Hook Head
Encyclopedia
Headlands and bays
Headlands and bays are two related features of the coastal environment.- Geology and geography :Headlands and bays are often found on the same coastline. A bay is surrounded by land on three sides, whereas a headland is surrounded by water on three sides. Headlands are characterized by high,...
in County Wexford
County Wexford
County Wexford is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Wexford. In pre-Norman times it was part of the Kingdom of Uí Cheinnselaig, whose capital was at Ferns. Wexford County Council is the local...
, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
located on the east side of the estuary of the three sisters rivers (the Nore
River Nore
The River Nore is a long river located in south-east of Ireland. Along with the River Suir and River Barrow, it is one of the constituent rivers of the group known as the Three Sisters. The river drains approximately of Leinster. The river rises in the Devil's Bit Mountain, North Tipperary...
, Suir and the Barrow
River Barrow
The Barrow is a river in Ireland. It is one of The Three Sisters; the other two being the River Suir and the River Nore. The Barrow is the longest and most prominent of the three rivers...
). It is part of the Hook peninsula
Hook Peninsula
The Hook Peninsula is a peninsula in County Wexford, Ireland. It has been a gateway to south-east Ireland for successive waves of newcomers, including the Vikings, Anglo-Normans and the English....
and is adjacent to the historic townland of Loftus Hall
Loftus Hall
Loftus Hall is a large mansion house on the Hook peninsula, County Wexford, Ireland that is said to have been haunted both by the devil and by the ghost of a young woman....
. It is situated on the R734
Roads in Ireland
The island of Ireland, comprising Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, has an extensive network of tens of thousands of kilometres of public roads, usually surfaced. These roads have been developed and modernised over centuries, from trackways suitable only for walkers and horses, to...
, 50 km (31 mi) from Wexford town.
Hook Head is said to have found its way into common English usage in the saying "By Hook or by Crook." It's claimed that the phrase is derived from attempts to take Waterford
Waterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...
by Hook (on the east side of the harbour) or by Crook (a village on the west side of the harbour) by Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
.
Lighthouse
This area is renowned as the location of Hook LighthouseHook Lighthouse
The Hook Lighthouse is a building situated at the tip of the Hook Peninsula in County Wexford, in Ireland. It is one of the oldest lighthouses in the world, and the oldest operating lighthouse in the British Isles...
. Hook Head is the oldest lighthouse in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, and one of the oldest in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
still operating. In the 5th century St Dubhán
Dubhán
Dubhán was the founder of the church of Killooaun or Cill Dhubháin , Ballymacward, County Galway. All that now exists of the church are ruins, but it was once the centre of a medieval vicarage...
set up a fire beacon on the headland as a warning to mariners. After his death his monks kept the beacon going for another 600 years. Between 1170 and 1184 the Normans built the present lighthouse. It was built from local limestone and burned lime mixed with ox’s blood. Even today traces of the blood-lime mix can be seen coming through the paintwork. The walls are 9 to 13 feet thick and 80 feet above the ground. In 1665 King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
granted letters patent to Sir Robert Reading to erect six lighthouses on the coast of Ireland, one of which was at Hook Head on the site of the older lighthouse, the others being at Howth
Howth
Howth is an area in Fingal County near Dublin city in Ireland. Originally just a small fishing village, Howth with its surrounding rural district is now a busy suburb of Dublin, with a mix of dense residential development and wild hillside, all on the peninsula of Howth Head. The only...
, one to mark the land, the other to lead over the bar; the Old Head of Kinsale
Old Head of Kinsale
The Old Head of Kinsale, is a headland near Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland. An early lighthouse was established here in the 17th century by Robert Reading...
, Barry Oge's castle (now Charlesfort, near Kinsale
Kinsale
Kinsale is a town in County Cork, Ireland. Located some 25 km south of Cork City on the coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon and has a population of 2,257 which increases substantially during the summer months when the tourist season is at its peak and...
), and the Isle of Magee.
Notable events
On Wednesday the 10th of October 2007 it had been reported that significant amount of oil has been found off the coast of Hook head, in the north Celtic SeaCeltic Sea
The Celtic Sea is the area of the Atlantic Ocean off the south coast of Ireland bounded to the east by Saint George's Channel; other limits include the Bristol Channel, the English Channel, and the Bay of Biscay, as well as adjacent portions of Wales, Cornwall, Devon, and Brittany...
. An Irish company, Providence Resources have drilled test holes and are said to have discovered good quality oil.