Loophead lighthouse

© photo : Mathieu Morverand

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Loop Head Lighthouse station is the major landmark on the northern shore of the Shannon River. The present tower was designed by George Halpin in 1854. The distintive characture of the light, twenty seconds of light followed by four dark, was achieved by rotating a screen around the lamp. This operation was manually "wound up", and not replaced by electric until 1971. The station was officially fully automated twenty years later. There has been a lighthouse at this important navigational location since around 1670.