The lighthouse

Strumble Head Lighthouse stands imposingly on Ynysmeicl (St. Michael's Island), an islet to the west of Fishguard, separated from the mainland by a very narrow gap through which the sea boils and froths in stormy weather.

The station was built in 1908 by Trinity House for the greater safety of sea traffic between Ireland and the new Fishguard Harbour which is located behind cliffs and a breakwater three miles to the east. The new light also formed a link with the existing South Bishop light, 18 miles to the south-west. This stretch of coast is very dangerous, and some 60 vessels are known to have been lost along it in the 19th Century alone.