Islands of Ireland: A marble universe at Cappanacush Island, County Kerry

There was once substantial economic activity from the working of marble from a mine here 

Cappanacush island, Templenoe, County Kerry. Picture: Dan MacCarthy

The Greenane islands which seem to float like paper boats on the so-called Kenmare River and are overlooked by the mountains of the Iveragh Peninsula are an archipelago in their own right: Cappanacush Island; Illaunakilla, Illaungowla, and Carrigacurreal as well as several small unnamed islands define this rocky but lush place. The Dunkerron Islands, close by, are also an archipelago, though are fewer in number. The Greenanes have featured here before as a unit but one of their number merits a closer look.

By far the largest of the Greenanes at 19 acres is Cappanacush. There were two Kelly families resident there in the mid-20th century, though as in common with all other abandoned islands, life just became too difficult to maintain there. The name derives from ‘Oileán an Tí’ or ‘Ceapaigh na Coise’.