Located 6km from Cape Clear Island, Co Cork, Ireland.
There are actually two rocks at Fastnet; Fastnet Rock, and Little Fastnet (what, how cute!) They are separated by a thirty-foot-wide channel.
There have been two lighthouses built on Fastnet Rock over the years. The decision to build the first one, in 1848, was taken after a wreck of the American ship ‘Stephen Whitney’ in the area, with a loss of 100 lives.
The new lighthouse on Fastnet would replace the lighthouse of Cape Clear Island. This lighthouse was proven to be too far inshore, and too high (which appears to be a common problem with lighthouse building!) The light would be obscured in foggy conditions.
Authorities commissioned George Halpin Sr (famous lighthouse head/engineer/builder) to design the new structure. He used cast iron, which was also used to build neighboring lighthouse Calf Rock. Work was finished on the oil burning lighthouse in 1854, soon after which Halpin died.
In 1881, Calf Rock lighthouse came to an untimely end (it snapped!) in a storm. The lighthouse of Fastnet also had damage to its lantern that night. Officials realised that the lighthouse couldn’t much longer withstand the steady onslaught of the Atlantic Ocean, especially given that it was positioned on the most exposed portion of the rock (the top) A decision was made to start work on a new masonry lighthouse on the lower western part of the rock.
Construction of the new lighthouse started in 1897, its designer, a Mr William Douglass. It was built under supervision of James Kavanagh, the foreman mason. He hardly saw the shore in the years of its construction, and he sadly died before work was complete.
The tower is built from 2,047 Cornish granite, dovetailed blocks. It was established in 1904 at a total cost of £90,000. Doesn’t it have a wonderful taper!? The first floor of the original lighthouse can still be seen (black stump at top of the rock) It is used for storage.
We took a boat tour around the rock. Ferries leave from Baltimore and Schull, and are run by Cape Clear Ferries.
They include a stop off at Cape Clear Island. There’s a museum about Fastnet, not that we visited it. We decided instead to take a bimble to the top of the island, to visit the old lighthouse of Cape Clear. I packed sandwiches and snacks (ever prepared) We took an opportunity to stop for the picnic at a very pictureqsue spot, where Fastnet was clearly in view. Chowing down I start to realise we weren’t alone on our picnic. TICKS, everywhere! We walked (ran) back down to the pub for pints and a good brush down. Horrid Lyme disease carrying hell bugs.
Work was being carried out on Fastnet. Scaffolding was up around the lantern. I can best assume that this is work on changing the mercury-driven lights to energy efficient LED lights. Something that has been met with varying differences of opinion. Some say that this takes away some historical value from the lighthouse. I would have to agree. There’s something wonderful about seeing that light seeep across the ocean at night.
