Islands of Ireland: King of kings on Dinish

Dan MacCarthy on the rather exotic story of one of the scant few Kerry islands on the Beara Peninsula

Dinish Island, Co Kerry, which has a curious connection with landlocked Uganda. Picture: Dan MacCarthy

The last two weeks have featured two Deenish islands and this week it’s the turn of their near homonym Dinish. This Dinish Island is one of at least three in the country. The Co Kerry island includes in its name the superfluous word ‘island’ which is already included in the Irish name. Nothing wrong with a bit of superfluity, though.

It is one of a scant few Kerry islands on the Beara Peninsula. There are a few more around Lough Inchquin and a few others at Kilmackillogue Harbour. Dinish Island is neighbour to a couple of archipelagoes in the Greenane Islands and the Dunkerron Islands but they are on the more northerly Iveragh Peninsula. The narrowness, and the shallowness of the Kenmare River at this point is attested by hardy swimmers who occasionally link the two peninsulas in a swim that is scarcely 3km across.