Thanksgiving Dinner at the Galley Head Lighthouse

The great age of the Lighthouse is technically over. Advances in technology mean that even a small fishing boat, even a solo kayaker, today has more navigational power than a huge nineteenth century liner, using the simplest GPS. Gone is the era when a ship needed to come close to land to pinpoint exactly where it was, and when many of these marooned vessels then found themselves on rocks, such as the jagged Stags, just off the coastline of West Cork.

The age may be past, but let’s not forget that there is something so special about a Lighthouse beam. A promise of safety and guidance; and the Light at the Galley Head lighthouse is even more special because its beam travels landward as well as seaward.

The story goes like this: A visiting Turkish Sultan, who was staying at Lord Carbery’s Castle Freke, looked to be a potential donor for the West Cork Railway. In consequence his every wish was catered for, in hope and expectation. So when he admired the Lighthouse and mentioned that it would be nice if the beam shone in his bedroom window at the Castle, well the locals immediately set to, and scraped off the black paint from the glass at the top of the Lighthouse. And from then on – apart from a brief break, that met with such outrage that they had to open it up again – the beam has always shone all over the peninsula.

Nowadays, the castle has become an atmospheric gothic ruin, but the arc of the beam still can be spectacularly witnessed in the restful bedrooms of the Lightkeeper’s cottages, which are available to rent, two self-catering houses managed by the Irish Landmark Trust.

The cottages have been meticulously repaired, with their gorgeous white painted bricks and vertical slate cladding, Bangor blue roof tiles, wooden sash windows. They are overseen by one of the last Lighthouse guardians, Gerald Butler, who has just written a memoir with Patricia Ahern “The Lightkeeper”.

“Epically amazing!” wrote Zoe, the little Australian girl who visited Galley Head in the days before we did. The couple who arrived after us, we heard through the grapevine, got engaged. We, ourselves, cooked up a Thanksgiving Dinner, or better to say Caitlin Ruth, chef at Deasy’s Restaurant, cooked up a Thanksgiving Dinner. There was turkey, pumpkin spoon bread, succotash, wild rice pilaf, pigeon stuffing, pumpkin pie, and more, and more. An epically amazing dinner, shared with good friends, and a reminder of how the discovery of the foods of the New World – turkey; squash; corn; rice – has informed American cooking ever since the Pilgrim Fathers.

Everything that happens in the Lightkeeper’s cottages, from Zoe’s epic adventure, to that betrothal, and to our Thanksgiving dinner, takes place under that beam, which sweeps rhythmically and powerfully, creating an unforgettable atmosphere that seems to bring an extra consciousness to everyday experiences.

So, the second age of the Lighthouse now approaches. As the powerful lamps of many of these houses are exchanged for simpler LEDs, as these beams become no more than an echo of another age, the Lighthouse as tourist venue steps in. There is no better way to enjoy a tradition.

Irish Landmark Trust has a number of Lighthouses as part of its portfolio. www.irishlandmark.com
Gerald Butler’s memoir is published by The Liffey Press