Islands of Ireland: From Constantinople to Mayo's Island More 

Island More is the fourth largest in Clew Bay’s necklace of islands

Island More, Clew Bay, County Mayo. Picture: Dan MacCarthy

Clew Bay’s role in international trade was highlighted a few decades ago by the discovery of Turkish coins on an island at the very edge of the bay, Island More. A resident of Clew Bay, Tommy Gibbons, discovered a small coin in 1957 on the beach on the island with what turned out to be Turkish script. In 1992, the National Museum, having been contacted by the Mayo News newspaper, identified the origin of the 10 para-piece as of Turkish origin bearing the image of the sultan Abdul Mejid with a date of 1839 to 1861. The obverse of the coin carried the sultan’s monogram called the ‘tughra’ which was a seal affixed to all official documents, and the reverse had the wording ‘Struck in Constantinople’. The sultan sent £1,000 to Ireland to alleviate the suffering of the Famine, which was £9,000 less than the sum he had wanted but was persuaded by British diplomats not to upstage the £2,000 sent by Queen Victoria.

The Mayo News reported that “an explanation offered for the presence of Turkish coins on Island More was that the island was frequently visited by foreign sailors to collect ballast for the outward journey of the great ‘wind-jammers’ which, up to the end of the previous century visited Westport Quay in large numbers to discharge cargoes”. Having unloaded the cargoes the ships would have needed to replace the deliveries with heavy material, probably rubble from the beaches of the islands. Hence, their presence on this and probably other islands in the vicinity is explained. Whether any trade or other contact took place between the locals and the sailors is not known, but it does make for interesting speculation.