Tuskar Rock, Ireland

This article is about Tuskar Rock in Ireland. For other uses, see Tuskar Rock.
Tuskar Rock Lighthouse
An Tuscar

Tuskar Rock
Location County Wexford
Coordinates 52°12.175′N 6°12.445′W / 52.202917°N 6.207417°W / 52.202917; -6.207417Coordinates: 52°12.175′N 6°12.445′W / 52.202917°N 6.207417°W / 52.202917; -6.207417
Year first constructed 1812–1815
Year first lit 1815
Automated 31 March 1993
Construction granite tower
Tower shape cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern
Markings / pattern white tower and lantern, red lantern rail
Height 34 metres (112 ft)
Focal height 33 metres (108 ft)
Original lens Catoptric light
Current lens Chance Brothers 500mm annular lens
Intensity 1 kilowatt lamp
Range 24 nmi (44 km)
Characteristic Q (2) W 7.5s
Admiralty number A5838
NGA number 6540
ARLHS number IRE-076
Ireland number

CIL-0470[1]

[2]

Tuskar Rock (Irish: An Tuscar)[3] is a group of rocks topped by a lighthouse 11 kilometres off the southeast coast of County Wexford, Ireland. It has probably destroyed more ships than any other Irish coastal feature.[4][5] One hundred and seventy-six wrecks are listed for the Tuskar Rock area at Irish Wrecks Online.[6]

It is mentioned in the Irish ballad Tales of Loch Achray as the place where the clipper Loch Achray dropped her tug, before sailing to the South Atlantic where she was wrecked off the River Plate.

The Tuskar Rock lighthouse, built from granite and standing 120 feet (37 metres) tall, was built over a period of years beginning in 1812. In October of that year, a storm struck, washing away temporary barracks which had been erected on the island, and killing fourteen workmen—the worst such disaster in Ireland's history of lighthouse construction.[7] The surviving workers clung to the island's slippery rocks for two full days before being discovered and rescued.[7] Work resumed, and the lighthouse was completed, entering into operation on 4 June 1815.[7]

The Tuskar Rock air disaster occurred near the rock on 24 March 1968 when Aer Lingus flight 712, en route from Cork to London, crashed into the sea with the loss of all 61 people on board.

Demographics

Historical population
YearPop.±%
18414—    
18517+75.0%
18612−71.4%
18716+200.0%
188116+166.7%
18913−81.2%
19013+0.0%
19114+33.3%
YearPop.±%
19263−25.0%
19363+0.0%
19463+0.0%
19516+100.0%
19563−50.0%
19616+100.0%
19663−50.0%
19713+0.0%
YearPop.±%
19793+0.0%
19813+0.0%
19863+0.0%
19915+66.7%
19960−100.0%
20020+nan%
20060+nan%
Source: Central Statistics Office. "CNA17: Population by Off Shore Island, Sex and Year". irishislands.info. Retrieved October 12, 2016. 

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lighthouses Durectory
  2. ↑ Tuskar Rock Lighthouse Commissioners of Irish Lights
  3. ↑ Tuskar Rock. Irish Placenames Database. Retrieved: 2010-10-22.
  4. ↑ Tuskar Rock. Commissioners for Irish Lights. Retrieved: 2010-10-22.
  5. ↑ Tuskar Rock. Commissioners for Irish Lights, 1997. Retrieved: 2010-10-22.
  6. ↑ Tuskar Rock. irishwrecksonline.net. Retrieved: 2010-10-23.
  7. 1 2 3 Irish Lighthouses, by Sharma Krauskopf, page 15, 2001.
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