They called it the tear of Ireland: for many of the millions of Irish who emigrated by ship across the Atlantic to the USA, Fastnet Rock was the last piece of their homeland that they got to see. Its lighthouse was - by day and by night - the symbol of their farewell, often forever.
An almost impossible construction site
The sea area around Fastnet Rock has always been notorious. In the south of Ireland, the deep, open North Atlantic meets the European continental shelf and the comparatively shallow Celtic Sea. Ships were repeatedly lost on the rocky coast. It was necessary to warn seafarers much earlier - and this was only possible from a beacon far off the coast. In 1853, the lonely 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
- Fire height: 49 m
- Identifier: 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 just come to an end. The island's economy was in ruins and offered little future. The promise lay on the other side of the ocean in America - and the only way to get there was across the water.
Many of the ships departed from Queenstown in Ireland, now Cobh, and followed the south coast of County Cork before heading out into the open Atlantic and staying astern - at Fastnet Rock. Almost a million people emigrated between 1851 and 1860 alone.
The first tower on Fastnet Rock lasted 43 years. It was built too weakly. In storms, it vibrated so much that crockery fell off the table. With ships travelling faster and faster, the light intensity was no longer sufficient to give warning in time. Thus began the construction of today's slender granite tower. It took seven years before it could go into operation in 1904.
The most famous turning point in the world
Around two decades later, in 1925, an event brought the tower into the public eye in a different way: it was no longer the sad starting point of a journey, but the longed-for turning point - in the first Fastnet Race.
The regatta, which now takes place 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 has to be rounded, before returning on almost the same course until the finish line is crossed in Cherbourg, France. The Fastnet lighthouse has thus become the most famous turning point in the world. Not everyone who reaches it first is the winner in the end. But even the sighting of the tower is rightly regarded by many as a triumph.
Christian Tiedt
Editor Travel
