The End of the Foghorn

[C. Flower]

RTE is reporting that today is the last day that the mournful but life-saving sound of the fog horns will be heard in Ireland.

GPS systems have made them redundant. :(

I'll see if I can find a recording somewhere.

Here's the Dun Laoughaire fog horn. http://audioboo.fm/boos/243757-the-death-of-the-fog-horn-in-ireland?related=true

[Edo]

Great interview with yer man "Tux" Tweedy down at the Hook Head Lighthouse:

Was having tea with the Da watching the piece on the 6.01 news when "Tux" came out with that immortal line ,with the straightest of faces, that the foghorn was so loud that on occasion it would kill his mothers chickens a mile and half away!!!:D

The auld lad was on the ground in the hysterics on the verge of needing medical attention after that one! - and I wasnt far behind him!

You can see where the Father Ted writers got most of their material........we're a funny bunch!

[Captain Con O'Sullivan]

Yerrah why can't RTE just turn up the Sacred Six O'Clock Bongs of Montrose if the GPS systems go down.

A use for them at last....

[C. Flower]

Here's the RTE radio report from this morning -

http://www.rte.ie/news/morningireland/player.html?20110111,2883717,2883717,flash,257


http://audioboo.fm/boos/243757-the-death-of-the-fog-horn-in-ireland?related=true

Bernie Goldbach has a nice little blog post on it -

http://www.insideview.ie/irisheyes/2011/01/last-day-for-irish-foghorns.html



Last Day for Irish Foghorns


http://www.insideview.ie/.a/6a00d83451945169e20147e176b1e8970b-120wi (http://www.insideview.ie/.a/6a00d83451945169e20147e176b1e8970b-pi)TODAY, IRISH COASTLINES become quieter places because the last foghorns are shut down right around the island. Low notes resonate well beyond the shoreline in many countries just as low notes carry across the landscape when blown by marauding warriors. By listening to different fog signals, I've developed a subtle appreciation of the electric-powered foghorns and the compressed air low-frequency diphone sound that comes from trumpets. You can't actually fix your position by fog signals but on-board ship radar can pick out the abutments surrounding the foghorn's installation.
Foghorns (http://www.insideview.ie/files/foghorns.mp3)

[5intheface]

Yerrah why can't RTE just turn up the Sacred Six O'Clock Bongs of Montrose if the GPS systems go down.

A use for them at last....

Hey don't knock Los Angelus, it used to get us out of school work five minutes early every day in P7.

Did I just say Knock? Ain't that spooky?

[Ah Well]

Remember well the sound of 'em when down around the South coast ...

Ah .... another thing consigned to memory .... :)

[C. Flower]

Hey don't knock Los Angelus, it used to get us out of school work five minutes early every day in P7.

Did I just say Knock? Ain't that spooky?


A haunting sound...

[wickedfairy]

thank you Cactus for the link. I will miss it so much, yes haunting and gloomy of course, but that is part of the auld Irish psyche, maybe because we are fishermen and exporters of young people, Heard it so clearly before Christmas during the snow. Going out in a boat now, it will be very silent, many fisherman depend on their sense of hearing. Why close it down, is it expensive to run? Are there constant complaints from people close to shore, just curious, would love to know.