Abbey Island is so called because the ruins of Ahamore or Derrynane Abbey are located on it. The island has an area of 36 hectares and is located on the west side of Darrynane Bay near Caherdaniel. It can be accessed on foot across a sandy beach at most states of the tide.
Ahamore Abbey was founded in the 7th century, possibly by St Finan or St Finbarr of Cork. It was probably an Augustinian abbey and may have been a cell of Molana Abbey in County Waterford. The walls that are still standing date from the 10th century.
Mary O'Connell (1778-1836), wife of Daniel O'Connell is buried within the walls of Ahamore Abbey. Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847) was a lawyer and Irish nationalist leader. He was known as The Liberator because of his long campaign for Catholic emancipation in Ireland, which was eventually secured in 1829. Daniel was born near Cahersirveen and he grew up at Derrynane House near Abbey Island, which belonged to his uncle and he inherited it when his uncle died in 1825.
The eighteenth-century Gaelic poet, Tomás Rua Ó Suilleabháin is also buried at Ahamore Abbey, as are numerous other people.
When I visited in mid May 2023 there were lots of plants in flower on Abbey Island, including bluebells, primroses, cuckoo flower, dandelions, lousewort, tormentil and buttercups. The island is covered in grass with small areas of bracken, heather and cotton grass. Cows were grazing in a field. I spotted a stonechat and some ravens during my short visit. Abbey Island is one of the few places in Ireland where the Kerry lily (Simethis planifolia) grows.
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