St George's Channel

The name "St George's Channel" is recorded in 1578 in Martin Frobisher's record of his second voyage. It is said to derive from a legend that Saint George had voyaged to Roman Britain from the Byzantine Empire, approaching Britain via the channel that bears his name. The name was popularised by English settlers in Ireland after the Plantations. == Geography ==

Historically, the name "St George's Channel" was used interchangeably with "Irish Sea" or "Irish Channel" to encompass all the waters between Ireland to the west and Wales to the east. Some geographers restricted it to the portion separating Wales from Leinster, A 2004 letter from the St.George's Channel Shipping Company to Seascapes, an RTÉ Radio programme, said that St George's Channel bordered the Irish coast between Howth Head and Kilmore Quay, and criticised contributors to the programme who had used "Irish Sea" for these waters. == Limits ==

The current (third, 1953) edition of the International Hydrographic Organization's publication Limits of Oceans and Seas defines the southern limit of "Irish Sea and St. George's Channel" as "A line joining St. David's Head () to Carnsore Point ()"; it does not define the two waterbodies separately. The 2002 draft fourth edition omits the "and St. George's Channel" part of the label. ==See also==