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Rock Island (Ireland)

Coordinates: 51°28′37″N 9°42′18″W / 51.477°N 9.705°W / 51.477; -9.705
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Rock Island and Crookhaven Lighthouse from landside

Rock Island (Irish: Oileán na Carraige)[1] is a promontory in West Cork, Ireland, situated about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) south of the village of Goleen, at the entrance to the inlet of Crookhaven.

Not a true island, Rock Island is surrounded on three sides by sea while a small strip of land with a road connects it to the mainland. It is notable for the Crookhaven Lighthouse (built in 1843 on the site of a former structure) which lights the way into the natural harbour of Crookhaven.[2] Surrounding the lighthouse are nine cottages (built in the 1860s), once the property of Irish Lighthouses, now privately owned holiday cottages.[3] These were formerly the accommodation for the lighthouse keepers and their families of three local lighthouses: Crookhaven, Mizen Head and Fastnet Rock. The lighthouses are now fully automatic, requiring no keepers. Towards the west end of the peninsula is a terrace of houses built in 1907 as a coastguard station, now converted to private holiday accommodation; this replaced an earlier range of buildings erected in the early 19th century, when Crookhaven was a centre both for legitimate coastal shipping and for smuggling activity. A watch tower was built on Rock Island c. 1800, after the attempted French landing at Bantry in 1796.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Oileán na Carraige / Rock Island". logainm.ie. Irish Placenames Database. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Crookhaven Lighthouse, Rock Island Point, Rock Island, County Cork". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  3. ^ "1 Rock Island Point, Rock Island, County Cork". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  4. ^ "Watch Tower, Rock Island, County Cork". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 24 December 2020.

51°28′37″N 9°42′18″W / 51.477°N 9.705°W / 51.477; -9.705