:

Relief map of the Irish Sea. St George's Channel at the southern opening of the sea.
'St George's Channel' (
Welsh: '''Sianel San Siôr''',
Irish '''Muir Bhreatan''') is a
channel connecting the
Irish Sea to the north and the
Atlantic Ocean to the southwest. Historically, the name encompassed all the waters between
Ireland in the west, and
Wales and the
West Country in the east; thus the
Bristol Channel opened into Saint George's Channel. The name is now usually applied only to the waters near the narrowest part of the channel, between
Carnsore Point in
Wexford and
Saint David's Head in
Pembrokeshire. The sea to the north is now simply considered the South Irish Sea; the sea to the south is considered part of the
Celtic Sea. However, it remains common in Ireland to talk about a cross-channel trip, cross-channel soccer, etc., where "cross-channel" means "to/from Great Britain".
Cape Cornwall at the south-western tip of Cornwall is where the St George's Channel meets the
English Channel (a cape is where two channels of water meet). The St George's Channel coastline is the coastline of North Cornwall and North Devon in the West Country
Pembrokeshire and
Cardigan Bay in Wales and counties
Wexford,
Waterford and
Cork in southern Ireland.
Regular visitors to the St George's Channel coast include
basking sharks,
dolphins,
porpoises, Atlantic
grey seals, leather-back
turtles,
lobsters and other impressive marine life. They attracted by the clean, clear waters and good food supplies of the coastlines of the West Country, Wales and South-West Ireland. North Cornwall, around
Porthcurno and
St Ives is famous for its regular spottings of basking sharks, while Pembrokeshire and Cardigan Bay is internationally recognised as a haven for bottle nosed dolphins.
The name is said to derive from a
14th-century legend that
Saint George had voyaged to
Roman Britain from the
Byzantine Empire. The legend said he approached Britain via the channel that bears his name.
Related articles
★
North Channel (British Isles)
★
Straits of Moyle