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Metal Man, Rosses Point

A freestanding, stone navigation beacon, erected 1821. Circular plan. Painted cast-iron statue of Royal Navy petty officer pointing on battered painted coursed ashlar limestone podium with moulded torus roll cut stone string course. Navigation light mounted to front of pedestal. Painted cast-iron access ladder set into channel formed in podium. Situated on Perch Rock between Rosses Point and Oyster Island.
This figurative navigation beacon, cast in 1819 by Thomas Kirke in London, forms an important element of the maritime history of County Sligo. The sturdy construction of the podium attests to the high quality of the stone masonry while the cast-iron statue raises the interest of the beacon above the ordinary.