Strait between north-east Ireland and Scotland
The
North Channel
(known in
Irish
and
Scottish Gaelic
as
Sruth na Maoile
, in
Scots
as the
Sheuch
[1]
) is the
strait
between north-eastern
Northern Ireland
and south-western
Scotland
. It begins north of the
Isle of Man
, where the
Irish Sea
ends, and runs north-west into the
Atlantic Ocean
.
[2]
Geography
[
edit
]
The North Channel connects the
Irish Sea
with the
Atlantic Ocean
and is part of the marine area officially classified as the "
Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland
" by the
International Hydrographic Organization
(IHO).
[3]
The
Straits of Moyle
(
Sruth na Maoile
in
Irish
and
Scottish Gaelic
) or
Sea of Moyle
is the name given to the narrowest expanse of sea in the North Channel between north-eastern
Northern Ireland
(
County Antrim
) and south-western highlands of
Scotland
(
Mull of Kintyre
). The narrowest part of the strait is between the
Mull of Kintyre
and Torr Head, where its width is 19 kilometres (12 mi; 10 nmi),
[4]
making it possible to see across in clear weather conditions. The straits gave their name to
Moyle District Council
, a local government area in
Northern Ireland
, and are famed in Irish
Celtic mythology
through their association with the
Children of Lir
.
In the 1800s, this strait was sometimes referred to in general terms as the "Irish Channel".
[5]
[6]
[7]
In the 19th century,
Alexander Keith Johnston
's suggested name St Patrick's Channel had currency, but it was rejected by the
hydrographic department
.
[8]
The deepest part is called
Beaufort's Dyke
.
The North Channel was a favourite haunt of
privateers
preying on British merchant shipping in wars until the 19th century; in 1778, during the
American Revolutionary War
, it was also the site of a
naval duel
between American captain
John Paul Jones
's
USS
Ranger
and the
Royal Navy
's
HMS
Drake
. It is crossed by many ferry services. In 1953, the channel was the scene of a serious maritime disaster, the sinking of the ferry
Princess Victoria
.
Swimming
[
edit
]
The
Irish Long Distance Swimming Association
(ILDSA) has provided authentication observers for swimmers attempting to cross the approximately 35-kilometre (22 mi) span between
Northern Ireland
and the
Mull of Galloway
. According to the ILDSA, this was first accomplished in 1947 by
Tom Blower
.
[9]
The first two-way crossing was completed by a six-person relay team on 28 July 2015.
[10]
The World Open Water Swimming Association note that the North Channel, which it also refers to parenthetically as the North (Irish) Channel, is part of the
Ocean's Seven
series.
[11]
This is a set of seven long-distance open-water swims considered the marathon swimming equivalent of the
Seven Summits mountaineering challenge
.
[
citation needed
]
Fixed connections
[
edit
]
In
Northern Ireland
,
Unionist
political leaders for decades lobbied the
British government
to construct a
railway tunnel under the Channel
, for a better link between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. In August 2007 the
Centre for Cross-Border Studies
proposed the construction of a 34-kilometre-long (21 mi) long rail bridge or tunnel, estimating that it might cost about £3.5 billion.
[12]
In the
Victorian era
, engineers proposed a rail tunnel between
Stranraer
and
Belfast
.
[13]
In February 2020, the Prime Minister's Office announced that it had initiated work to examine the feasibility of a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland.
[14]
The transport route with the shortest sailing distance is that between
Campbeltown
on the
Kintyre peninsula
(about 220 km (140 mi) from
Glasgow
via minor roads) and
Ballycastle, County Antrim
(about 90 km (56 mi) from
Belfast
). Campbeltown is on the eastern side of the Kintyre peninsula, but the western side is only about 16 kilometres (10 mi) from Torr Head coast to coast.
[15]
The shortest route between Glasgow and Belfast is the route used by the existing ferry service, that via
Portpatrick
/
Stranraer
(about 150 km (93 mi) from Glasgow) and
Larne
(about 35 km (22 mi) from Belfast), a coast-to-coast distance of 45 kilometres (28 mi).
[16]
This route would require the
bridge towers
to be erected through
Beaufort's Dyke
, a 200?300 m (700?1,000 ft) deep trench, heavily contaminated by 'large quantities' of munitions ('small arms, high explosives and incendiary devices')
[17]
[18]
and nuclear waste that had been dumped until 1950s.
First Minister of Scotland
Nicola Sturgeon
said her mind was not closed to the idea but added "if he [the prime minister] has got £20 bn to build such a bridge going spare at the moment ? that could be spent on more important priorities".
[14]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
55°03′27″N
5°37′19″W
/
55.05750°N 5.62194°W
/
55.05750; -5.62194