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(Redirected from Helvick Head) Townland in County Waterford, Ireland

Helvick
Headland
View from Ballyvoile out to Helvick HeadView from Ballyvoile out to Helvick Head
Helvick is located in IrelandHelvickHelvick
Coordinates: 52°03′13″N 7°32′12″W / 52.053615°N 7.536734°W / 52.053615; -7.536734
Age380 million years
GeologyOld Red Sandstone

Helvick or Helvick Head (Irish: Heilbhic, Ceann Heilbhic, Old Norse: Hellavík) is a headland on the southern end of Dungarvan Harbour, Ireland; it is the eastern tip of the Ring Peninsula.

Formed of Old Red Sandstone, it is the easternmost protrusion of a ridge that begins near Cork City.

Royal National Lifeboat Institution station

Name

Helvick is one of a very few Irish place names derived from Old Norse. The second part, -vík, means "bay" (cf. Smerwick); and -hel in Icelandic means death or danger. (See the Icelandic adjective helvískur which means dangerous). Helvik would be recognised by an Icelander as suggesting a dangerous harbour entrance, especially in view of the presence of the very dangerous Blackrock right in the entrance to Dungarvan Harbour and just over a mile from the headland of Helvick.

The meaning of the first part is unclear, but it may mean "healthy", "white", "holy", or "safe"; compare with Hellvik, Norway.

Wildlife

Helvick Head is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). The cliffs are a nesting site for seabirds including choughs and shag. Other bird species include razorbill, Northern fulmar, peregrine falcon, black-legged kittiwake, black guillemot, and common murre (guillemot).

Plants include gorse, bell heather, ling, devil's-bit scabious, heath bedstraw, bog violet, burnet rose, thrift, kidney vetch, sea mayweed and wild carrot.

Lifeboat station

Main article: Helvick Head Lifeboat Station

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution opened a lifeboat station at Dungarvan in 1859. It was moved to Crow's Point at Helvick in 1899. The station was closed in 1969 but a new inshore lifeboat station was established in 1997. The lifeboat was housed in temporary accommodation until the permanent facilities were ready in 1999.

References

  1. "Through the Gaeltacht and to the sea". The Irish Times. 15 June 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  2. "Helvick Head - Ireland Highlights".
  3. "eOceanic". eoceanic.com.
  4. "Old Red Sandstone". University College Cork.
  5. "Heilbhic/Helvick". Logainm.ie.
  6. Helvick Head SAC | National Parks & Wildlife Service
  7. "Helvick Head SAC" (PDF). National Parks & Wildlife Service. January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  8. "Helvick Head". www.askaboutireland.ie.
  9. "The Irish Naturalists' Journal". I.N.J. Committee. 8 February 1968 – via Google Books.
  10. Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2024). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2024. Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. p. 111.
  11. "Helvick Head's station history". RNLI. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
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