The Fastnet Lighthouse
The Fastnet Lighthouse sticks up out of the Atlantic like a
finger pointing at the heavens and marks Ireland's most southerly
point. The Fastnet is the tallest and widest lighthouse in Ireland or Great Britain. It's also known as the teardrop of Ireland, being the
last piece of the country emigrants saw as they sailed for a
new life in America. The Irish name, Carraig Aonar (the lonely
rock) well describes it: it is situated four and a half miles
from Cape Clear and twelve from Baltimore.
The first lighthouse to be built there was finished in 1854
and made of cast iron, but by 1865 the fierce Atlantic waves
had swept away part of the rock upon which it was built and
it seemed that the tower would not stand up to the weather.
In 1896 granite blocks were shipped in from Cornwall to build
a new one. This was not completed and in working order until
1906. The foreman in charge of its construction, James Cavanagh,
sometimes stayed for a year at a time!
Local folklore relates how a giant picked up the rock which
is now the Fastnet from Mount Gabriel near Ballydehob and
hurled it into the sea. However it got there, the Fastnet
is invaluable as a mark for large ships following Atlantic
routes, and it is also useful to locals who judge what the
weather is about to do by checking on the rock's visibility.
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