Described as an "elegant, tapering stone tower"[2] it is located at the entrance to Carlingford Lough, near Cranfield Point in County Down, Northern Ireland.

[3][4] Completed in 1824, the lighthouse was designed by George Halpin following complaints made to the Ballast Board, the predecessor organisation of the Commissioners of Irish Lights that the existing shore-based Cranfield Point Lighthouse was inadequate in marking both the channel and the treacherous rocks at the lough entrance, many of which were only revealed at low tide.

The poorly positioned light at Cranfield Point, had also been built too close to the eroding coastline, and in 1860 it finally succumbed to the sea, and collapsed onto the beach.

[3] Construction of the 34-metre-high (112 ft) stone tower has been described as "a remarkable achievement at the time", given the location "on a semi-submerged rock with fast currents running around it".

[4] Marking the narrow channel within Carlingford Lough near Haulbowline are the leading lights of Green Island and Vidal Bank.