One of the features of our shore-line display is our 4m (14 feet) high scale model of the famous Mutton Island Lighthouse. Our model sits proudly at the head of our Touch Pool display guarding the rocky pools; similar to the real version’s role as a warning to sailors of the hazardous rocks which litter the northern entrance to Galway’s Harbour.

The real Mutton Island Lighthouse was built in 1817 and was served by a permanent light-house keeper for 141 years. It was eventually automated in 1958, when a sun-valve was installed which turned the light on at dusk and off at dawn.

The Light House was decommissioned in 1977.

It still stands as a landmark of a time gone by, and is now the focal point of the new Mutton Island sewage works, which handles most of the raw household sewage of Galway Bay : certainly an improvement from when the sewage was pumped directly into the bay, and even the Claddagh!