Hook Head (), historically called Rindowan, is a headland in
County Wexford
County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...
,
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, on the east side of the estuary of
The Three Sisters (Rivers
Nore
The Nore is a long sandbank, bank of sand and silt running along the south-centre of the final narrowing of the Thames Estuary, England. Its south-west is the very narrow Nore Sand. Just short of the Nore's easternmost point where it fades int ...
,
Suir and
Barrow). It is part of the
Hook peninsula and is adjacent to the historic townland of
Loftus Hall. It is situated on the
R734 road, from
Wexford town.
In Irish its name was originally ''Rinn Dubháin'', Dubhán's point, named for a 5th-century
Brittonic saint of that name (literally "little black
airedone"). The English name is possibly a
calque
In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...
of his name, incorrectly read as being ''dubán'', "fishing-hook".
Lighthouse
This area is the location of
Hook Lighthouse, the oldest working lighthouse in the world. Access to the lighthouse is by guided tours only which are available all year around. At the foot of the light house there is a cafe, gift shop and a maritime exhibition. The lighthouse is a destination on the
Ireland's Ancient East tourist route.
Notable events
In October 2007 it was reported that a significant amount of oil had been found off the coast of Hook head, in the north
Celtic Sea
The Celtic Sea is the area of the Atlantic Ocean off the southern coast of Ireland bounded to the north by St George's Channel, Saint George's Channel; other limits include the Bristol Channel, the English Channel, and the Bay of Biscay, as wel ...
. An Irish company, Providence Resources had drilled test holes and were said to have discovered good quality oil.
[''RTÉ News'']
"Oil found off Hook Head"
RTÉ Commercial Enterprises Limited, 2009-10-10. Accessed 2009-04-28.
The annual "Hook Conference" antiques festival showcases local and international hooks.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Official Hook Lighthouse and visitor center websiteHook Tourism
Headlands of County Wexford
{{Wexford-geo-stub