Green Island Leading Light

Green Island Leading Light guards the approach to Carlingford Lough off the County Down coast in Northern Ireland. It is the rear light of a pair: lined up with the front light on Vidal Bank, it shows ships where the safe channel runs across the bar at the mouth of the lough, which forms part of the border with the Republic of Ireland.

What is a leading light?

Two lights are set one behind the other. When a pilot sees them vertically aligned, the vessel is on the centreline of the deep channel. Green Island is the taller, rear light, and the front light stands on Vidal Bank about 457 metres (500 yards) away. Both are steel lattice towers on screw piles, not the masonry towers with galleries you may picture when you think of lighthouses.

How did it come about?

In 1868 the Carlingford Lough Commissioners deepened the channel and called for two leading lights. The Commissioners of Irish Lights were asked to build them, with costs falling on the Mercantile Marine Fund. Fixed white lights were first shown on 28 February 1873, and the towers were painted red. Oil lamps gave way to unattended acetylene in 1922, then propane in 1967. In August 1999 the lights were converted to solar power and their flash patterns synchronised. The colour changed from red to green, in line with the 1979-81 buoyage system.

What are the details?

The rear light on Green Island sits roughly 13.7 m above high water, and the front light on Vidal Bank about 8.8 m. The attendant at Haulbowline Lighthouse, a short way off on the rocks at the entrance, also looks after them. Haulbowline shows a reserve light if the leading lights fail. The Haulbowline group, including the leading lights, is entered in the Northern Ireland buildings database as Grade B+ (HB16/04/009).

What can you see, and how do you plan a visit?

This is a working navigation aid rather than a ticketed attraction, and there is no way up the tower. You view it from a distance, ideally together with Haulbowline, from the County Down shore around Kilkeel and Cranfield. Bring binoculars or a long lens. The green flashes show best at dusk.

Frequently asked questions

Can you go inside Green Island Leading Light? No. It is an active offshore navigation tower run by Irish Lights, seen from the shore or from a boat.

Why is it needed when Haulbowline is nearby? Haulbowline marks the rocks at the entrance, while the leading lights mark the centreline of the deep channel over the bar. Together they make up the safe approach to Carlingford Lough.

When was it built? The lights were first lit on 28 February 1873, after the channel was deepened in 1868.

What colour is the light? Green today. The first lights were white and the towers were painted red.