South Light, Rue Point, Rathlin Island, Co. Antrim

South Light (Rue Point Lighthouse) is a four-stage octagonal concrete lighthouse completed in 1921, located at the south-eastern tip of Rue Point on Rathlin Island, County Antrim. It stands on the wave-swept rocky foreshore at sea level, marking a significant navigation point for ships passing between Rathlin and Fair Head en route to and from Britain.

The lighthouse is 35 feet high and sits on a low concrete platform cast directly onto the rocky shore. It is constructed of concrete, a material reflecting its post-World War I date, when dressed masonry would have been standard for earlier lighthouses. The structure comprises four stages delineated by shallow string courses, each stage alternately painted black and white to create distinctive horizontal banding that accentuates its unusual appearance compared to the taller, wider, and typically round lighthouses more commonly seen. The base is slightly advanced and painted black. The flat concrete roof is edged with a low parapet and plain cornice, both fitted with two-bar metal handrails. Small rectangular openings in the parapet allow rainwater run-off.

Access to the lighthouse is via a grassy and concrete footpath descending the east side of the island from the public road. On its final approach across the rocks, the path becomes a raised concrete footpath with a modern plastic and wire handrail supported on regularly-spaced painted original metal posts. The landward (north) side of the tower has a vertical metal ladder leading to a cantilevered concrete platform before a sheeted timber door with small louvred ventilator at stage 2 level (stage 1 being ground floor). The top of the ladder can be pulled out to facilitate access. The doorway is flanked by projecting curved metal handrails. Above the doorway is a window opening at stage 4 level with slightly advanced jambs and a horizontal stucco head; the string course serves as its cill. Identical window openings exist on the east, south, and west sides at stage 4 level, all now blanked off and painted black.

An omni-directional light rises 17 feet from the centre of the roof with no protective lantern. It produces two white flashes every five seconds with a range of 14 nautical miles (16.1 miles). A small radio aerial is mounted beside the light. The fabric of this structure is entirely authentic.

History and Development

Rue Point Lighthouse was the last of three lighthouses to be built on Rathlin Island. The East Light dates from 1856 and the West Light from 1919. The original Rue Point lighthouse was a temporary structure erected by the Board of Trade on behalf of the Admiralty in response to a petition from the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce in 1914. This temporary light was first exhibited on 19 November 1915. From 12 April 1917 it was augmented by an adjoining acetylene-powered fog gun. A storm in November 1917 washed away the temporary light, and a replacement was erected on the fog gun platform. The Board of Trade began constructing the present permanent lighthouse in 1920, completing it in 1921. The structure was probably designed by Charles William Scott, Engineer to the Commissioners of Irish Lights from 1900 to 1930. It was first shown on the 1922 Ordnance Survey map, captioned "Southern Lighthouse (white light flashing)".

The original lighthouse was equipped with an acetylene lamp powered by an internal calcium carbide plant, which produced inflammable acetylene gas when water was added to the carbide. A fog gun was mounted on the roof, though it proved unreliable and was withdrawn on 1 January 1931, subsequently being transferred to Barr Point at the entrance to Larne Lough. Two lighthouse keepers were accommodated in a wooden hut on less exposed ground to the north-east, as there was no room within the actual tower.

On 9 October 1955, the acetylene lamp was replaced with an electric light monitored from the East Light. The electricity was supplied by batteries located inside the lighthouse, which were recharged by a diesel engine housed in a building some 160 metres north-east of the tower. Following the inception of the National Grid cable from the mainland in 2008, the batteries have been recharged using mains electricity. However, an emergency back-up generator is maintained in a purpose-built standby block near the location of the previous generating station.

Until the recent advent of GPS navigation, the lighthouse was of considerable social and economic importance in safeguarding passenger and cargo ships. The site was demanned in the mid-1900s.

Setting and Associated Structures

Just south-east of the lighthouse is a low concrete platform that originally mounted the fog gun. Concrete floor platforms nearby indicate the positions of the wooden keeper's hut and another hut housing two diesel engines for generating electricity.

A modern single-storey standby block housing a back-up electricity generator stands adjacent to the access track. The building is aligned north-east to south-west with a pitched roof, painted eaves boards, and boxed eaves with no rainwater goods. It has cement-rendered walls, a flat-headed painted tongue-and-groove door to the north-east gable, and a modern one-pane window with shallow concrete cill to the north-west elevation. The south-west gable is blank. A galvanised metal ventilation duct and pipe project from the south-east elevation.

The listing extends to the lighthouse and 29 metal posts on the approach. The structure is of local interest and historical importance, with particular significance as the work of Charles William Scott. It retains industrial archaeological interest and possesses authentic fabric throughout.