A lifetime of Islands: Island 380 - Tawin East/Tamhain Thoir, County Galway

Tawin East (Tamhain Thoir in Irish) is a very flat island sandwiched between and linked by road causeways/bridges to Tawin Island to the west and the mainland of County Galway four miles to the south west of the town of Oranmore. I only saw one signpost to Tawin, so if you want to visit, bring a map. In fact you will need three Discovery Series Ordnance Survey maps (Sheets 46, 51 & 52), as the Tawin Islands are inconveniently on two separate sheets and the bit of the mainland to which they are linked is on a 3rd sheet, which makes it a bit difficult to navigate to them successfully. Tawin East is about a mile from east to west but only quarter of a mile from north to south.

When I visited Tawin East in mid May 2017 there were a few cattle and some sheep grazing in some of the fields. There are a couple of modern houses at the eastern end of the island and the only road runs along the south coast of the island.

As I drove back onto Tawin East from Tawin Island I saw an animal in the road. At first I thought it was a muntjac deer but then it moved and I realised it was a very large Irish hare. He nonchalantly hopped along the road for a few more metres and then jumped over a wall into a field.