The Stepping Stone to Ireland: Portpatrick and its Lighthouse

The late morning sun was warm as the bus ambled across the moors of Galloway western Scotland. The U.S. Lighthouse Society tour of Scotland was nearing completion, with just two days remaining, as the bus headed down the ‘Dinvin Burn’ toward the small harbor town of Portpatrick. We entered the town from the northeast and drove directly to the harbor and the old lighthouse at the port entrance, which we were about to tour. Reaching the light, we found the former keeper’s house now converted into a small boutique and the lighthouse itself looking rather forlorn next to the tiny, now mostly disused, harbor. A thought crossed my mind as to why a lighthouse had ever been built here, as it looked as though there could never have been more than a few fishing boats that used this port. I became intrigued about the history of Portpatrick and its lighthouse. The following story tells the tale of the stepping stone to Ireland and how it came to be.