North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland) facts for kids
The North Channel is a sea area between Northern Ireland and Scotland. It is also sometimes called the Irish Channel. In Irish and Scottish Gaelic, it's known as Sruth na Maoile, and in Scots as the Sheuch.
Geography of the Channel
The North Channel connects the Irish Sea with the big Atlantic Ocean. It's part of a larger sea area known as the "Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland."
The Straits of Moyle is the narrowest part of the North Channel. It's located between County Antrim in Northern Ireland and the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland. At its closest point, the distance between the two shores is about 12 miles (19 km). This means that on a clear day, you can actually see land on the other side! The Straits of Moyle are famous in Celtic mythology because of the story of the Children of Lir.
This strait used to be known as the Irish Channel. In the 1800s, some people suggested calling it St Patrick's Channel, but that name was not chosen.
The southern edge of the North Channel is a line connecting the Mull of Galloway in Scotland and Ballyquintin Point in Northern Ireland. The northern edge connects Portnahaven and Benbane Head. The narrowest spot is between the Mull of Kintyre and Torr Head, where it is about 21 km (13 miles) wide. The deepest part of the channel is called Beaufort's Dyke.
For a long time, the channel was a place where privateers (private ships allowed to attack enemy ships) would wait to attack British merchant ships. In 1778, during the American Revolutionary War, a naval battle took place here between the American ship USS Ranger and the British ship HMS Drake. Many ferries cross the North Channel today. Sadly, in 1953, a ferry called the Princess Victoria sank here, which was a very serious accident.
Swimming Across the Channel
The Irish Long Distance Swimming Association (ILDSA) helps record swimmers who try to cross the North Channel. The distance between Northern Ireland and the Mull of Galloway for swimmers is about 35 km (22 miles).
The first person to swim across the North Channel was Tom Blower in 1947. The first time a team swam across and back (a two-way crossing) was on July 28, 2015, by a team of six swimmers.
The North Channel is one of the "Ocean's seven" challenges. This is a group of seven very difficult long-distance open-water swims around the world. It's like the swimming version of climbing the Seven Summits (the highest mountains on each continent).
Connecting the Lands
For many years, political leaders in Northern Ireland have wanted to build a railway tunnel under the Channel. They hoped this would connect Northern Ireland more closely with the rest of the United Kingdom. In 2007, a group suggested building a 34 km (21 miles) long rail bridge or tunnel, which they thought might cost around £3.5 billion. Even in the Victorian era, engineers had ideas for a rail tunnel between Stranraer in Scotland and Belfast in Northern Ireland.
In 2020, the Prime Minister's Office in the UK started looking into whether a bridge could be built between Scotland and Northern Ireland. The shortest distance across the sea is about 10 miles (16 km) between Campbeltown in Scotland and Ballycastle, County Antrim in Northern Ireland.
Another possible route for a bridge is the one used by current ferries, between Portpatrick/Stranraer in Scotland and Larne in Northern Ireland. This route is about 45 km (28 miles) long. However, building a bridge here would be very difficult because the bridge towers would need to go through Beaufort's Dyke. This is a deep trench, about 200 to 300 meters (650 to 980 feet) deep, which contains a lot of old military explosives.
The First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, said she would consider the idea of a bridge. But she also pointed out that if the prime minister had £20 billion to spend on such a bridge, that money could also be used for other important things.
See also
In Spanish: Canal del Norte (islas británicas) para niños
