Irish Sea - wikipedia Irish Sea Irish Sea Satellite image Bathymetry, limits and ports : ◘ = ferry port / ◘ = freight port only Location between Great Britain and Ireland Coordinates 53 ° N 5 ° W ﻿ / ﻿ 53 ° N 5 ° W ﻿ / 53 ; - 5Coordinates : 53 ° N 5 ° W ﻿ / ﻿ 53 ° N 5 ° W ﻿ / 53 ; - 5 Type Sea Basin countries United Kingdom ; Republic of Ireland ; Isle of Man Surface area 46,007 km ( 17,763 sq mi ) Water volume 2,800 km ( 2.3 × 10 acre ft ) Islands Anglesey and Holy Island, Isle of Man and Calf of Man, Bardsey Island, Walney, Lambay, Ireland 's Eye Settlements ( see below ) Location of the Irish Sea Edmond Halley 's solar eclipse 1715 map showing The Irish Sea The Irish Sea ( Irish : Muir Éireann / An Mhuir Mheann, Manx : Y Keayn Yernagh, Scots : Erse Sea, Scottish Gaelic : Muir Èireann, Ulster - Scots : Airish Sea, Welsh : Môr Iwerddon ) separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George 's Channel, and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man. The sea is occasionally, but rarely, referred to as the Manx Sea ( Irish : Muir Meann, Manx : Mooir Vannin, Scottish Gaelic : Muir Mhanainn ). The sea is of significant economic importance to regional trade, shipping and transport, fishing, and power generation in the form of wind power and nuclear power plants. Annual traffic between Great Britain and Ireland amounts to over 12 million passengers and 17 million tonnes ( 17,000,000 long tons ; 19,000,000 short tons ) of traded goods. Contents 1 Origin and topography 2 Shipping 2.1 SailRail 3 Geography 3.1 Cities and towns 3.2 Islands 4 Environment 4.1 Biodiversity 4.2 Radioactivity 5 Oil and gas exploration 5.1 East Irish Sea Basin 5.2 Caernarfon Bay Basin 5.3 The Cardigan Bay Basin 5.4 Liverpool Bay 5.5 Dalkey Island Exploration Prospect 6 Proposed tunnel projects 7 Wind power 8 In fiction 9 See also 10 References 10.1 Bibliography 11 Further reading 12 External links Origin and topography The Irish Sea has undergone a series of dramatic changes over the last 20,000 years as the last glacial period ended and was replaced by warmer conditions. At the height of the glaciation the central part of the modern sea was probably a long freshwater lake. As the ice retreated 10,000 years ago the lake reconnected to the sea, becoming brackish and then fully saline once again. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Irish Sea ( with St George 's Channel ) as follows : On the North. The Southern limit of the Scottish Seas ( or Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland, defined as `` a line joining the South extreme of the Mull of Galloway ( 54 ° 38'N ) in Scotland and Ballyquintin Point ( 54 ° 20'N ) in Ireland '' ). On the South. A line joining St. David 's Head ( 51 ° 54 ′ N 5 ° 19 ′ W ﻿ / ﻿ 51.900 ° N 5.317 ° W ﻿ / 51.900 ; - 5.317 ) to Carnsore Point ( 52 ° 10 ′ N 6 ° 22 ′ W ﻿ / ﻿ 52.167 ° N 6.367 ° W ﻿ / 52.167 ; - 6.367 ). It is connected to the North Atlantic at both its northern and southern ends. To the north, the connection is through the North Channel between Scotland and Northern Ireland and the Malin Sea. The southern end is linked to the Atlantic through the St George 's Channel between south eastern Ireland and Pembrokeshire in Wales, and the Celtic Sea. The Irish Sea is composed of a deeper channel about 300 km ( 190 mi ) long and 30 -- 50 km ( 19 -- 31 mi ) wide on its western side and shallower embayments to the east. The western channel 's depth ranges from 80 metres ( 260 ft ) up to 275 m ( 902 ft ) in the Beaufort 's Dyke in the North Channel. The main embayments -- Cardigan Bay in the south and the waters to the east of the Isle of Man -- are less than 50 m ( 160 ft ) deep. The Sea has a total water volume of 2,430 km ( 580 cu mi ), 80 % of which is to the west of the Isle of Man, and a surface area of 47,000 km ( 18,000 sq mi ). The largest sandbanks are the Bahama and King William Banks to the east and north of the Isle of Man and the Kish Bank, Codling Bank, Arklow Bank and Blackwater Bank near the coast of Ireland. The Irish Sea, at its greatest width, is 200 km ( 120 mi ) and narrows to 75 km ( 47 mi ). Shipping Unlike Great Britain, Ireland has no tunnel or bridge connection to continental Europe. Thus the vast majority of heavy goods trade is done by sea. Northern Ireland ports handle 10 million tonnes ( 9,800,000 long tons ; 11,000,000 short tons ) of goods trade with Great Britain annually, while ports in the Republic of Ireland handle 7.6 million tonnes ( 7,500,000 long tons ; 8,400,000 short tons ), representing 50 % and 40 % respectively of total trade by weight. The Port of Liverpool handles 32 million tonnes ( 31,000,000 long tons ; 35,000,000 short tons ) of cargo and 734 thousand passengers a year. Holyhead port handles most of the passenger traffic from Dublin and Dún Laoghaire ports, as well as 3.3 million tonnes ( 3,200,000 long tons ; 3,600,000 short tons ) of freight. Ports in the Republic handle 3,600,000 travellers crossing the sea each year, amounting to 92 % of all Irish Sea travel. This has been steadily dropping for a number of years ( 20 % since 1999 ), probably as a result of low cost airlines. Ferry connections from Great Britain to Ireland across the Irish Sea include Fishguard and Pembroke to Rosslare, Holyhead to Dún Laoghaire, Holyhead to Dublin, Cairnryan to Belfast and Larne to Cairnryan. There is also a connection between Liverpool and Belfast via the Isle of Man or direct from Birkenhead. The world 's largest car ferry, Ulysses, is operated by Irish Ferries on the Dublin Port -- Holyhead route ; Stena Line also operates between Britain and Ireland. The Port of Barrow - in - Furness, despite being one of Britain 's largest shipbuilding centres and being home to the United Kingdom 's only submarine - building complex, is only a minor port. A ferry crossing used to run between Swansea and Cork, but given the geographical limits defined above, this route crosses the Celtic Sea rather than the Irish Sea. `` Irish Sea '' is also the name of one of the BBC 's Shipping Forecast areas defined by the coordinates : 54 ° 50 ′ N 05 ° 05 ′ W ﻿ / ﻿ 54.833 ° N 5.083 ° W ﻿ / 54.833 ; - 5.083 54 ° 45 ′ N 05 ° 45 ′ W ﻿ / ﻿ 54.750 ° N 5.750 ° W ﻿ / 54.750 ; - 5.750 52 ° 30 ′ N 06 ° 15 ′ W ﻿ / ﻿ 52.500 ° N 6.250 ° W ﻿ / 52.500 ; - 6.250 52 ° 00 ′ N 05 ° 05 ′ W ﻿ / ﻿ 52.000 ° N 5.083 ° W ﻿ / 52.000 ; - 5.083 During World War I the Irish Sea became known as `` U-boat Alley '', because the U-boats moved their emphasis from the Atlantic to the Irish Sea after the United States entered the war in 1917. See also : Transport in Ireland, Transport in the United Kingdom, and Transport on the Isle of Man SailRail Arriva Trains Wales, Iarnród Éireann, as well as Irish Ferries and Stena Line promotes SailRail with through rail tickets for the train and the ferry. Likewise between Northern Ireland and Scotland, Northern Ireland Railways, Stena Line and Abellio ScotRail promote SailRail. Geography The Irish Sea has coasts on the Republic of Ireland, all four constituent countries of the United Kingdom, and the Isle of Man. Cities and towns Below is a list of cities and towns around the Irish Sea coasts in order of size : Rank City / town County Region / province Population Country Dublin County Dublin Leinster 1,173,179 Republic of Ireland Liverpool Merseyside North West 864,122 England Belfast County Antrim Ulster 847,153 Northern Ireland 5 Blackpool Lancashire North West 142,900 England 6 Southport Merseyside North West 99,456 England 7 Birkenhead Merseyside North West 83,729 England 8 Bangor County Down Ulster 76,851 Northern Ireland 9 Barrow - in - Furness Cumbria North West 71,980 England 10 Wallasey Merseyside North West 58,710 England 11 Crosby Merseyside North West 51,789 England 12 Morecambe Lancashire North West 45,000 England 13 Lytham St Annes Lancashire North West 41,330 England 14 Drogheda County Louth Leinster 35,190 Republic of Ireland 15 Dundalk County Louth Leinster 35,085 Republic of Ireland 16 Rhyl Denbighshire Clwyd 35,000 Wales 17 Bray County Wicklow Leinster 31,901 Republic of Ireland 18 Thornton - Cleveleys Lancashire North West 31,157 England 19 Colwyn Bay Conwy Clwyd 30,265 Wales 20 Carrickfergus County Antrim Ulster 27,201 Northern Ireland 21 Fleetwood Lancashire North West 26,840 England 22 Douglas N / A Isle of Man 26,218 Isle of Man 20 Workington Cumbria North West 25,978 England 23 Whitehaven Cumbria North West 25,500 England 24 Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire -- Rathdown Leinster 23,857 Republic of Ireland 25 Llandudno Conwy Clwyd 20,090 Wales 26 Larne County Antrim Ulster 18,228 Northern Ireland 27 Wexford County Wexford Leinster 18,163 Republic of Ireland 28 Arklow County Wicklow Leinster 14,080 Republic of Ireland 29 Holyhead Holy Island Isle of Anglesey 13,659 Wales 30 Aberystwyth Dyfed Ceredigion 13,040 Wales Islands The Irish Sea lies between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. Listed below are islands in the Irish Sea which are over 1 km2 in area, or which have a permanent population. Anglesey is almost attached to Holy Island ; Holy Island is included separately. Name Area ( km2 ) Rank ( area ) Permanent Population Rank ( pop. ) Country Anglesey 675 01 56,092 02 Wales Isle of Man 572 02 84,497 01 Isle of Man Holy Island 39 03 13,579 03 Wales Walney Island 13 04 11,388 04 England Lambay Island 5.54 05 < 10 08 Republic of Ireland Bull Island 06 < 20 07 Republic of Ireland Ramsey Island 2.58 07 0 - Wales Bardsey Island 1.79 09 < 5 10 Wales Calf of Man 2.50 08 0 - Isle of Man Barrow Island Unknown - 2,616 05 England Roa Island Unknown - 100 06 England Ynys Gaint Unknown - < 10 08 Wales Piel Island 0.20 - < 5 10 England Ynys Castell Unknown - < 5 10 Wales Ynys Gored Goch 0.004 - < 5 10 Wales Environment Brittas Bay, on the County Wicklow coast Biodiversity The most accessible and possibly the greatest wildlife resource of the Irish Sea lies in its estuaries : particularly the Dee Estuary, the Mersey Estuary, the Ribble Estuary, Morecambe Bay, the Solway Firth, Loch Ryan, the Firth of Clyde, Belfast Lough, Strangford Lough, Carlingford Lough, Dundalk Bay, Dublin Bay and Wexford Harbour. However, a lot of wildlife also depends on the cliffs, salt marshes and sand dunes of the adjoining shores, the seabed and the open sea itself. The information on the invertebrates of the seabed of the Irish Sea is rather patchy because it is difficult to survey such a large area, where underwater visibility is often poor and information often depends upon looking at material brought up from the seabed in mechanical grabs. However, the groupings of animals present depend to a large extent on whether the seabed is composed of rock, boulders, gravel, sand, mud or even peat. In the soft sediments seven types of community have been provisionally identified, variously dominated by brittle - stars, sea urchins, worms, mussels, tellins, furrow - shells, and tower - shells. Parts of the bed of the Irish Sea are very rich in wildlife. The seabed southwest of the Isle of Man is particularly noted for its rarities and diversity, as are the horse mussel beds of Strangford Lough. Scallops and queen scallops are found in more gravelly areas. In the estuaries, where the bed is more sandy or muddy, the number of species is smaller but the size of their populations is larger. Brown shrimp, cockles and edible mussels support local fisheries in Morecambe Bay and the Dee Estuary and the estuaries are also important as nurseries for flatfish, herring and sea bass. Muddy seabeds in deeper waters are home to populations of the Dublin Bay prawn, also known as `` scampi ''. The open sea is a complex habitat in its own right. It exists in three spatial dimensions and also varies over time and tide. For example, where freshwater flows into the Irish Sea in river estuaries its influence can extend far offshore as the freshwater is lighter and `` floats '' on top of the much larger body of saltwater until wind and temperature changes mix it in. Similarly, warmer water is less dense and seawater warmed in the inter-tidal zone may `` float '' on the colder offshore water. The amount of light penetrating the seawater also varies with depth and turbidity. This leads to differing populations of plankton in different parts of the sea and varying communities of animals that feed on these populations. However, increasing seasonal storminess leads to greater mixing of water and tends to break down these divisions, which are more apparent when the weather is calm for long periods. Plankton includes bacteria, plants ( phytoplankton ) and animals ( zooplankton ) that drift in the sea. Most are microscopic, but some, such as the various species of jellyfish and sea gooseberry, can be much bigger. Diatoms and dinoflagellates dominate the phytoplankton. Although they are microscopic plants, diatoms have hard shells and dinoflagellates have little tails that propel them through the water. Phytoplankton populations in the Irish Sea have a spring `` bloom '' every April and May, when the seawater is generally at its greenest. Crustaceans, especially copepods, dominate the zooplankton. However, many animals of the seabed, the open sea and the seashore spend their juvenile stages as part of the zooplankton. The whole plankton `` soup '' is vitally important, directly or indirectly, as a food source for most species in the Irish Sea, even the largest. The enormous basking shark, for example, lives entirely on plankton and the leatherback turtle 's main food is jellyfish. A colossal diversity of invertebrate species live in the Irish Sea and its surrounding coastline, ranging from flower - like fan - worms to predatory swimming crabs to large chameleon - like cuttlefish. Some of the most significant for other wildlife are the reef - building species like the inshore horse mussel of Strangford Lough and the inter-tidal honeycomb worm of Morecambe Bay, Cumbria and Lancashire. These build up large structures over many years and, in turn, provide surfaces, nooks and crannies where other marine animals and plants may become established and live out some or all of their lives. There are quite regular records of live and stranded leatherback turtle in and around the Irish Sea. This species travels north to the waters off the British Isles every year following the swarms of jellyfish that form its prey. Loggerhead turtle, Ridley sea turtle and green turtle are found very occasionally in the Irish Sea but are generally unwell or dead when discovered. They have strayed or been swept out of their natural range further south into colder waters. The estuaries of the Irish Sea are of international importance for birds. They are vital feeding grounds on migration flyways for shorebirds travelling between the Arctic and Africa. Others depend on the milder climate as a refuge when continental Europe is in the grip of winter. Twenty - one species of seabird are reported as regularly nesting on beaches or cliffs around the Irish Sea. Huge populations of the sea duck, common scoter, spend winters feeding in shallow waters off eastern Ireland, Lancashire and North Wales. Whales, dolphins and porpoises all frequent the Irish Sea, but knowledge of how many there may be and where they go is somewhat sketchy. About a dozen species have been recorded since 1980, but only three are seen fairly often. These are the harbour porpoise, bottlenose dolphin and common dolphin. The more rarely seen species are minke whale, fin whale, sei whale, humpback whale, North Atlantic Right Whales which are now considered to be almost extinct in eastern North Atlantic, sperm whale, northern bottlenose whale, long - finned pilot whale, orca, white - beaked dolphin, striped dolphin and Risso 's dolphin. In 2005, a plan to reintroduce grey whales by airlifting 50 of them from the Pacific Ocean to the Irish Sea was claimed to be logically and ethically feasible ; it had not been implemented by 2013. The common or harbour seal and the grey seal are both resident in the Irish Sea. Common seals breed in Strangford Lough, grey seals in southwest Wales and, in small numbers, on the Isle of Man. Grey seals haul out, but do not breed, off Hilbre and Walney islands, Merseyside, the Wirral, St Annes, Barrow - in - Furness Borough, and Cumbria. Radioactivity The Irish Sea has been described by Greenpeace as the most radioactively contaminated sea in the world with some `` eight million litres of nuclear waste '' discharged into it each day from Sellafield reprocessing plants, contaminating seawater, sediments and marine life. Low - level radioactive waste has been discharged into the Irish Sea as part of operations at Sellafield since 1952. The rate of discharge began to accelerate in the mid - to late 1960s, reaching a peak in the 1970s and generally declining significantly since then. As an example of this profile, discharges of plutonium ( specifically Pu ) peaked in 1973 at 2,755 terabecquerels ( 74,500 Ci ) falling to 8.1 TBq ( 220 Ci ) by 2004. Improvements in the treatment of waste in 1985 and 1994 resulted in further reductions in radioactive waste discharge although the subsequent processing of a backlog resulted in increased discharges of certain types of radioactive waste. Discharges of technetium in particular rose from 6.1 TBq ( 160 Ci ) in 1993 to a peak of 192 TBq ( 5,200 Ci ) in 1995 before dropping back to 14 TBq ( 380 Ci ) in 2004. In total 22 petabecquerels ( 590 kCi ) of Pu was discharged over the period 1952 to 1998. Current rates of discharge for many radionuclides are at least 100 times lower than they were in the 1970s. Dublin Bay on the west coast of Irish Sea Analysis of the distribution of radioactive contamination after discharge reveals that mean sea currents result in much of the more soluble elements such as caesium being flushed out of the Irish Sea through the North Channel about a year after discharge. Measurements of technetium concentrations post-1994 has produced estimated transit times to the North Channel of around six months with peak concentrations off the northeast Irish coast occurring 18 -- 24 months after peak discharge. Less soluble elements such as plutonium are subject to much slower redistribution. Whilst concentrations have declined in line with the reduction in discharges they are markedly higher in the eastern Irish Sea compared to the western areas. The dispersal of these elements is closely associated with sediment activity, with muddy deposits on the seabed acting as sinks, soaking up an estimated 200 kg ( 440 lb ) of plutonium. The highest concentration is found in the eastern Irish Sea in sediment banks lying parallel to the Cumbrian coast. This area acts as a significant source of wider contamination as radionuclides are dissolved once again. Studies have revealed that 80 % of current sea water contamination by caesium is sourced from sediment banks, whilst plutonium levels in the western sediment banks between the Isle of Man and the Irish coast are being maintained by contamination redistributed from the eastern sediment banks. The consumption of seafood harvested from the Irish Sea is the main pathway for exposure of humans to radioactivity. The environmental monitoring report for the period 2003 to 2005 published by the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland ( RPII ) reported that in 2005 average quantities of radioactive contamination found in seafood ranged from less than 1 Bq / kg ( 12 pCi / lb ) for fish to under 44 Bq / kg ( 540 pCi / lb ) for mussels. Doses of man - made radioactivity received by the heaviest consumers of seafood in Ireland in 2005 was 1.10 μSv ( 0.000110 rem ). This compares with a corresponding dosage of radioactivity naturally occurring in the seafood consumed by this group of 148 μSv ( 0.0148 rem ) and a total average dosage in Ireland from all sources of 3,620 μSv ( 0.362 rem ). In terms of risk to this group, heavy consumption of seafood generates a 1 in 18 million chance of causing cancer. The general risk of contracting cancer in Ireland is 1 in 522. In the UK, the heaviest seafood consumers in Cumbria received a radioactive dosage attributable to Sellafield discharges of 220 μSv ( 0.022 rem ) in 2005. This compares to average annual dose of naturally sourced radiation received in the UK of 2,230 μSv ( 0.223 rem ). Oil and gas exploration East Irish Sea Basin This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( March 2008 ) With 210 billion cubic metres ( 7.5 trillion cubic feet ) of natural gas and 176 million barrels ( 28,000,000 m ) of petroleum estimated by the field operators as initially recoverable hydrocarbon reserves from eight producing fields ( DTI, 2001 ), the East Irish Sea Basin is at a mature exploration phase. Early Namurian basinal mudstones are the source rocks for these hydrocarbons. Production from all fields is from fault - bounded traps of the Lower Triassic formation, principally the aeolian Sherwood Sandstone reservoir, top - sealed by younger Triassic continental mudstones and evaporites. Future mineral exploration will initially concentrate on extending this play, but there remains largely untested potential also for gas and oil within widespread Carboniferous fluvial sandstone reservoirs. This play requires intraformational mudstone seal units to be present, as there is no top - seal for reservoirs subcropping the regional base Permian unconformity in the east of the basin, and Carboniferous strata crop out at the sea bed in the west. Caernarfon Bay Basin This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( March 2008 ) The Caernarfon Bay basin contains up to 7 cubic kilometres ( 1.7 cu mi ) of Permian and Triassic syn - rift sediments in an asymmetrical graben that is bounded to the north and south by Lower Paleozoic massifs. Only two exploration wells have been drilled so far, and there remain numerous undrilled targets in tilted fault block plays. As in the East Irish Sea Basin, the principal target reservoir is the Lower Triassic, Sherwood Sandstone, top - sealed by younger Triassic mudstones and evaporites. Wells in the Irish Sector to the west have demonstrated that pre-rift, Westphalian coal measures are excellent hydrocarbon source rocks, and are at peak maturity for gas generation ( Maddox et al., 1995 ). Seismic profiles clearly image these strata continuing beneath a basal Permian unconformity into at least the western part of the Caernarfon Bay Basin. The timing of gas generation presents the greatest exploration risk. Maximum burial of, and primary gas migration from, the source rocks could have terminated as early as the Jurassic, whereas many of the tilted fault blocks were reactivated or created during Paleogene inversion of the basin. However, it is also possible that a secondary gas charge occurred during regional heating associated with intrusion of Paleogene dykes, such as those that crop out nearby on the coastline of north Wales. ( Floodpage et al., 1999 ) have invoked this second phase of Paleogene hydrocarbon generation as an important factor in the charging of the East Irish Sea Basin 's oil and gas fields. It is not clear as yet whether aeromagnetic anomalies in the southeast of Caernarfon Bay are imaging a continuation of the dyke swarm into this area too, or whether they are instead associated with deeply buried Permian syn - rift volcanics. Alternatively, the fault block traps could have been recharged by exsolution of methane from formation brines as a direct result of the Tertiary uplift ( cf. Doré and Jensen, 1996 ). The Cardigan Bay Basin The Cardigan Bay Basin forms a continuation into British waters of Ireland 's North Celtic Sea Basin, which has two producing gas fields. The basin comprises a south - easterly deepening half - graben near the Welsh coastline, although its internal structure becomes increasingly complex towards the southwest. Permian to Triassic, syn - rift sediments within the basin are less than 3 km ( 1.9 mi ) thick and are overlain by up to 4 km ( 2.5 mi ) of Jurassic strata, and locally also by up to 2 km ( 1.2 mi ) of Paleogene fluvio - deltaic sediments. The basin has a proven petroleum system, with potentially producible gas reserves at the Dragon discovery near the UK / ROI median line, and oil shows in a further three wells. The Cardigan Bay Basin contains multiple reservoir targets, which include the Lower Triassic ( Sherwood Sandstone ), Middle Jurassic shallow marine sandstones and limestone ( Great Oolite ), and Upper Jurassic fluvial sandstone, the reservoir for the Dragon discovery. The most likely hydrocarbon source rocks are Early Jurassic marine mudstones. These are fully mature for oil generation in the west of the British sector, and are mature for gas generation nearby in the Irish sector. Gas - prone, Westphalian pre-rift coal measures may also be present at depth locally. The Cardigan Bay Basin was subjected to two Tertiary phases of compressive uplift, whereas maximum burial that terminated primary hydrocarbon generation was probably around the end of the Cretaceous, or earlier if Cretaceous strata, now missing, were never deposited in the basin. Despite the Tertiary structuration, the Dragon discovery has proved that potentially commercial volumes of hydrocarbons were retained at least locally in Cardigan Bay. In addition to undrilled structural traps, the basin contains untested potential for stratigraphic entrapment of hydrocarbons near synsedimentary faults, especially in the Middle Jurassic section. Liverpool Bay The Liverpool Bay Development is BHP Billiton Petroleum 's largest operated asset. It comprises the integrated development of five offshore oil and gas fields in the Irish Sea : Douglas oil field Hamilton gas field Hamilton North gas field Hamilton East gas field Lennox oil and gas field Oil is produced from the Lennox and Douglas fields. It is then treated at the Douglas Complex and piped 17 km ( 11 mi ) to an oil storage barge ready for export by tankers. Gas is produced from the Hamilton, Hamilton North and Hamilton East reservoirs. After initial processing at the Douglas Complex the gas is piped by subsea pipeline to the Point of Ayr gas terminal for further processing. The gas is then sent by onshore pipeline to PowerGen 's combined cycle gas turbine power station at Connah 's Quay. PowerGen is the sole purchaser of gas from the Liverpool Bay development. The Liverpool Bay development comprises four offshore platforms. Offshore storage and loading facilities. The onshore gas processing terminal at Point of Ayr. Production first started at each filed as follows : Hamilton North in 1995, Hamilton in 1996, Douglas in 1996, Lennox ( oil only ) in 1996 and Hamilton East 2001. The first contract gas sales were in 1996. The quality of the water in Liverpool Bay was historically contaminated by dumping of sewage sludge at sea but this practice became illegal in December 1988 and no further sludge was deposited after that date. Dalkey Island exploration prospect Previous exploration drilling in the Kish Bank Basin has confirmed the potential for petroleum generation with oil shows seen in a number of wells together with natural hydrocarbon seeps recorded from airborne surveys. New analysis of vintage 2 - D seismic data has revealed the presence of a large undrilled structural closure at Lower Triassic level situated about 10 kilometres ( 6 mi ) offshore Dublin. This feature, known as the Dalkey Island exploration prospect, may be prospective for oil, as there are prolific oil productive Lower Triassic reservoirs nearby in the eastern Irish Sea offshore Liverpool. Whilst the Dalkey Island exploration prospect could contain about 870 million barrels ( 140,000,000 m ) of oil in place, this undrilled prospect still has significant risk and the partners are currently advancing a focused work programme in order to better understand and hopefully mitigate these risks. However, given its location in shallow water and close proximity to shore, the prospect is of great interest as exploration drilling, together with any future development costs, are likely to be low. The Irish sea as seen from the pier at Dún Laoghaire harbour Proposed tunnel projects Main article : Irish Sea fixed crossing Discussions of linking Britain to Ireland began in 1895, with an application for £ 15,000 towards the cost of carrying out borings and soundings in the North Channel to see if a tunnel between Ireland and Scotland was viable. Sixty years later Harford Montgomery Hyde, Unionist MP for North Belfast, called for the building of such a tunnel. A tunnel project has been discussed several times in the Irish parliament. The idea for such a 34 - kilometre ( 21 mi ) long rail bridge or tunnel, continues to be mooted. Several potential Irish Sea tunnel projects have been proposed, including one between Dublin and Holyhead put forward in 1997 by the British engineering firm Symonds. At 80 km ( 50 mi ), it would be by far the longest rail tunnel in the world, and would cost an estimated € 20 billion. Wind power Barrow Offshore windfarm, off Walney Island See also : List of offshore wind farms in the Irish Sea An offshore wind farm was developed on the Arklow Bank, Arklow Bank Wind Park, about 10 km ( 6.2 mi ) off the coast of County Wicklow in the south Irish Sea. The site currently has seven GE 3.6 MW turbines, each with 104 - metre ( 341 ft ) diameter rotors, the world 's first commercial application of offshore wind turbines over three megawatts in size. The operating company, Airtricity, has indefinite plans for nearly 100 further turbines on the site. Further wind turbine sites include : The North Hoyle site 8 kilometres ( 5 mi ) off the coast from Rhyl and Prestatyn in North Wales, containing thirty 2 MW turbines. operated by NPower Renewables Burbo Bank site 10 kilometres ( 6.2 mi ) off the north Wirral coast Robin Rigg Wind Farm in the Solway Firth Thirty 90 - metre ( 300 ft ) 3 MW turbines are operating in a wind farm 7 km ( 4.3 mi ) the coast of Walney Island. Turbines are being erected off the coast of Clogherhead ( to be called the Oriel Wind Farm ) In fiction In fiction, the Island of Sodor, a fictional island from Wilbert Awdry 's The Railway Series and the Thomas and Friends children 's TV show, is located in the Irish Sea. The Irish Sea figures prominently in the Mabinogion. In the second branch of the Mabinogion the Irish Sea is crossed from the south to Harlech by Matholwch, the Irish King, who has come to seek the hand of Branwen ferch Llŷr, sister of Bendigeidfran, King of the Island of the Mighty. Branwen and Matholwch marry, but when she becomes abused by Matholwch, her brother crosses the sea from Wales to Ireland to rescue her. Within the story the Irish Sea is said to be shallow ; in addition it contains two rivers, the Lli and the Archan. See also List of crossings of the Irish Sea References Jump up ^ `` Muir Éireann ''. téarma.ie -- Dictionary of Irish Terms. Foras na Gaeilge and Dublin City University. Retrieved 18 Nov 2016. Jump up ^ `` Ellan Vannin '' ( in Manx ). Centre for Manx Studies ( `` Laare - Studeyrys Manninagh '' ). Retrieved 8 July 2011. Jump up ^ Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies, Issues 33 -- 35 University of Cambridge ( Gran Bretaña ). Department of Anglo - Saxon, Norse and Celtic 1997 ^ Jump up to : `` Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition + corrections '' ( PDF ). International Hydrographic Organization. 1971. p. 42 ( corrections to page 12 ). Retrieved 6 February 2010. Jump up ^ Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language Jump up ^ Bannerman, David Armitage ( 1963 ). The Birds of the British Isles : Volume 12. Edinburgh : Oliver and Boyd. p. 84. Jump up ^ The Caledonian. New York : Caledonian Publishing Co. 4 : 25. 1903. Missing or empty title = ( help ) Jump up ^ `` Irish Sea Facts ''. Irish Sea Conservation. Retrieved 3 July 2011. Jump up ^ MJ Howarth. `` Hydrography of the Irish Sea '' ( PDF ). United Kingdom Department of Trade and Industry. Retrieved 2 February 2015. Jump up ^ Port Statistics, ( Link ), Mersey Docks Website Jump up ^ UK Port Traffic Highlights : 2002, ( pdf ), UK Maritime Statistics, Dept of Transport Jump up ^ Direct Passenger Movement by Sea from and to Ireland ( Republic ), ( link ), Central Statistics Office of Ireland Jump up ^ U-Boat Alley by Roy Stokes, published by Compuwreck, ISBN 0 - 9549186 - 0 - 6 Jump up ^ The War in Maps : The Irish Sea, ( Link ), UBoat.net Jump up ^ `` SailRail ''. Irishrail.ie. Retrieved 16 April 2015. Jump up ^ Population figures are from 2001 Census, except : Isle of Man, from 2006. Populations of smaller islands are estimated at 5 per known inhabited house Jump up ^ Isle of Man Census 2006 ( excluding the population of 2 living on the Calf of Man ) Jump up ^ National Statistics -- Walney North ( Ward ) and Walney South ( Ward ) Jump up ^ Barne, J.H., Robson, C.F., Kaznowska, S.S., Doody, J.P., & Davidson, N.C., eds. 1996. Coasts and seas of the United Kingdom. Region 13 Northern Irish Sea : Colwyn Bay to Stranraer, including the Isle of Man. Peterborough, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, ISBN 1 - 873701 - 87 - X ^ Jump up to : Irish Sea Study Group Report, Part 1, NATURE CONSERVATION, Liverpool University Press, 1990 ISBN 0 - 85323 - 227 - X Jump up ^ Irish Sea Leatherback Turtle Project -- aiming to understand the populations, origins and behaviour of leatherback turtles in the Irish Sea http://www.jellyfish.ie/turtle.asp Jump up ^ `` Background Document for the Northern right whale Eubalaena glacialis '' ( PDF ). The OSPAR Convention ( 496 ). 2010. ISBN 978 - 1 - 907390 - 37 - 1. Retrieved 2015 - 01 - 03. Jump up ^ `` Plan to bring grey whales back to Britain ''. The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 November 2013. Jump up ^ Sellafield nuclear reprocessing facility, ( Link ), Greenpeace ^ Jump up to : The Past, Current and Future Radiological Impact of the Sellafield Marine Discharges on the People Living in the Coastal Communities Surrounding the Irish Sea, ( Link ), Environment Agency -- Table 3 ^ Jump up to : Monitoring our Environment -- Discharges and Monitoring in the UK -- Annual Report 2004, ( Link ), British Nuclear Group -- Table 2 Jump up ^ León Vintró et al. ( 2000 ), p. 2. Jump up ^ Quality Status Report -- Regional QSR III, ( Link ) Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine., OSPAR -- Chapter 4 Chemistry, p64 Jump up ^ León Vintró et al. ( 2000 ), sections 3 -- 4. Jump up ^ McMahon et al., 2005, ( Link ), Transfer of conservative and non-conservative radionuclides from the Sellafield Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing plant to the coastal waters of Ireland Jump up ^ Quality Status Report -- Regional QSR III, ( Link ) Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine., OSPAR -- Chapter 4 Chemistry, p66 Jump up ^ Ryan et al. ( 2005 ), p. 7. Jump up ^ Ryan et al. ( 2005 ), Table 45. Jump up ^ Ryan et al. ( 2005 ), p. 26. Jump up ^ Ryan et al. ( 2005 ), p. 27. Jump up ^ Radioactivity in Food and the Environment 2005, ( Link ), Cefas -- p11 Jump up ^ Watson et al., 2005 ( Link ), Health Protection Agency -- Ionising Radiation Exposure of the UK Population : 2005 Review Jump up ^ `` Petroleum prospectivity of the principal sedimentary basins on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf '' ( pdf ), Department of Trade and Industry, 2003 Jump up ^ Liverpool Bay, England ( Link ), BHP Oil Ltd Jump up ^ C. Michael Hogan. 2011. Irish Sea. eds. P. Saundry & C. Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC Jump up ^ Hansard - Pollution of Liverpool Bay Jump up ^ `` TUNNEL UNDER THE SEA '', The Washington Post, 2 May 1897 ( Archive link ) Jump up ^ `` An Irishman 's Diary '' by Wesley Boyd, ( Link ), The Irish Times, Feb 2004 ( subscription required ) Jump up ^ Written Answers. -- Sea Transport, ( Link ), Dáil Éireann -- Volume 384 -- 16 November 1988 Jump up ^ Written Answers. -- Irish Sea Railway Ferry, ( Link ), Dáil Éireann -- Volume 434 -- 19 October 1993 Jump up ^ Written Answers. -- Ireland - UK Tunnel, ( Link ), Dáil Éireann -- Volume 517 -- 29 March 2000 Jump up ^ Written Answers -- Transport Projects, ( Link ), Dáil Éireann -- Volume 597 -- 15 February 2005 Jump up ^ Bridge to Northern Ireland mooted, BBC News Scotland, 22 August 2007 Jump up ^ `` Arklow Bank Wind Park ''. Airtricity. Jump up ^ Northhoyle Jump up ^ `` Barrow Offshore windfarm ''. Jump up ^ Oriel Wind project status Jump up ^ `` Where is Sodor, home of Thomas the Tank Engine ? ''. BBC. Retrieved 3 March 2016. Jump up ^ Williams, Ifor. Pedeir Keinc y Mabinogi. University of Wales Press. Bibliography Luis León Vintró ; Kilian J. Smith ; Julie A. Lucey ; Peter I. Mitchell ( 4 -- 6 December 2000 ). The environmental impact of the Sellafield discharges ( PDF ). SCOPE - RADSITE Workshop. Brussels. R.W. Ryan ; A. Dowdall ; M.F. Fegan ; E. Hayden ; K. Kelleher ; S. Long ; I. McEvoy ; L. McKittrick ; C.A. McMahon ; M. Murray ; K. Smith ; S. Sequeira ; J. Wong ; D. Pollard. Radioactive Monitoring of the Irish Environment 2003 -- 2005 ( PDF ). Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 27 March 2009. Further reading Cowsill, Miles ; Hislip, Gordon ( 2016 ). Ferries of the Irish Sea : across four decades. Ramsey, Isle of Man : Ferry Publications. ISBN 9781906608644. Herdman, W.A. ; Dawson, Robert A. ( 1902 ). Fishes and fisheries of the Irish Sea. London : George Philip & Son Ltd. External links Look up irish sea in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Fylde Coast Marine Life Project Irish Sea Conservation Zones The Wildlife Trusts Living Seas -- Irish Sea Earth 's oceans and seas Arctic Ocean Amundsen Gulf Barents Sea Beaufort Sea Chukchi Sea East Siberian Sea Greenland Sea Gulf of Boothia Kara Sea Laptev Sea Lincoln Sea Prince Gustav Adolf Sea Pechora Sea Queen Victoria Sea Wandel Sea White Sea Atlantic Ocean Adriatic Sea Aegean Sea Alboran Sea Archipelago Sea Argentine Sea Baffin Bay Balearic Sea Baltic Sea Bay of Biscay Bay of Bothnia Bay of Campeche Bay of Fundy Black Sea Bothnian Sea Caribbean Sea Celtic Sea English Channel Foxe Basin Greenland Sea Gulf of Bothnia Gulf of Finland Gulf of Lion Gulf of Guinea Gulf of Maine Gulf of Mexico Gulf of Saint Lawrence Gulf of Sidra Gulf of Venezuela Hudson Bay Ionian Sea Irish Sea Irminger Sea James Bay Labrador Sea Levantine Sea Libyan Sea Ligurian Sea Marmara Sea Mediterranean Sea Myrtoan Sea North Sea Norwegian Sea Sargasso Sea Sea of Åland Sea of Azov Sea of Crete Sea of the Hebrides Thracian Sea Tyrrhenian Sea Wadden Sea Indian Ocean Andaman Sea Arabian Sea Bali Sea Bay of Bengal Flores Sea Great Australian Bight Gulf of Aden Gulf of Aqaba Gulf of Khambhat Gulf of Kutch Gulf of Oman Gulf of Suez Java Sea Laccadive Sea Mozambique Channel Persian Gulf Red Sea Timor Sea Pacific Ocean Arafura Sea Banda Sea Bering Sea Bismarck Sea Bohai Sea Bohol Sea Camotes Sea Celebes Sea Ceram Sea Chilean Sea Coral Sea East China Sea Gulf of Alaska Gulf of Anadyr Gulf of California Gulf of Carpentaria Gulf of Fonseca Gulf of Panama Gulf of Thailand Gulf of Tonkin Halmahera Sea Koro Sea Mar de Grau Molucca Sea Moro Gulf Philippine Sea Salish Sea Savu Sea Sea of Japan Sea of Okhotsk Seto Inland Sea Shantar Sea Sibuyan Sea Solomon Sea South China Sea Sulu Sea Tasman Sea Visayan Sea Yellow Sea Southern Ocean Amundsen Sea Bellingshausen Sea Cooperation Sea Cosmonauts Sea Davis Sea D'Urville Sea King Haakon VII Sea Lazarev Sea Mawson Sea Riiser - Larsen Sea Ross Sea Scotia Sea Somov Sea Weddell Sea Endorheic basins Aral Sea Caspian Sea Dead Sea Sea of Galilee Salton Sea Book VIAF : 247162069 GND : 4027662 - 4 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Irish_Sea&oldid=808073826 '' Categories : Bodies of water of Ireland Bodies of water of Wales Borders of Wales European seas Irish Sea Republic of Ireland -- United Kingdom border Shipping Forecast areas Seas of the Republic of Ireland Bodies of water of Northern Ireland Seas of the United Kingdom Hidden categories : CS1 Manx - language sources ( gv ) Pages with citations lacking titles Webarchive template wayback links Use British English from May 2012 Use dmy dates from May 2012 Coordinates on Wikidata Articles containing Irish - language text Articles containing Manx - language text Articles containing Scots - language text Articles containing Scottish Gaelic - language text Articles containing Welsh - language text All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from March 2008 Articles needing additional references from March 2008 All articles needing additional references Articles with unsourced statements from April 2010 Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans Ænglisc Aragonés Asturianu Azərbaycanca تۆرکجه বাংলা Башҡортса Беларуская भोजपुरी Български Bosanski Brezhoneg Català Чӑвашла Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Frysk Gaeilge Gaelg Gàidhlig Galego 한국어 Հայերեն Hornjoserbsce Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית ქართული Қазақша Kurdî Кыргызча Latviešu Lëtzebuergesch Lietuvių Lumbaart Magyar Македонски മലയാളം मराठी მარგალური مصرى Bahasa Melayu Nederlands Nedersaksies 日本 語 Нохчийн Nordfriisk Norsk Norsk nynorsk Occitan Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча ਪੰਜਾਬੀ پنجابی Polski Português Română Русский Scots Shqip Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina کوردی Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Tagalog தமிழ் ไทย Türkçe Українська اردو Tiếng Việt Winaray ייִדיש 粵語 Žemaitėška 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 31 October 2017, at 18 : 37. 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Question: what is the body of water between england and ireland
Answer: The Irish Sea