staying at Blackhead must be on a list of its own.
Getting up to travel around The Fastnet at dawn is spectacular! The early sun shinning off the tower and lens took my breath away. Watching the waves break against the rocks on such a peaceful day makes the power of storms that break over the tower almost unimaginable.
Skelligs took my breath away in more than one way. Your encouragement to keep climbing ( I made it to the beehives) and advice to help an amateur photographer made that event special.
Seeing the lens flash out the bedroom window at Blackhead was wonderful. The buildings are so well cared for. Self catering with new friends is another highlight of the trip.
Your land, the vistas and flowers and the people we met along the way added layer upon layer of memories to our collection.
Thank you again, Nancy Ohlson 2011 tour
Would you like to see more pictures taken on the 2011 tour? Click here |
Thanks so much. You did a brilliant job organising it all looking forward to the next one...
Judy Weeks (Association of Lighthouse Keepers)
Read what Kim Fahlen wrote in Lamp about this lighthouse tour, click here
© All photographs copyright John Eagle Photography |
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