Malin Head

Today's the day .................... for the Shipping Forecast

'Sea state moderate to rough . . . . ' is the sort of thing you might hear on the ship's radio associated with Malin Head - which is where we were today.

For over 200 years, Malin Head's location as the most northerly point on the mainland of Ireland, has given it a vital role in communications.  There's a watchtower built in 1805 by the British to warn of any possible French invasion during the Napoleonic Wars.  This was used later by the Insurance company, Lloyds of London, to contact ships offshore - at first by signals and semaphore - and then after 1902 by wireless, set up by the Marconi Wireless Co.

As you can see, the visibility wasn't all that great today - but you still felt you were at the end of the world.   There's certainly nothing between here and America and so it would have been the last sight of Ireland for emigrants in the 1800s, as they sailed from Derry or Moville to a new life across the Atlantic . . . . . . .