Scoil: Kilrane (uimhir rolla 16605)

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1. The Tower of Hook

   

   Roinn Roinn Postáil

   The Tower of Hook, which guards the entrance to Waterford Harbour, is said to be the oldest lighthouse in the British Isles.
   There has, however, been a beacon or lighthouse on this historic headland since time immemorial. According to tradition the first warning to mariners was erected by St. Dubhan, who built his cell at Churchtown in the fifth century. St. Dubhan was a Welsh missionary priest, and a monastery was subsequently erected on the site of his cell. The ruins of this early Celtic monastery are still in an excellent state of preservation, and the stout walls are a tribute to the skill of the ancient Irish architects.
   The monks of St. Dubhan's monastery tended the fire beacon which he established on a prominent position at the end of the Hook peninsula. The beacon is said to have been an iron brazier which was fixed to the end of a pole, and the light which glowed at night from the charcoal or other fuel, warned mariners to give the dangerous rocky coast a wide berth. Until the arrival of the Normans, the Irish monks tended this beacon faithfully, and the Danes, during their occupation of Wexford and Waterford, did not ravish the monastery, in gratitude to the monks for their services to shipping.
   The Anglo-Norman invasion was responsible for many dramatic changes in the Celtic monastery of St. Dubhan at Churchtown. The establishment was re-dedicated to St. Saviour of Rendeuan, and placed under the charge of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine. These monks also constituted themselves lighthouse keepers.
   In 1172 they built a permanent tower or fortress as a beacon for ships. The monks were subsequently granted the right of levying dues for the upkeep of the light, on ships using the harbour. In all probability, these monks were the pioneers in these islands to collect light dues, which are now vested in the Elder Brethren of Trinity House, London.
   After the suppression of the Knight Templars in 1307, the custody of the Tower of Hook was vested in the sovereign and the Bailiffs of New Ross, and once every year the Corporation officials proceeded to Hook peninsula, where "an arrow was shot into the sea as a symbol of the extent of the foreshore rights possessed by the authorities of the the port of Ross" on the eastern shore of Waterford harbour.
   In 1314, the Knights Hospitallers took over the functions of the dispossessed Knight Templars, and they were in charge of the Tower of Hook lighthouse until the religious upheaval in the reign of Henry the Eighth.
   The vicars of the Protestant Church at Hook also undertook to attend to the upkeep of the lighthouse and, until the Civil War of 1641, this duty appears to have been performed.
   As a result of the disturbed state of the country, the lighthouse was evidently neglected, and the following reference to the Parish of Hook is made in the Down Survey in 1657:-
   "This Parrish is a poynt, and runs farr into the sea on the furthermost part of which stands a tower, called Hooke Tower, which formerly hath been a lighthouse to conduct shipps into ye harbour."
   Colonel Symon Rudgeley, who was the Governor of Duncannon Fort, forwarded the following petition to the Commissioners of the Public Revenue on March 19th, 1657:-
   "Whereas Colonel Symon Rudgeley, by his herein petition in the behalf of ye seamen and marriners which traffique upon ye coast of Waterford and other harbours, hath sett forth that there is a Towre called ye Towre of Hooke, standing upon the mouth of ye River of Waterford, on a Cape of land running into ye Sea, which hath formerly been mayntained for a Light House, and used to be whitelimed for a Land Marke by day, and to have a great fire kept on the topp thereof for a marke by night for shippes to shunn those sands, shelves and rocks, which do lye neere ye same : for want of ye maintenance of which severall ship wracks have lately been on those coasts to the discouragement of marchants, seamen and others; and thereupon humbly proposing that a certeyne rate may be sett upon every tun for ye maintenance thereof. The Lord Deputy and Council, upon cinsideration had thereof, doe hereby referr it to ye Commissioners for managing the publique revenues, treasury and stores of this nation, to consider of ye said petition, and to heare what further matter he hath to offer in the case, and alsoe to inquire into ye present condition of ye aforesaid towre upon whose land ye same stands; and where, and how scituated; what repayre ye same is now in; how and at whose charge formerly mayntayned; of what use the same was formerly; or now at present is to shipps, or like publique account, with what else they shall conceive fitt to represent to ye Board for further consideration thereupon."
   However, the lighthouse was not repaired until 1671 when a lamp replaced "the great fire formerly kept on the topp." In 1688 Henry Loftus of Loftus Hall, County Wexford, claimed the ownership of Hook Tower. He leased to the Collector of Waterford "for the use of all shipping trading to and from the several Ports of Ross and Waterford, and other parts of this Kingdom, together with that part of the said tower, where a stock of coals had been kept for the use of the said lighthouse, and also a passage for carrying the said coals to the said tower, for the term of 21 years at the yearly rent of £11 sterling."
   The lighthouse was retained by the revenue Board until 1810, when it was handed over to the Ballast Board. The latter authority spent a considerable sum of money in effecting improvements. The lighthouse was subsequently modernised by the Commissioners of Irish Lights. It is now one of the most up-to-date lighthouses in the British Isles, and it's warning rays may be seen at a distance of 30 miles.
   The keepers live in picturesque white-washed houses alongside the tower. Hook peninsula is no longer sparsely populated, and there are several villages in the vicinity which provide ample opportunities for pleasant social intercourse. the view from the top of the lighthouse is magnificent. On one side there is the beautiful entrance to Waterford harbour and on the other the picturesque coastline of the historic "model county."

   

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