Peninsula where monks acted as the first lighthouse-keepers

Brendan Ó Cathaoir explores the Hook Peninsula, a cul-de-sac sprinkled with history.

Visit the Hook Peninsula, by Hook or by Crook. This suggestion is offered in the apocryphal sense. The aphorism dates from the era of sail. Vessels entering Waterford Estuary from the Atlantic were advised to tack along the shoreline by Crook, Co Waterford, or by Hook, Co Wexford, rather than sail directly into the tidal confluence of the three "sister rivers": the Barrow, Nore and Suir.

The Hook Peninsula is a particularly fascinating corner of Ireland. This secluded cul-de-sac - dominated by sea, sky and the elements - has generated an environment with a unique character. Its distinctive personality was formed by many historical influences concentrated in a well-defined landscape. Because of the peninsular nature of the area, it is always possible to find a sheltered beach on windy days.

The region is dotted with history. In 1169 the first Anglo-Norman fleet arrived at Baginbun Head, "where Ireland was lost and won". James II sailed from Duncannon Fort after his defeat at the Battle of the Boyne. His opponent, William of Orange, chose the same port of departure. Pugin, the 19th-century architect, was so impressed by the ruins of Dunbrody Abbey that its influence dominated his Wexford churches, notably St Aidan's Cathedral in Enniscorthy.

Space permits more than a mention of only three places of special interest: Tintern Abbey, Hook Lighthouse and the Dunbrody Famine ship. But Billy Colfer's magnificent book, The Hook Peninsula, published this year by Cork University Press, compensates for this constraint.

In the autumn of 1200, William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, set out to pay his first visit to Ireland as Lord of Leinster. Threatened with shipwreck, he vowed to endow a monastery wherever he should reach safety. On landing in Bannow Bay, he allotted 3,500 hectares of land for the foundation of a Cistercian abbey. Tintern de Voto was staffed initially by monks from Tintern in Wales, of which Marshal was also patron.

At the time of the dissolution in 1536, Tintern appears to have been the third richest Cistercian abbey in Ireland (after St Mary's in Dublin and Mellifont). Shortly afterwards, its lands were granted to Sir Anthony Colclough, an officer in Henry VIII's army.

Tintern Major, on the banks of the Wye, was made famous by William Wordsworth's poem. Dr Colfer, who is director of Hook Heritage Ltd, believes "the vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods", mentioned in the poem (dated July 13th, 1798), may have been refugees escaping from the horrors of the rising in Wexford. The most tangible link with 1798, however, is the United Irish leader, John Henry Colclough. After the insurrection, Colclough and Bagnal Harvey took refuge on the Saltee Islands. Following their betrayal, they were arrested, brought to Wexford, court-martialled and executed.

The Colcloughs (pronounced Cokely) were, for the most part, benevolent landlords, liberal in politics and patrons of hurling. The soubriquet "yellow-bellies" was first bestowed on the hurling team of a Caesar Colclough because of their yellow sashes, when he took them to play a match in Cornwall in the 18th century.

The Tower of Hook is one of the oldest operational lighthouses in the world. It was built in the early 13th century as part of the development of the lordship of Leinster. William Marshal may have seen Pharos lighthouse in Alexandria when on crusade to the Holy Land. Moreover, influenced by his own escape from shipwreck, he knew that shipping needed to be guided safely into Waterford Harbour through the dangerous waters off the point of Rinn Dubháin, if his new port of Ross was to be successful.

Marshal had a 36-metre high circular tower constructed at the tip of the peninsula as a landmark by day and a beacon by night. Monks from the monastery of Rinn Dubháin were involved in the building of the navigation aid and acted as light-keepers. Today's visitor can see the alcoves in the massive walls where the monks watched and prayed and studied.

After the Cromwellian devastation, the lighthouse fell into disuse. By the end of the 17th century, however, the first glass lantern to protect a coal-burning beacon was erected on the tower. A century later, in 1791, the installation of a lamp burning whale oil represented a major technological advance.

Gaslights were installed in 1871, and a clockwork mechanism was introduced in 1911 to change the beacon from a fixed to a flashing light. The mechanism had to be wound manually every 25 minutes. At one time a fog gun on the cliff edge was fired every 10 minutes.

Electricity became the source of power in 1972, and the lighthouse was converted to automatic operation in 1996. The last of the light-keepers, who had climbed the 115 steps for almost 800 years, was withdrawn. Their houses were converted to a visitors' centre; 60,000 visited Hook Lighthouse last year.

The Dunbrody Famine ship captures the drama of emigration. Between 1845 and 1870, a vessel named The Dunbrody carried emigrants from New Ross to New York and Grosse Ile.

As part of the Famine commemoration in 1997, a replica was built in New Ross. It is moored at the quayside but there are plans to sail. Guided tours of the ship and emigration museum are available all the year round. On a recent visit, two actors gave convincing performances as a wretched steerage passenger and a hard-hearted denizen of the upper deck.

This is Kennedy country. Patrick Kennedy was among the thousands who emigrated through New Ross port in the post-Famine era.

In 1963 his great-grandson, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, visited the ancestral home as US president, five months before his assassination. The Kennedy homestead in Dunganstown is now a museum, while the JFK memorial arboretum forms another attraction.

The Dunbrody database of emigrants has retrieved part of our heritage.

The JFK Trust is computerising the passenger lists of vessels from Irish and British ports which landed in the US between 1845 and 1890 - i.e., the main period of the Irish diaspora. Some 3.5 million entries have been completed.