Islands of Ireland: Friar's Island in Co Tipperary no longer exists — but the oratory was saved

As the waters rose and threatened to engulf the island, the stones of the oratory were numbered and rafted to higher ground to be rebuilt

Stretch of the River Shannon near Ballina, County Tipperary where the now-submerged Friar's Island once welcomed pilgrims. Picture: Dan MacCarthy 

One of several islands of the same name, this Friar’s Island has a distinctive difference from the others... it no longer exists. Where Friar’s Island in Lough Leane in Killarney is nestled discreetly in a corner of the famous lake and evokes images of monks at prayer or scribes at work on manuscripts, County Tipperary's Friar’s Island can not really be said to evoke anything as it does not exist. It did once exist of course, but in 1929 when the ESB began construction of the Shannon Scheme including the electricity generating station at Ardnacrusha, Friar’s Island disappeared beneath the waters of the River Shannon.

The scheme presented a rather large problem with the presence of an important part of our medieval church history in the form of the oratory of St Lua or Molua. After much head-scratching and consultation it was decided to remove the oratory and rebuild it nearby in the grounds of St Flannan’s Church, Killaloe. All the stones were numbered and the church was reassembled there in 1930. As the waters of the river gradually rose because of the construction of the dam the placid island was engulfed. Friar’s Island ceased to be.