Saint-Irénée is situated on the north shore of St. Lawrence, roughly midway between Quebec City and the mouth of Saguenay River. In 1901, a light was established on the wharf at Saint-Irénée as noted in the Annual Report of the Department of Marine for that year:

Ste. Irénée – A light was put in operation on July 10, 1901, on the outer end of the government wharf here, in the county of Charlevoix, on the north shore of the River St. Lawrence below Quebec.

The light is a fixed light, showing red to the eastward or down stream, and white to the southward and westward. It is elevated 32 feet above highwater mark, and should be visible seven miles. The illuminating apparatus consists of a small pressed glass lens.

The light is shown from a small square lantern, built on the apex of the roof of the freight shed, on the outer end of the wharf. The freight shed is a wooden building painted drab, with a brown roof. The height, from the deck of the wharf to the ventilator on the lantern, is 31 feet.

The lantern was completed and the light installed by Mr. Ed Gauthier of Ste. Irénée, at a cost of $89.27.

George Bouchard was hired as the first keeper of the light at an annual salary of $40. In 1907, Keeper Bouchard was given a hand-operated foghorn, which he was required to sound in response to vessels in the vicinity. By 1911, the wharf light at Saint-Irénée had been electrified and the Electric Company was subsequently listed as the keeper. A 1946 Light List notes that the light atop the freight shed had been destroyed and that a provisional fixed white light was being shown from a pole 84 feet from the outer end of the pier at Saint-Irénée. A mast, with a small shed at its based, was soon placed on the pier to exhibit a light, and this remained in operation through at least 1960. Today, there is no navigational light on the pier at Saint-Irénée.

Keepers: George Bouchard (1901 – 1907).

References

1. Annual Report of the Department of Marine and Fisheries, various years.

No navigational light exists at this location today.

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