Islands of Ireland: Strawberry fields forever

Where woods in general are vulnerable to man and his animals, those on islands benefit from isolation

Almost anywhere you come across a large lake in Ireland you will also find a Bush Island. It’s as if whoever named them was at a loss for inspiration when faced with the task of rendering them unto the map. At the sight of a few trees and bushes then the first thing that sprang to mind for these nameless nomenclaturists was ‘Bush Island’. Fair enough, but fairly forgettable too.

There are bush islands in Lough Corrib, Lough Ree and on the Shannon Estuary, and elsewhere to boot. We do have several islands named after trees, including Oak Island (Lough Corrib, again), Yew Islands (Lough Derg) and Holly Island (Lough Currane). There is even an Arbutus Island in Killarney’s lakes.