On 24 March 1997 the 13 m high granite-stone Baily Lighthouse on
Howth's Dungriffen Promontory became the last of the 82 lighthouses
provided by the Commissioners of Irish Lights to be fully automated.
Baily's powerful light (of 1,217, 690 candelas intensity and turning one full revolution every 15 seconds can be seen 27 nautical miles away) and its other modern navigational aids are now controlled and monitored from the Irish Lights facility at Dun Laoghaire. The first Baily Lighthouse was built in 1667 higher up on Howth Summit. It consisted of a small cottage and a square stone tower on top of which coals burned in a brazier.
In 1790 an improved tower, more like today's lighthouses, replaced the original and the light was provided by oil lamps shining through recently invented but still relatively crude lenses. The location of this beacon had never been wise as, ironically, when it was needed most it was itself shrouded in mist or low cloud. The current lighthouse was built in 1814.
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