The Tower

The Tower

On the most northerly tip of the island of Ireland, you will find a tower that was built in 1805 during the Napoleonic wars as a lookout tower to defend against any attacks by the French.

In 1870 the tower became a signal tower for Lloyds of London where semaphore was used to connect with ships at sea and the lighthouse on Inishtrahull.

In 1902 the first commercial wireless message was sent from Malin Head to the S.S.Lake Ontario by the Marconi Company.

During the Second World War, the Irish army built lookout posts to prevent any violation of Ireland’s neutrality. There is also an EIRE 80 sign built of stones during the war so aircraft would know that they were over Ireland.

Some scenes from the film Star Wars: The Last Jedi film was shot at Malin Head and it is possible to have a tour of the locations used for the film from local tour guides. The road leading up to Bamba’s Crown has been renamed locally from the R242 to the R2D2 in recognition of the star wars connection.

Also beside the tower, there is a short lovely refreshing walk along the cliffs to Hell’s Hole. Quite often there is a mobile coffee shop at Banba’s Crown for visitors to have a little refreshment to warm you up.

Close by you have the most northerly shop in Ireland in The Curiosity Shop with all its quaint brik-a-brac. For more information about the tower click here