Islands of Ireland: A tiny pebbled beach on Sligo's Fairy Island

Fairy Island may have inspired WB Yeats for The Stolen Child. He was a frequent visitor to the huge Church Island adjacent to Fairy Island so it is possible he visited this island also

Islands of Ireland: Fairy Island, aka Oileán na Síog, is a small island in Lough Gill, County Sligo.  Picture: Dan MacCarthy

Fairies abound in the place names of County Sligo. Fairy Island, or Oileán na Sióg, is a small island in Lough Gill about 4km east of the town. 

Knocknashee, the Hill of the Fairies, is a hill in the Ox Mountains appropriately furnished with a ringfort, in which fairies, of course, domiciled. The Abbeyquarter stone circle also known as the Garavogue Fairy Fort, overlooks the River Garavogue in the town. And the Fairy Glen is a small valley underneath Knocknarea Mountain.