Wild and windswept, rugged and remote, Fanad Head is home to one of the northernmost lighthouses on the mainland coast of Ireland. Standing between Lough Swilly and Mulroy Bay, Fanad Head has been called one of the most beautiful lighthouses in the world. First lit in1817, the light shows red to the sea and white towards the Lough, and can be seen for 14 miles. Improvements were made in 1886 raising it to its current height of 72 feet. The light was not fully automated until the last Keeper retired in 1983.
The lighthouse sits out on top of its own rocky promontory.
A narrow windy road leads to Fanad Lighthouse, or as it's called in Irish, Teach Solais Fhanada, the last stop before the north Atlantic.
A grass covered promontory to the west provides a nice vantage point for side profiles of the lighthouse.
Our visit to Fanad was shrouded in clouds and misty rain.
An IPhone panoramic image of the rocky shorelines at Fanad Head.
There was a small pack of burros in a field down the road from the lighthouse property. These beautiful animals had so much character!
The rolling countryside at Fanad Head is remote, rural, and beautiful.
This burro was enjoying some dried grass on top of the rock wall separating the field from the road.
