Islands of Ireland: Ask not for whom the bell tolls

The heavily wooded island was named after the eponymous ninth-century Viking king who was tricked by the king of Meath, Maelseachlainn, into a tryst with his daughter and who paid with his life

Castle Island, Co Westmeath. Location of discovery of Lough Lene bell in 1882, reputedly the possession of St Fechin in the 7th century. Picture: Dan MacCarthy

The words in our headline above were written by John Donne in 1623 in his poem of the same title when describing transience and its deathly hold on all of us. In the first line of the same poem he wrote “no man is an island” which endears the English metaphysical poet to this column.

The bell in question in this case is known as the Lough Lene bell of Castle Island, Co Westmeath. It dates from the eighth century and was once the probable possession of St Feichin of Fore, a settlement near the lake. This is the same Feichin whom we met earlier in this series as the founder of a monastery on High Island, Co Galway.