A personally photographed collection of postcards
by
John Eagle
who lives in South West of Ireland
'The postcard collection is worth every penny' Lorna Siggins, Irish Times
'Eagle's photography is so precise you can almost hear the pounding surf' Jennifer Henderson, Postcard Collector magazine
'Eagle eye for picture perfect way to make an impression' Alannah Hopkin, Examiner (Cork)
'A HARSH beam of light that flooded into John Eagle's bedroom in the
middle of the night eleven years ago changed his life forever.' Brenda O'Neill, The Irish People
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EAGLE'S-EYE VIEW: photographer completes his collection of Irish lighthouses
by Lorna Siggins, Marine Correspondent of The Irish Times August 2nd 2004

A West Cork based photographer has achieved his ambition of capturing all of Ireland's lighthouses on film. Shots taken by John Eagle of the Maidens lighthouse off the Antrim coast last week marked the conclusion of a project lasting over a decade. Weather and budgetary factors determined the length of time to capture all the lights and beacons around the 2,700 mile coastline, mostly from the air.

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The following was in the Irish Times Saturday Magazine Feb 2004

Blackhead, Co. Antrim

(this picture and the one of the Fastnet below appeared with the article in the Irish Times magazine)

Last of the Lights
John Eagle set out to photograph everyone of Ireland's lighthouses,
and - 10 years on - has just six left to capture,

writes Lorna Siggins Irish Times Marine Correspondent.

Irish Times colour magazine Sat 7th Feb 2004

John Eagle would not call it an obsession it is more of a love affair. Fishguard Pier in Wales captured his heart, and the first time he saw Roche's Point marking Cork harbour, he knew that he was smitten. "The magic of the sweeping light," is how he describes it. "Coming from an inland town, there was so much excitement in the sea," he says, and lighthouses encapsulated all that...

Fastnet lighthouse celebrating 100 years 1904 to 2004
available as a special limited edition print click here
It is ten years since the photographer and artist embarked on a mission to capture this coastline's principle "navigational aids" - as the Commissioners of Irish Lights describes the chain around this 2,700 mile coastline. Based in West Cork, Eagle is now within months of reaching his target, though much depends on fickle weather. "I have just six to do, all of them on the north-east or north coast," he confirms.
Among his collection of 90 recorded to date, and reproduced as postcards, are some smaller lights, whichare owned by local authorities, in particularly spectacular locations. But then they are all spectacular from a distance of several hundred feet, be it the Mizen, the dramatic Fastnet rock off the south-west, the Metal Man in Sligo bay, or Slyne Head, north of Galway.
Eagle's images on postcards and on prints sell all over the World. He has written one book, and his rolemodels are French maritime photographers Philip Plisson and Jean Guichard. His workhas appeared in international publications, with his stunning image of Baily lighthouse in Howth reproduced over two pages in Lighthouses Around the World: A Pictorial History.
Unlike his European colleagues, Eagle works on a minimal budget. "I often think that if I had been born rich, I would never have hadhalf the fun," Eagle says. "I would have just hired myself a helicopter and done the whole lot in a few weeks, weather permitting. Whereas this way, I had to rely on a lot of help, and I have met some wonderful people, including lightkeepers during their last days before automation."
Eagle has two partners in the project - pilots with Irish Helicopters - Capt. Mick Conneely and Capt. Mick Hennessy, who have spent years servicing lighthouses for the Commissioners of Irish Lights. Local boat owners have also helped out where shots were best taken at sea level. Gerry Donnelly of Shannon Estuary Ports helped him shoot Beeves Rock; the late Dr. Tom McCarrick, owner of a catamaran, Image, in Sligo, transported him to Blackrock lighthouse, and John Johnston, sea angling charter skipper on Achill, whose "skill steadied the boat" while Eagle focused on the elusive Achillbeg.
A commitment to perfection, and detail, is in his blood - his mother, Dorothy Eagle, was an editor for versions of The Oxford Illustrated Dictionary, The Oxford Companion to English Literature, The Oxford Literary Guide to Britain and Ireland.
Eagle was born and reared in Oxford, and studied photography. World series motorcars travelling at speeds of 200 miles per hour were his early subjects, but he "gave it all up" in the 1980s after a trip to Hawaii. "I put the camera down and didn't touch it for six years, and went to work as a forklift driver in a factory in Unipart in North Oxford. It gave me the money to travel, but I hated the work and I began writing during that time as a form of escapism."
His brother, Martin, was involved in a road accident, and circumstances led to his mother buying a house in Eyeries in West Cork. "I came over to stay with her, and liked it so much that I decided to live here in 1991, after I took redundancy from the factory. But then I found I was too happy to write novels, and so I began taking photosand writing articles for Sean Dunne at The West Cork News."
Eagle was forced to make a choice between photography and journalism, and chose the former. "I was on the dole, though, and someone suggested doing postcards." He soon discovered the was "no money in it", but by this stage, he had thought of doing lighthouses. A meeting in Causkey's Pub in Eyeries with Barney Whelan, then working with the ESB fish-farming subsidiary, Salmara, led to some sponsorship and the first lighthouse images.
"I produced 12 cards, each with the Salmara logo on it," Eagle said. He drew a blank when he tried to persuade shops in Bantry, Kinsale and Skibbereen to take them on, but found instant success in Baltimore and Crookhaven with his Fastnet image. "If it hadn't been for Barney Whelan, the project would never have taken off - literally."
Eagle has relied on two cameras, a Mamiya 7 and a Canon EOS 3, for his work. Precise about quality in reproduction, he has found at times that his costs exceed his income. However, the Commissioners of Irish Lights have proved to be very supportive, as has Sue Hill of Heron's Cove Guesthouse and Restaurant in Goleen, the initiator of the Mizen Head visitors' centre. The Irish Landmark Trust, which has acquired unused lighthouse buildings, also commissioned work from him. And the Internet gave him an international audience for his postcard collections.
Flying in helicopters has been part of the thrill, he admits. "I love it. I remember travelling from Fastnet to Bull Rock in one hit and thinking this is the life. then I remember my first flight with Mick Hennessy over Tuskar, and he told me I could open the door. 'What?' I roared, because I never opened the door with Mick Conneely. 'But you can't take pictures through those windows,' Hennessy said. We were only about 100 feet up, the waves were crashing over the rocks below, and I was never so scared in all my life!"
The only two titles in his Irish Lighthouse postcard series that sold consistently, he says, are the Fastnet, which has just marked its centenary, and the Mizen. He also too a picture of his dog, Quisha, on the hills of the Beara peninsula and it sold 11,000 copies.
Eagle also paints in oils, and finds it gives him freedom that photography does not. "I do seascapes and landscapes, and no lighthouses at all."
Three lighthouses on Rathlin Island off the north-east coast; Inishtrahull off Donegal; the Mew and Maidens off Blackhead, north Antrim; and Hawbouline on Carlingford Lough, Co. Louth, still elude him. "David Bedlow of Irish Lights has indicated that there is a possibility of flying in March, and I may be able to capture a few of them on that run, but you can never tell with the weather."
It is a salutary reminder of the hazardous nature of lighthouse relief and the fact that the helicopter pilots do one of the most hazardous flying jobs in Europe. "We flew out to Rathlin O'Birne, off Donegal, two years ago and it had been a lovely day before, and a lovely day after. But we ended up in thick mist and I think we may have been lucky to get back..."
John Eagle's Lighthouse collection of prints and postcards is available directly from:
John Eagle Photography, Eyeries, Beara, Co. Cork
027-74275
or at: www.JohnEaglephotography.com

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What's in the Mail
The first of many written by Jennifer Henderson
Jennifer Henderson writing for Postcard Collector magazine October 1995
Dramatic Irish lighthouse postcards are available for $18.00 USD (airmail postage paid) from photographer John Eagle. This 25-card series features such lighthouses as Loop Head, Calf Rock, Fastnet, and the Baily. Shown here is an aerial of the Bull Rock light in County Cork; Eagle's photography is so precise that you can almost hear the pounding surf. He offers other cards, too, such as Mare's Tail (the highest waterfall in Ireland), Dursey Island, the North Engine copper mines, and his Beara Stones series. To order the lighthouse cards or request his sales sheet write: John Eagle Photography, Derryvore, Eyeries, Beara, Co. Cork, Ireland
(Note: since the above article was written the number of cards in the series has increased to 86 and the postcard list is available on this site at: Irish Lighthouse Cards ) I wish to express my gratitude to Jennifer Henderson for her continued support in writing me up almost every year in Postcard Collector since the above article was published. The card of the Bull Rock that was featured in her piece was of no:8.
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Happy Trails in idyllic part of Ireland

I recently returned from a 17 day tour of Ireland and spent a couple of days on the Beara Peninsula. Kenneth Rosenberg described it beautifully in "Rolling through Ireland" (April 6th) though I find there are not enough words to describe the rugged beauty and tranquility in this special area in Ireland's southwest. As it did for Rosenberg, the local farmer's collie also escorted us to the Ogham Stone in Ballycrovane. We were privileged to spend a day with one of Ireland's great photographers, the transplanted Englishman John Eagle, who also served us a spot of tea and lunch in front of a roaring bog fire in his tradtional Irish stone cottage. His photography studio next door was a treat, and we saw his series of Irish lighthouses. Other places of interest in the area are the lovely fishing village of Goleen and the ligthhouse at Mizen Head. I would definitely return to this idyllic part of Ireland - maybe even on two wheels next time.

Terri A. McCormick writing in the LA Times

Agoura Hills

Eagle's eye view of
Irish lighthouses
by Lorna Siggins of The Irish Times November 1999

John Eagle used to photograph world series motorcars, travelling at an average speed of 200 miles an hour. When he switched, he did so in style - focusing his lens on immobile pieces of architecture along Ireland's 2,700mile coastline.
Tarbert on the Shannon estuary, Beeves rock near Foynes, and Eeragh, near Kilronan on the Aran islands, are some of the 50 structures captured by him with the help of two helicopter pilots over the last few years.
"That's the beauty of lighthouses. They don't move, and you can come back again and again and again," John said last week, when he spoke at a function in the National Maritime Museum to mark publication of his illustrated record.
The 50-odd were selected by him from a chain of 87, and many of them were built in the most inaccessible locations.
Thanks to Capt. Mick Conneely and Capt. Mick Hennessy of Irish Helicopters, he was able to go where many photographers had not gone before - barring those employed by the Commissioners of Irish Lights. Some can be reached by foot and he includes these details in his guide.
John's journey dates back to 1994, when he received support from Barney Whelan of Salmara, the former ESB fish farming division, to publish his images as postcards. The postcard collection of some 100 lights, extending covering the whole country of Ireland is worth every penny at €50 a set plus postage.
Speaking at the launch, RTÉ's marine correspondent, Tom MacSweeney, expressed regret that the interest and dedication shown by John Eagle had not been reciprocated in terms of a continuing commitment to a human presence on our lighthouses. An Eagle's View of Irish Lighthouses, is published by Peter Williams Associates, the Welsh based company which produces the bi-monthly for lighthouse devotees, Leading Lights.
Copies at €15 paperback in bookshops, or direct from John Eagle Photography at €17 to include postage.

He will sign the books if asked.
John Eagle Photography, Eyeries, Beara, Co. Cork, Ireland.
(027) 74275 www.JohnEaglePhotography.com