Islands of Ireland: Granny's intentions

Mon, 25 Jan, 2021 - 16:30

Dan McCarthy

Not to be confused with the 1960s’ rock band from Limerick, this Granny’s intention refers to the idea to develop a flying boat facility at Crookhaven Harbour, West Cork in the early 1930s. Granny’s Island, lies to the north of Crookhaven, Co Cork. It is a mere scrap of an island with sparse vegetation and though its name suggests otherwise, should really be identified as an islet.

At the western end of the harbour the main road winds in from Goleen along a pleasant road. Beyond that is Barleycove where imposing sand dunes eventuated from the 1755 Lisbon earthquake when
incalculable tonnes of sand were shifted northwards by the resultant tsunami.

The eastern end of the harbour is dominated by Rock Island and the former coastguard houses. This is attached to the mainland by a very short isthmus though has been known to have been cut off in spring tides. Granny’s Island forms a focal point in the summer for youngsters beginning to learn their starboard from their port.
And seals haul themselves out on Granny.
(An odd sentence, but there you go).

Dan McCarthy: 'In 1930 a suggestion was advanced to develop the harbour as a landing facility for flying boats.'

In 1930 a suggestion was advanced to develop the harbour as a landing facility for flying boats. In 1927 the world was captivated by the achievement of Charles Lindbergh in flying solo across the Atlantic, and the possibilities of linking the continents aroused huge interest. The home of flying boats in Ireland was of course Foynes on the Shannon Estuary in Co Limerick where a successful transatlantic enterprise was begun in 1935. Another proposal to develop a facility at Deenish Island adjacent to Shannon Airport come to naught.

A John Downing writing in 1930 in the Southern Star said that the village’s suitability for a seaplane station was second to none, and its position is “certainly more convenient to trans-Atlantic traffic than any other port on the coast”. Crookhaven harbour had had an illustrious past.

Downing recorded that it was the furthest outpost in Europe in regard to the US. A fact recognised by Reuters Press Agency in 1861 when news of the civil war was eagerly sought. “Despatches from the US were landed in Crookhaven and thence
telegraphed to all the capitals of Europe.” Downing’s far-sighted proposal would have seen seaplanes land on the harbour almost a mile in length and half a mile in width, taking in Granny Island. “Its upper reaches from Rock Island to Granny Island, and thence to Leenane point, would afford snug shelter even if a tornado swept the coast,” wrote Downing. The plausible idea,
unfortunately, gained no traction.

Granny Island formed part of an extensive portfolio of lands owned at the turn
of the 19th century by British MP Charles Pelham Clinton.

Granny’s Island is also known as Granny’s Rock and Oileán Greanaí meaning a “gravelly place”. There are a few other Granny placenames, including Granny, Co Kilkenny, which is an anglicisation of An Ghreanach. There is another in Co Mayo which is also derived from “gravelly place”, as attested by Tomás Ó Maonaile who is one of the founders of the Irish placename website meitheal.logainm.ie. The sister website of logainm.ie was also set up by Fiontar in DCU to help individuals and communities record and share minor placenames such as the names of fields, streams, houses, rocks, pathways, hills, wells, shops, and forges, says Tomás.

Regarding Greannaí, Tomás says there was a small scattered village near where his father grew up in Erris, Co Mayo called Greannaí. “At the same time that I was
collecting the placenames from my father, a big project was underway in the wider area by Uinsíonn Mac Graith and his wife Treasa Ni Ghearraidh collecting local placenames, history and heritage. Uinsíonn has given the English meaning of Greannaí as ‘gravelly place’,” says Tomás.

They published their work in Logainmeacha agus Oidhreacht Dhún Chaocháin which has about 1,600 local placenames. A similar project was carried out on Cape Clear by Eamon Lankford. The authors seek further contributions from anywhere in the country, however small.

Visit the address below.