They called it the ‘Tear of Ireland’: for many of the millions of Irish people who emigrated to the USA by ship across the Atlantic, Fastnet Rock was the last glimpse they ever had of their homeland. Its lighthouse was – day and night – the symbol of their farewell, often forever.
An almost impossible building site
The waters around Fastnet Rock have always been notorious. Off the southern coast of Ireland, the deep, open North Atlantic meets the European continental shelf and the comparatively shallow Celtic Sea. Time and again, ships were lost off the rocky coast. It was necessary to warn seafarers much earlier – and this could only be done from a beacon situated far out to sea. In 1853, the isolated granite pillar was chosen as the site – an almost impossible construction site.
- Name: Fastnet Lighthouse, Ireland
- Location: Celtic Sea, North Atlantic
- Position: 51°23′16.0″N, 009°36′11.0″W
- Tower height: 54 m
- Flame height: 49 m
- Reference: Fl W. 5s
At Fastnet, the land remained astern
On 1 January 1854, the first light was lit at the top of the cast-iron tower – just in time. The Great Famine in Ireland had only just come to an end. The island’s economy was in tatters and offered little hope for the future. The promise lay on the other side of the ocean in America – and the only way there was across the water.
Here you will find even more special lighthouses.
Many of the ships set sail from Queenstown in Ireland – now known as Cobh – and followed the south coast of County Cork before heading out onto the open Atlantic, leaving the land behind them at Fastnet Rock. Between 1851 and 1860 alone, nearly a million people emigrated.
The first lighthouse on Fastnet Rock lasted 43 years. It had been built too flimsily. During storms, it vibrated so violently that crockery fell off the table. Moreover, with ships travelling ever faster, the light’s intensity was no longer sufficient to provide a warning in good time. So work began on the current, slender granite tower. It took seven years before it could be put into service in 1904.
The world’s most famous turning point
Some two decades later, in 1925, an event brought the tower to the public’s attention in a different way: it was no longer the sombre starting point of a journey, but a long-awaited turning point – during the first Fastnet Race.
The regatta, which is now held every two years, traditionally starts in Cowes on the Isle of Wight in the south of England, passes Cornwall, then sets course for Fastnet Rock, which must be rounded, before heading back on almost the same course until the finish line in Cherbourg, France, is crossed. The Fastnet Lighthouse has thus become the world’s most famous turning mark. Not everyone who reaches it first goes on to be the winner. But for many, simply sighting the lighthouse is rightly regarded as a triumph.
Here you will find even more special lighthouses.
Christian Tiedt
Editor Travel
