Islands of Ireland: Westmeath's Hare Island has had royal and Nobel visitors — as well as Vikings and holy guests

The island was once home to aristocrat-owned hunting lodges but these are now crumbling ruins with trees growing through the roofs and briars and vines choking the masonry

Islands of Ireland: Westmeath's Hare Island is in the lower reaches of Lough Ree, just north of Athlone

This is a first visit to County Westmeath for this column and features the discovery of an island with a fascinating past. It is very overgrown now save for a small meadow in its centre, but Hare Island, or Inis Aingin, in County Westmeath was once a hive of activity with pleasure craft and hunters availing of its usually benign nature to connect with nature. It is densely forested now with multiple native species evident.

Lough Ree is divided between counties Westmeath, Longford and Roscommon with an invisible border running lengthways, and also at its mid-point, running east. In the lower reaches of the lough, just north of Athlone, the heavily wooded Hare Island can be found. So appealing have its shores been that it can boast of antique links (a huge Viking hoard was found there), several church ruins, and 19th-century hunting lodges that appealed to the aristocratic class, seemingly oblivious to the hardships of the local people.