Islands of Ireland: How now, Brown Island?

The predominant sound, apart from the traffic here, is of animals from Fota’s Wildlife Park

Ruins of a pier at Brown Island on the Slatty Water, opposite Fota Island on the N25. Picture: Dan MacCarthy

WHEN a small unpopulated island stands in the way of a major infrastructural project there is only going to be one winner.

Such was the fate of Brown Island between Cork City and Cobh in the 1980s when a major arterial road was
constructed to link Cork with Rosslare.