Islands of Ireland

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Ten incredible islands to add to your Ireland bucket list

#Islands of Ireland

Dan MacCarthy details the isles and islands along our shore

A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC

<p>Cape Clear, viewed from Sherkin Island.</p>

outdoors

New book tells the remarkable story of Cape Clear Island in West Cork

A new book by historian Diarmuid Ó Drisceoil explores the life and times of the West Cork island of Cape Clear

<p>The report in the 'Irish Examiner' highlighted how some GAA clubs in Kerry's Iveragh Peninsula struggle to field team — a challenge that is being experienced everywhere from Inishowen in Donegal to Beara in Cork. Stock picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile</p>

ourview

Irish Examiner view: South Kerry taskforce on population decline is a welcome initiative

<p>The A-EX2 — Muirí Carraige Aonair Teo's second submarine — approaching wreckage on the seabed. The Super Yacht Sub 3 model can carry three people, and can dive for up to 12 hours to depths of 300m. File picture</p>

munster

West Cork diver makes remarkable discoveries with Ireland's second commercial submarine

Misleading online posts prompt thousands of enquiries about State's 'Our Living Islands' initiative

news

Misleading online posts prompt thousands of enquiries about State's 'Our Living Islands' initiative

West Cork island facing annual fight to attract families amid fears for school’s future

munster

West Cork island facing annual fight to attract families amid fears for school’s future

Achill island coastal scenery

comment-analysis

Colin Sheridan: Better late than never for Achill’s broadband lifeline

West Cork island seeks new head teacher — and more children to help keep its school open

West Cork island seeks new head teacher — and more children to help keep its school open

Cape Clear is wooing young families to help boost enrolment at its primary school, while also advertising for a new head teacher as well as a new tourism manager

Sun, 06 Jul, 2025

Islands of Ireland: Ode to Sherkin in the 70s — where my love of islands began

Islands of Ireland: Ode to Sherkin in the 70s — where my love of islands began

Thinking back to childhood holidays when we looked across to Baltimore over fields of poppies hoping the ferry would never arrive

Sun, 15 Sep, 2024

Skellig Michael — not just one of the greatest islands in Ireland but one of the greatest in the world

Skellig Michael — not just one of the greatest islands in Ireland but one of the greatest in the world

The 2024 season for travelling to Skellig finishes at the end of this month — but you can always plan your visit for next year if you don't make it this September

Fri, 06 Sep, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Heading towards Coney Island in Cork

Islands of Ireland: Heading towards Coney Island in Cork

Coney derives from Irish origins probably from coinín or rabbit — there are Coney Islands in Counties Clare and Down as well as in New York

Fri, 30 Aug, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Inishkea North has Iron-Age and medieval ruins

Islands of Ireland: Inishkea North has Iron-Age and medieval ruins

The Inishkea Islands were also linked to international trade through their production of a purple dye derived from purpura shellfish, mosses, certain seaweeds, squids, jellyfish and starfish. The dye was traded as far as Byzantium (modern day Turkey) and was used to colour silks and velvets and was much in demand in royal courts

Fri, 23 Aug, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Monastery, fortress, prison, tourist destination... the many lives of Spike Island

Islands of Ireland: Monastery, fortress, prison, tourist destination... the many lives of Spike Island

Spike Island has been host to a 7th century monastery, a 24-acre fortress, the largest convict depot in the world in Victorian times, and centuries of island homes

Fri, 16 Aug, 2024

Illaunataggart got its name in a time when saying mass or speaking Irish meant punishment and death

Illaunataggart got its name in a time when saying mass or speaking Irish meant punishment and death

This 'Island of the Priest' references a time when to practice the Catholic religion was to risk a death sentence or at least castration for the priests. Hence the many locations around the country where the religion survived by holding masses in woods, mountains, caves and islands, far from the reach of the authorities and inevitable consequences

Fri, 09 Aug, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Arranmore is a magnet for hillwalkers, birdwatchers, anglers, swimmers, divers... and island fans

Islands of Ireland: Arranmore is a magnet for hillwalkers, birdwatchers, anglers, swimmers, divers... and island fans

One trail here leads to the northwest of the island where the lighthouse can be found. Like all our other lighthouses, it is unmanned and automated. Since 1865 it has directed ships away from its rocks

Fri, 02 Aug, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Kerry's Arbutus Island came in for high praise from romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelly

Islands of Ireland: Kerry's Arbutus Island came in for high praise from romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelly

The island is named for the 'strawberry tree' which grows in Cork, Kerry and Sligo as well as the Mediterranean

Fri, 19 Jul, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Illaungorm North in Galway was once home to two families

Islands of Ireland: Illaungorm North in Galway was once home to two families

There are the remains of a quay on the northern shore of the island near a few houses where the two families were recorded as living

Fri, 12 Jul, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Mizen Head's Bird Island is really tricky to get to — and that's great

Islands of Ireland: Mizen Head's Bird Island is really tricky to get to — and that's great

'This is just the fourth island in this series to defeat the attempt of this columnist to land'

Fri, 05 Jul, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Galway's Friar Island — a magnet for kayakers, divers... and sheep

Islands of Ireland: Galway's Friar Island — a magnet for kayakers, divers... and sheep

The island is grazed by sheep hence the almost complete absence of trees and flowers there. A steep slope allows the animals to be brought on and off and the pen at the top of the slope is the only visible manmade structure on the private island.

Fri, 28 Jun, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Ballingarry — scene of sieges, slaughter and imprisonment

Islands of Ireland: Ballingarry — scene of sieges, slaughter and imprisonment

One man who moved to Kerry with his family saw his mother and younger brother killed before he was locked up in the castle here. He later went to Youghal but was kidnapped and brought to Algiers before making his way back to settle in Mitchelstown

Fri, 21 Jun, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Skull Island — a better name for this Cork island featuring a ruined mortuary chapel and graveyard?

Islands of Ireland: Skull Island — a better name for this Cork island featuring a ruined mortuary chapel and graveyard?

The graveyard could be pre-Christian in origin and later it may have had Spanish and English sailors buried here — locals said that on occasion erosion caused the skulls to come tumbling out of the side of the graveyard

Fri, 14 Jun, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Best leave Cull Island to the birds — view it from the mainland

Islands of Ireland: Best leave Cull Island to the birds — view it from the mainland

This island can be seen from the shore about 2km southeast of the village of Duncormick where a beautiful shoreline walk fringes the lagoon

Fri, 07 Jun, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Success... I managed to find the tiny church on Parsons Island

Islands of Ireland: Success... I managed to find the tiny church on Parsons Island

This island's on Galway's Lough Cutra — Loch Cútra in Irish, it's named after a Firbolg who mythically did battle with another ancient tribe, the Tuatha Dé Danann

Fri, 31 May, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Even the name suggests you can walk to the Galway island of Inishtreh

Islands of Ireland: Even the name suggests you can walk to the Galway island of Inishtreh

At low tide it is possible to walk to the island from a pier. In fact the translation of the island comes from ‘troigh’ or ‘foot’ indicating that such a venture is possible

Fri, 24 May, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Roaringwater Bay and Long Island Bay have dozens of satellite islands — let's check some out

Islands of Ireland: Roaringwater Bay and Long Island Bay have dozens of satellite islands — let's check some out

There might be some truth in the poetic phrase 'Carbery's Hundred Isles' after all

Fri, 17 May, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Who knows if Inishcottle is named after a person, an Irish word — maybe a cuttlefish?

Islands of Ireland: Who knows if Inishcottle is named after a person, an Irish word — maybe a cuttlefish?

This Mayo island has a connection to Princess Grace of Monaco — she visited to meet her cousins

Fri, 10 May, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Cleaning up the plastic 'treasure' on Inishbroon

Islands of Ireland: Cleaning up the plastic 'treasure' on Inishbroon

But I had no room on my kayak for a 12ft by 6ft refrigerator door which must have come from a commercial ship

Fri, 03 May, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Inishlacken is so beautiful it will take your breath away

Islands of Ireland: Inishlacken is so beautiful it will take your breath away

You can complete a full circle of the island by walking lovely old boreens and along the shoreline

Fri, 26 Apr, 2024

Islands of Ireland: No long face thanks to the inspirational beauty of Kerry's Horse Island

Islands of Ireland: No long face thanks to the inspirational beauty of Kerry's Horse Island

There are many Horse Islands in the country — prominent ones include those at Roaringwater Bay and at Ballinskelligs Bay — but this one near Valentia and Portmagee is just gorgeous

Fri, 19 Apr, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Kenmare Bay — still called a river thanks to a lord who wanted to ensure fishing rights

Islands of Ireland: Kenmare Bay — still called a river thanks to a lord who wanted to ensure fishing rights

This 'river island' is rocky and small but is a lovely spot for a picnic if you happen to be passing by on a boat

Fri, 12 Apr, 2024

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

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

Fri, 05 Apr, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Bushy Island — a wealth of dykes and mudflats and butterflies

Islands of Ireland: Bushy Island — a wealth of dykes and mudflats and butterflies

But as with several of the Shannon islands Bushy Island is synonymous with a maritime tragedy

Fri, 29 Mar, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Reennafardarrig — seven acres with a beach decorated with wild flowers

Islands of Ireland: Reennafardarrig — seven acres with a beach decorated with wild flowers

This island may have been an outlier of a main monastery on a nearby island... as a retreat from human contact it is a little piece of heaven

Fri, 15 Mar, 2024

Islands of Ireland: MacCarthy’s Island in Kerry — set in a little piece of heaven

Islands of Ireland: MacCarthy’s Island in Kerry — set in a little piece of heaven

The lake is surrounded by mountains and woods... Tomies, Purple, and Shehy Mountain stand on the northside while Torc, Mangerton, and Peakeen form the southern part of what is in effect a giant bowl

Fri, 08 Mar, 2024

Sigginstown Island — uninhabited but supremely rich in birdlife

Sigginstown Island — uninhabited but supremely rich in birdlife

The name 'Sigginstown' comes from the Anglo-Norman settler family of de Sygan who are thought to have built the nearby tower in the 16th century

Fri, 01 Mar, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Oak, yew and strawberry trees — and serenity — at Monk’s Island, County Sligo

Islands of Ireland: Oak, yew and strawberry trees — and serenity — at Monk’s Island, County Sligo

It's likely that monks based on a nearby island took their currachs over to this woody idyll for some solitude and contemplation

Fri, 23 Feb, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Wade to the Waterford island 'built' by Kerry rain

Islands of Ireland: Wade to the Waterford island 'built' by Kerry rain

Heavy rain in Kerry fills the River Blackwater which flows to the sea at Youghal — the silt load is ultimately built up into river islands including Bushe's Island

Fri, 16 Feb, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Mudbanks, nettles, and a plane crash — Graigue Island in Shannon Estuary

Islands of Ireland: Mudbanks, nettles, and a plane crash — Graigue Island in Shannon Estuary

One-acre Graigue Island in the Shannon Estuary has been suggested as a point for construction of a tidal barrier to protect Limerick City from the effects of global warming, such as is sorely needed in Cork Harbour also

Fri, 09 Feb, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Just three people live on Clynish where there was once a village

Islands of Ireland: Just three people live on Clynish where there was once a village

Not counting the islands connected by causeway, Clynish and Inishlyre are the only Clew Bay islands with year-round inhabitants

Fri, 02 Feb, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Trasnagh na dtonnta to this County Down island

Islands of Ireland: Trasnagh na dtonnta to this County Down island

Luscious green grass for the herd of cattle brought here for the first time in more than 70 years

Fri, 26 Jan, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Wherroon Island — rough reefs and a drowning tragedy

Islands of Ireland: Wherroon Island — rough reefs and a drowning tragedy

Despite a high tide completely covering this island, people went here to gather seaweed, but rough seas prevented locals from collecting the women working here and they were drowned

Fri, 19 Jan, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Inisherkin is a pretty bleak — but also majestic — spot in Clew Bay

Islands of Ireland: Inisherkin is a pretty bleak — but also majestic — spot in Clew Bay

At low tide it's possible to walk to this County Mayo island

Fri, 12 Jan, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Weir Island could have been the site of Cork's airport in a different era

Islands of Ireland: Weir Island could have been the site of Cork's airport in a different era

Plans to build a seaplane base at Cobh and an aerodrome at Belvelly and Weir Island were looked at back in the 1930s

Fri, 05 Jan, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Fishtrap and kelp industry relics at Illaunacullin, County Cork

Islands of Ireland: Fishtrap and kelp industry relics at Illaunacullin, County Cork

Medieval fishermen would have been busy at this West Cork swampland island as fish was a diet staple and this island's layout meant it was handy for catching fish

Fri, 29 Dec, 2023

Islands of Ireland: Semi-ruined Carrigafoyle Castle surveys Carrig Island and beyond

Islands of Ireland: Semi-ruined Carrigafoyle Castle surveys Carrig Island and beyond

This island is joined to the mainland by a causeway and there are monastic settlement remains here too as well as a Napoleonic era battery

Fri, 15 Dec, 2023

Islands of Ireland: Kerry's muddy Derrymore is very valuable on a global scale

Islands of Ireland: Kerry's muddy Derrymore is very valuable on a global scale

Derrymore Island is a haven for migrating birds and acts as a natural carbon sink. Coastal wetlands outperform even tropical forests for carbon capture

Fri, 08 Dec, 2023

Islands of Ireland: Surging seas, foam, and treacherous reefs surround Govern Island

Islands of Ireland: Surging seas, foam, and treacherous reefs surround Govern Island

The enormous and appropriately-named White Strand is the best place from which to approach the island

Fri, 01 Dec, 2023

Islands of Ireland: The largest inland island in Ireland — where Brian Boru might be buried

Islands of Ireland: The largest inland island in Ireland — where Brian Boru might be buried

A local woman, born in 1861, passed on a verse to her grandson and it could well indicate that this is the resting place of Irish royalty

Fri, 24 Nov, 2023

Islands of Ireland: Only lapping water and birdsong break the silence at Roscommon's Lahan Island

Islands of Ireland: Only lapping water and birdsong break the silence at Roscommon's Lahan Island

The island, which has a small jetty on its north side, has a lovely canopy of oak, beech, and hawthorn trees

Fri, 17 Nov, 2023

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

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

Fri, 10 Nov, 2023

Islands of Ireland: Turkish sailors with outbreak of cholera on board buried their dead here

Islands of Ireland: Turkish sailors with outbreak of cholera on board buried their dead here

Many of Ireland's 'Turk Islands' mean 'island of the wild boar' but West Cork's Turk Island has three graves where sailors who died of cholera are buried

Fri, 03 Nov, 2023