Best Attraction in County Wexford, Republic of Ireland - Map and Reviews

Hook Head Lighthouse at the tip of the Hook Peninsula in County Wexford is one of the oldest operational lighthouses in the world, a tower begun in the twelfth century by William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, on the site of an earlier monastic beacon established by St Dubhán in the fifth century to warn mariners of the treacherous rocks at the entrance to Waterford Harbour. The light has warned ships of this hazard for nearly a millennium in a continuity of maritime service unmatched by any other lighthouse in the world. The lighthouse tower is one of the most impressive and most historically significant buildings of its kind in existence. The twelfth-century Norman structure, approximately 35 metres high and with walls four metres thick, is the earliest example of a purpose-built lighthouse tower in the world, predating the modern lighthouse tradition by several centuries and demonstrating the sophistication of the medieval understanding of maritime safety. The monks who operated the lighthouse during the medieval period maintained the beacon as an act of Christian charity and maritime responsibility. The headland on which the lighthouse stands is one of the finest and most dramatic on the Wexford coast, the black and white banded tower visible from a wide area of the sea and the views from the headland across the Waterford Estuary to the Waterford coast providing an excellent overview of the geography of one of the most historically important estuaries in Ireland.