Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Although it may seem simplistic, the fast approach of a giant wave sweeping the
three men to their deaths is what many people have alighted on as the most obvious an-
swer.
Theexistence ofgiantsinglewaveswaslongconsideredtobeapartofsealore,with
the sizes of the waves considered to be in direct proportion to the size of the yarn being
spun. Whilst the existence of large waves which are out of the ordinary has never ne-
cessarily been doubted, the problem has always been one of gaining accurate scientific
measurements. There was no shortage of anecdotal evidence by the crews of ships or
lighthouse keepers and other shore-based observers of these waves.
There are many examples of what giant waves have done to ships and lighthouses. It
was regularly noted by light-keepers on Eilean Mor that spray from breaking waves in
stormy weather would reach as high as the lantern, 328ft above sea level. There is an
interesting parallel to the Eilean Mor Lighthouse, some 300 miles to the south-west on
thestormyandwindswept coastofCountyMayo,Ireland.Thelocation andsituation of
the Eagle Island Station was in many ways very similar to the Eilean Mor Lighthouse
in that both were a similar height above the sea, built on rocky islands and faced the
sameAtlanticstormssweepinginfromthewest.OnEagleIslandintheearly1830snot
one but two light towers were built, known as Eagle Island East and Eagle Island West.
Some indication of the size and strength of the North Atlantic storms could be gauged
fromthefactthatduringconstructionofthewesttower,amassivewavehadsweptover
it and carried all the building materials into the sea. At this point the west tower was
onlytwocourseshigh,butthebaseofthetowerstood196ftabovesealevelathightide.
Thewavehadthereforereachedthebestpartof200ftwithstillenoughstrengthtocarry
theseloosebutheavybuildingmaterialscleanawaybackintothesea.Bothtowerswere
constructed 132 yards apart with both lanterns at exactly the same level, 220ft above
sea level although the heights of the towers differed at 64ft for the west tower and 87ft
high for the east tower.
The lights became operational on 29 September 1835 and when both lights were dir-
ectlyinlineofsight(eitherthelightsatnightorthetowersthemselvesindaytime),they
guided vessels past all dangers from Blacksod Bay to Broadhaven. Living quarters for
the lightkeepers and their families were built by both towers and with the knowledge of
what had happened at the west tower when the wave had swept away all the building
materials, a massive sea wall was built around both towers and the living accommoda-
tion of both. Despite the presence of this high wall, which came almost up to the level
of both lanterns, the force of the huge seas still created problems. The lights had only
been operational for less than four months when, during the course of a storm on 17
January 1836, a rock thrown up by the waves shattered one of the panes of glass in the
lightroom of the west tower and extinguished the light. The lightkeepers were able to
