Islands of Ireland: Flea Island a short hop away

Dan MacCarthy explores Flea Island near Castletownshend, Co Cork

There is a huge variety of names to Ireland’s hundreds and hundreds of islands. They are named after geographical features mainly, but also people, and of course animals. We have many horse islands, cow islands, rabbit islands; several bull, calf, cow, and hog islands. There are a couple of pig, lamb, dog, deer, and duck islands. There are even bird, swan, eagle, puffin, jackdaw, crab, turbot, colt, fox, goat, cat, and ox islands but just one Flea island. Why Flea Island, in Co Cork, is so named is probably to do with its minuteness but also its shape.