![]() Mediaeval references dating from 1245 show how the chaplains of Saint Saviour of Rindeaun, or Hook Church at Churchtown, were urged to maintain the lighthouse. The thickness of the wall contains a number of mural chambers (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019) The monks lit warning fires and beacons all through the years to warn sailors of the dangerous rocks on the peninsula. For centuries, the light was provided by a coal-fire beacon. They became the first light-keepers and may have helped to build tower. The small group of monks at Hook Church at Churchtown nearby were the first custodians of the light. ![]() ![]() He probably built the tower of Hook in 1210-1230 as a landmark and light tower to guide shipping to his port at New Ross.Įxhibits in the lighthouse suggest Marshal was inspired by the Pharos or Great Lighthouse at Alexandria and the Crusaders’ Lighthouse at Acre which he would have seen during the Crusades. The precise year of building the lighthouse is not known, but Marshal first came to the area in 1201, he died in 1209 and the first map that shows the lighthouse serving its function is dated 1240, so construction must have taken place between these dates. The Lighthouse structures have survived since the early 13th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019) His name sounds like the Irish word duán, meaning a fish hook, and so Hook Head acquired its name in English. The Hook is known in Irish as Rinn Dubháin, Saint Dubhán’s Head. Tradition claims Saint Dubhán set up a form of beacon as early as the fifth century. According to tradition, the monks kept a warning beacon to warn sailors of the dangers of shipwreck on the rocky headland. The peninsula became known as Rinn Dubháin (Dubhán’s headland). The monastery at Churchtown was founded by Saint Dubhán in the early fifth century. But a beacon may have stood on this site from the fifth or sixth century, associated with Saint Dubhán and his followers, said to have built the first Hook Church at Churchtown nearby. The present lighthouse traces its story back to the first purpose-built lighthouse, built 800 years ago in the early 13th century by Strongbow’s son-in-law, William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke. Looking out to sea at Hook Head (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019 click on image for full-screen resolution) It has been voted one of Ireland’s favourite attractions and visiting it is a truly unique experience. Recently I travelled from Waterford through New Ross, by fair means rather than foul, to visit the Hook Lighthouse at the end of the Hook Peninsula in south-west Co Wexford, which claims to be the oldest operational lighthouse in the world. Others imagine the phrase is derived from a vow by Oliver Cromwell to take Waterford by Hook or by Crook, by fair means or foul. Later versions say the phrase was used by sea captains to express their determination to make the haven of the bay in bad weather using one headland or the other as a guide. It is part of folklore in the south-east that when the Anglo-Normans arrived in Ireland in 1169-1170, Strongbow vowed to take Waterford City ‘by Hook or by Crook’ – referring to Hook Head in Co Wexford on the east bank of Waterford estuary, and Crook village on the west bank in Co Waterford. The Lighthouse and visitor centre at Hook Head, at the south-west tip of Co Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)
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