Islands of Ireland: Long Island in West Cork is one of Carbery’s mythical hundred isles

Though there are only a handful of permanent residents today in among the holiday houses of Long Island, it had a population of 305 people in 1841, writes Dan MacCarthy

Mon, 14 Feb, 2022 - 17:54

While the subject of this week’s article evokes the other side of the Atlantic viz New York and its suburbs (it even has a companion Coney Island and nearby Baltimore) there the comparison must end lest someone knows of a Bronx or a Manhattan in the vicinity.

This Long Island is one of at least five in the country with several on lakes to supplement those in counties Cork and Kerry. This one is a slender 5km and only just over half a kilometre wide. The standout feature of Long Island is its beautiful lighthouse at its eastern tip, Copper Point, which has, since 1865, guided mariners into the safe haven of Schull.