Lighthouse gets a 300 litre makeover
THERE are paint jobs and then there is painting a 120ft lighthouse.
This is exactly what a County Wicklow company’s five-man crew took on board when they began painting at the anicent lighthouse last week.
150 litres of white paint and 150 litres of black paint is required to paint the tower white with its black stripes. Also, 30 litres of red undercoat and gloss (for doors gate and railings) is needed.
The job requires five men working full-time on the project with a cradle and cherry picker.
Cathy Dowling of Hook Lighthouse said: ‘In total the painting of Hook Lighthouse will take two weeks. The crew started on Monday last week doing the main body of the tower using a cradle and a cherry picker. This week they will be painting the very top of the tower and tidying up around the edges.’
This job was put out to tender by the Commissioners of Irish Lights and included the painting of up to five other lighthouses around Ireland this year.
An Irish company from Arklow called Bastion Ltd won the contract. Hook Lighthouse is painted more often than any other lighthouse every five years because of the amount of visitors to the area and its prestige. The other lighthouses get painted every seven or eight years and this is all done on a rolling basis. ‘Hook is being painted now because we are too busy during the summer with visitors and it is too cold and wet for paint to stick during the winter months. We have been very lucky with the weather so far this year making the job of painting the lighthouse quick and easy. The tower is 36.3 metres high to the top of the dome. The monastery and the stairwell will be painted during November giving the inside a bit of makeover too.’