Fastnet Rock, Co. Cork:

Fastnet Rock eight miles off the mainland earned its renown from the iconic photo of a wave crashing over the 150-foot-tall lighthouse, and from the 1979 Fastnet Race disaster when a violent storm toppled boats. It’s also known as Ireland’s Teardrop, as it was the last of Ireland that emigrants saw when they sailed to North America. The Fastnet Rock Tour from Baltimore or Schull stops on Cape Clear Island where the Heritage Center explains the history of the light and the biennial yacht race from England. Then the boat circles Fastnet Rock, pending sea conditions, and patrols for whales and dolphins.