Young Storykeeper Volume III

124 | STORYKEEPERS VOLUME III AGE NINE | 125
Eoin Bruzzi
Co Galway
A DREAM COME TRUE
I always had a dream of going up a
lighthouse. Just the thought of walking up
a spiral staircase and standing looking out at
the amazing view would make me shiver with
excitement.
I have collected lighthouses since I was
small and I have about 15 in my collection.
Some I made or painted, some were presents
from people and some I bought for myself. I
just love lighthouses!
Every year when we go on holiday to Inis
Oirr, we walk the rocky roads to the fabulous
lighthouse there. I stand at the base of the
incredible navy and white striped building and
wonder, “Will I ever get up there?” Each year
my granddad Eamonn makes a big effort to
get me up by trying to track down the man
who had the keys. But it never happened…
until last year.
When I got off the boat from Galway last
year, Eamonn called me over and said that
this was the year! He had finally made
contact with the keeper and there was a
plan for us to get up the lighthouse!
The following evening we headed off
like a small army which included myself,
Eamonn, my mam and dad, my two sisters
and one of my cousins. We waited patiently
at the painted red gate for the man to arrive.
Then we saw the lights of his car arriving
over the hill, and I thought with a sudden
rush, “It’s happening!” I was so excited I
couldn’t talk.
The keeper opened the gate we walked
in slowly after him. I ran up the red stairs first
with the others behind me. Then he opened
the door of the lighthouse. I wanted to burst
in through the door, but I walked in with a
big smile on my face and explored, thinking
to myself, “What cooler place could I be in at
the moment?”
We spiralled our way up the stone steps
- there were over 100 of them. When we got
to the top, I saw the bulb and was surprised
at how tiny it was. I looked out at the amazing
view. The sun was going down, which made
it even lovelier. We walked onto the balcony
and heard something. There was a bird’s
nest at the very top and we heard chicks
chirping in it. We looked across the sea to
Clare. We walked around the balcony and
we saw Inis Meain on the other side. It was
a magical moment.
I had spent years dreaming of getting
inside a lighthouse. That evening in Inis Oírr
was even better than I thought it would be.
THE MAGICAL LIGHTHOUSE
One day Pirate Queen Grace O’Malley was
sailing on her ship. A huge storm whipped the
boat violently around the ocean. Eventually
the ship was washed up on Clare Island in
County Mayo.
The Pirate Queen and her crew decided
to live there until they could repair their boat.
However, not all of her crew were good, and
they decided to steal all the gold and silver
from the locals for themselves. When Queen
O’Malley discovered this, she ordered them
to leave Clare Island and never come back.
The people of the island loved Grace
and decided that she would be their queen.
They built her a tower house by the island’s
harbour, known locally as Grace O’Malley
Castle. She fell in love with a local and they
had a family and ruled Clare Island during
the middle ages.
The remains of an ancient Cistercian
Abbey known as St. Brigid’s lie on the
southern side of Clare Island. According to
legend, many of the O’Malley clan are buried
there, even Grace O’Malley herself.
There was a lighthouse on Clare Island
where you could get amazing views of the
sea. After 159 years of service the lighthouse
was decommissioned in 1969.
Have you been to a lighthouse? If you
haven’t, you should try to go.
Do you want some facts about
lighthouses? What about lighthouse
keepers?
Being a lighthouse keeper was not as easy
as it looked. During daylight watch, the
keeper on duty looked out for fog.This was
because during fog patches the watches
were doubled. One keeper operated the
fog signal while the other tended the light.
Each keeper in turn spent the first four hours
operating the fog signal and the next four
hours tending the light. During periods of
prolonged fog, each keeper worked a sixteen
hour day and night! I don’t know about you,
but that seems hard. Anyway, it was called
fog watch.
Clare Island lighthouse is a great way to
relax, it is a lovely walk. Hope to see you
soon, but until then, bye!
Sophie Hunt
Co Dublin
A TRIP TO RATHLIN ISLAND
TO SEE THE EAST AND WEST
LIGHTHOUSES
Chapter 1 The East Lighthouse
It was a sunny day at Rathlin Island. We
were walking for hours in search of the East
Lighthouse. We watched the sun go down.
“We’d better get looking for the lighthouse,”
I said.
Then we spotted a magnificent bright
white light in the distance. It was flashing
on and off like a beacon and it attracted our
attention. After a couple of photographs,
we walked back to our pod, relieved to have
found the lighthouse.
I am sure you are wondering how I got
here. Well we got on a ferry in Ballycastle on
Easter Monday with three other families for
a two-day adventure. I was with my cousin
Isaac on this trip - he was in Primary 3 and I
was in Primary 4.
Chapter 2 The West Lighthouse
We woke up to another bright sunny day.
The waves rolled in over the bay of sand
and pure white stones. We collected some
stones to colour on with pencils and paint
when we got home. Isaac and I were playing
football passes on the grass in front of the
glamping pods, waiting for our parents to
take us on our next lighthouse walk.
The roads were quiet with very few cars
and we were able to walk together on the
road. I was glad of my cousin’s company on
this long walk. We crossed a field to look at
two sea lions lying on the rocks. We didn’t
get too close to frighten them, but it was
amazing to see the sea lions in their natural
habitat. We also saw rams and hares on
the walk which seemed to go on for miles.
We took a rest at a lake, before heading on
further.
Then we saw the lighthouse, painted
dark blue and white across the fields. There
were ruins of stone houses to investigate
around the lighthouse. We even saw some
animal bones. We took some photos of the
lighthouse and around the ruins of the old
stone houses. It was time to head back to
the pods for our barbecue tea.
Chapter 3 The Wee Visitor
While we were toasting marshmallows,
my cousin spotted a wee sausage dog,
called Frank by his tag. He came into the
garden to see us as he could smell the
barbecue. He stayed with us a little while
and then his owner walked by and took him
home. We took photos of him so we could
remember this playful little dog. We took so
many photographs on this trip, each one a
memory of a special island. There are three
lighthouses on Rathlin and we got to visit
two of them.
Chapter 4 The Ferry Home
The next day it was, sadly, time to go home.
We packed up at the pods, boarded the
ferry early on the Wednesday morning and
headed back to Ballycastle. We had a nice
lunch at Portrush before the drive home.
Owen Gillespie
Co Antrim