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The 'Commissioners of Irish Lights (CIL)' is the body that serves as the lighthouse authority for all of the island of Ireland plus its adjacent seas and islands. As the Irish Lighthouse Authority it overseas the coastal lights and navigation marks provided by the local lighthouse authorities; the County Councils and Port Authorities.
It is funded by ships that use these seas on a pooled basis with those dues raised by the United Kingdom. This recognises that a large volume of shipping — typically transatlantic — relies on its lights but never puts in to a port in the Republic of Ireland.

Contents

Finance

Ships

Granuaile III

Other vessels

Flags

Infrastructure

Buoys

Lighthouses

See also

References

External links

Finance

The services provided by the Commissioners are financed from the General Lighthouse Fund. The income of the General Lighthouse Fund is mainly derived from light dues charged on commercial shipping at ports in Ireland and the United Kingdom, (ie: user pays) supplemented by an annual contribution from the Irish Government towards the cost of the service provided in the Republic of Ireland.
The General Lighthouse Fund is administered by the UK Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. The General Lighthouse Fund also finances:
#Trinity House Lighthouse Service – the General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales and the Channel Islands;
#Northern Lighthouse Board – the General Lighthouse Authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man.
The accounts of the Commissioners of Irish Lights are consolidated with those of Trinity House Lighthouse Service and the Northern Lighthouse Board to form part of the General Lighthouse Fund annual accounts which are published in London by HMSO.

Ships

Granuaile III

The Commissioners currently have only one light tender^[1] in service named ''ILV Granuaile''. She was built at Galatz Shipyard, Romania in 2000 and is registered in Dublin. She has a length overall of 79.6 m, a beam of 15.99 m and a gross tonnage of 2625.
She is the third vessel named Granuaile to have served the Commissioners. Granuaile II was in service between 1970 and 2000, and she was preceded by the first Granuaile from 1948 to 1970.
Because of the automation of lighthouses, and the extensive use of helicopters by the Commisioners, CIL now need only one tender in service. The ship has diesel electric propulsion and is extremely manoueverable, therefore she is ideal for her role in maintaining the automatic navigation bouys in Irish waters. In 2003 she was involved in the recovery of the ill-fated fishing boat "Pisces", which sank off Fethard Co Wexford in July 2002.

Other vessels

★ Gray Seal (1988 - 1994)

★ Granuaile II (1970 - 2000)

★ Atlanta (1959 - 1988)

★ Ierne II (1955 - 1971)

★ Isolda (1953 - 1976)

★ Blaskbeg (1953 - 1955)

★ Granuaile (1948 - 1970)

★ Valonia (1947 – 1962)

★ Discovery II (1947 – 1948)

★ Nabro (1926 - 1949)

★ Deirdre (1919 - 1927)

★ Isolda (1928 – 1940) (Sunk off the Saltee Islands Co Wexford by German aircraft)

★ Alexandra (1904 - 1955)

★ Ierne (1898 - 1954)

★ Tearaght (1892 - 1928)

★ Moya (1893 - 1905)

★ Princess Alexandra (1863 - 1904)

Flags

Commissioners of Irish Lights is a cross-border body, its headquarters are in Dublin. The current flag of the Commissioners of Irish Lights features the St. Patrick's Cross, not the St. George's Cross as on the old flag^[2]. CIL vessels in Northern Ireland fly the blue ensign as shown; vessels in the Republic fly the Irish tricolour.

Infrastructure

Buoys

Lighthouses

★ Bailey Lighthouse Dublin Bay, Co. Dublin

★ Tuskar Rock Co. Wexford

★ Hook Head Co. Wexford

★ Ballycotton Co. Cork

★ Roches Point Co. Cork

★ Fastnet Rock Co. Cork

★ Mizen Head Co. Cork

★ Bull Rock Co. Cork

★ Skellig Mór

★ Samphire Rock Co. Kerry

★ Loop Head Co. Clare

See also

★ Lighthouses in Ireland

★ Lightvessels in Ireland

References

1. Ships in the Irish Lighthouse Service
2. A picture of the CIL flag, from the World Flag database

External links

★ Official website