THE presence of an important wetland habitat for migratory birds by the N25 road and a commuter rail line has generated the sales and marketing motto for Cork’s latest new homes development to launch this year: Harper’s Creek invites house hunters to “Come home to Glounthaune”.

To the charge that Harper’s Island in Cork Harbour, with its three points of contact to the ‘mainland’, is not an island, the rebuttal affirming its island status: The area is defined by its natural history and not its current structures, writes Dan MacCarthy.