Tuskar Rock, Ireland

Tuskar Rock (Irish: An Tuscar)[3] is a group of rocks topped by a lighthouse 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) 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]

Tuskar Rock Lighthouse
An Tuscar

Tuskar Rock
Location	County Wexford
Coordinates	52°12.175′N 6°12.445′W
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
Tower height	34 metres (112 ft)
Focal height	33 metres (108 ft)
Original lens	Catoptric light
Current lens	Chance Brothers 500-millimetre (20-inch) 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]

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 that 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.

The name Tuskar rock has no foundation in the Irish language but actually came from the Vikings. It is one of many Viking place names found in the south of Wexford and means simply large (tu) rock (skar) in Old Norse.[8]

Demographics

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1841 4 —     1851 7 +75.0% 1861 2 −71.4% 1871 6 +200.0% 1881 16 +166.7% 1891 3 −81.2% 1901 3 +0.0% 1911 4 +33.3% 1926 3 −25.0% 1936 3 +0.0% 1946 3 +0.0% 1951 6 +100.0%	Year Pop. ±% 1956 3 −50.0% 1961 6 +100.0% 1966 3 −50.0% 1971 3 +0.0% 1979 3 +0.0% 1981 3 +0.0% 1986 3 +0.0% 1991 5 +66.7% 1996 0 −100.0% 2002 0 0.00% 2006 0 0.00%
Source: Central Statistics Office. "CNA17: Population by Off Shore Island, Sex and Year". irishislands.info. Retrieved 12 October 2016.

See also

• List of islands of Ireland
• List of lighthouses in Ireland
• Coastal landforms of Ireland
• Commissioners of Irish Lights

References

1. Lighthouses Directory
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. Krauskopf, Sharma (2001) Irish Lighthouses; p.15.
8. Billy Colfer (2004) The Hook Peninsula: County Wexford p30 Cork University Press ISBN 9781859183786