Helvick | |
|---|---|
.jpg) View from Ballyvoile out to Helvick Head | |
  Helvick Location within Ireland | |
| Coordinates: 52°03′13″N 7°32′12″W / 52.053615°N 7.536734°W | |
| Age | 380 million years |
| Geology | Old 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.
Helvick is one of a very few Irish place names derived from Old Norse. The second part, -vík, means "bay" (cf. Smerwick). The meaning of the first part is unclear, but it may mean "healthy", "white", "holy", or "safe"; compare with Hellvik, Norway.
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.
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.