Eask Tower
The Eask Tower is a solid stone tower on the top of Carhoo Hill, in County Kerry, Ireland, over-looking Dingle harbour.[1]
Description
Eask Tower was built in 1847 in order to guide the ships and boats into the mouth of the blind harbour. The wooden hand pointing from the Tower, guides the boats to their destination. It is crowned with the 19th century's mariners beacon and a World War II look-out post.[2] This is because the mouth of Dingle Harbour is a "blind" mouth, and this beacon told sailors to let their sails down, enabling them to lose speed and to round the harbour mouth safely.[3]
The Tower is of solid stone. The building of it on Carhoo (Ceathru) hill, 180 metres (600 ft) above sea level, provided work during the Great Famine, at the instigation of Reverend Charles Gayer, Leader of the Protestants, in an attempt to win converts. The tower was originally 8.2 metres (27 ft), but around the year 1900, the old hand was removed and an extra 4.0 metres (13 ft) of stone was added to its height. A new hand was placed, roughly at the beginning of the extension.[4]
The panoramic views seen from Carhoo Hill include a large proportion of the Dingle Peninsula and beyond. For example, the Blasket Islands, Slea Head, Ventry, Dingle Harbour, the Iveragh Peninsula, Skellig Rocks, and two of Ireland's highest mountains - Carrauntoohil and Mount Brandon.
References
- ^ "Eask Tower And Hill - Attractions - Historic Houses and Castles - All Ireland - Republic of Ireland - Kerry - Dingle - Discover Ireland". discoverireland.ie. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- ^ "Dingle Peninsula - Frommer's". frommers.com. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- ^ "Beautiful Irish Places". Archived from the original on 12 August 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2008.
- ^ Signage provided at trailhead of Eask Tower.
52°06′56″N 10°16′52″W / 52.115539°N 10.28124°W
