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Fastnet Rock, or simply Fastnet (possibly ; called ''Carraig Aonair'', meaning "lonely rock", in Irish) is a small islet in the Atlantic Ocean and the most southerly point of Ireland. It lies southwest of Cape Clear Island and from County Cork on the Irish mainland.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 work= Travel through the Ireland story... )〕 Due to its location, Fastnet is known as ''"Ireland's Teardrop"'', because it was the last part of Ireland that 19th century Irish emigrants saw as they sailed to North America. Fastnet Rock is a small clay-slate islet with quartz veins. It rises to about above low water mark and is separated from the much smaller southern Little Fastnet by a wide channel. Fastnet also gives its name to the sea area used by the Shipping Forecasts on BBC's Radio 4. The current lighthouse is the second to be built on the rock and is the highest in Ireland. Fastnet Rock is used as the midpoint of one of the world's classic offshore yachting races, the Fastnet Race, a round trip from Cowes on the Isle of Wight, round the rock and back to Plymouth. It is also sometimes used as a mark for yacht races from local sailing centres such as Schull, Baltimore and Crookhaven ==First lighthouse== Construction of the first lighthouse began in 1853, and it first produced a light on 1 January 1854. The lighthouse replaced an early one built on Cape Clear Island in 1818, partly motivated by the loss of an American sailing packet, ''Stephen Whitney'', in thick fog during November 1847 on nearby West Calf Island causing the death of 92 of her 110 passengers and crew. The new lighthouse was constructed of cast iron with an inner lining of brick and was designed by George Halpin. Costing £17,390, the tower was 63 feet 9 inches (19.4 m) high with a 27 feet 8 inch (8.4 m) high lantern structure on top, giving a total height of around 91 feet (27.7 m). It had an oil burning lamp of 38 kilocandelas; in contrast modern lighthouses typically produce 1,300 kilocandelas. In 1883 an explosive fog signal was installed, which electrically detonated a small charge of guncotton every five minutes. The tower proved to be too weak, since gales shook it to the point that crockery was sometimes thrown off tables, and a 60 imperial gallon (273 L) cask of water lashed to the gallery 133 feet (40.5 m) above high water was washed away. Various steps were taken to strengthen the tower, including fitting a casing around the bottom section up to the second floor and filling it with stone, and the surrounding rock smoothed over. In 1865 the lower floors were filled in with solid material. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fastnet Rock」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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