Island 507 - Rossmore Island, County Kerry

Rossmore Island is linked to the mainland of County Kerry by an old stone road bridge down a narrow lane off the N70 about halfway between Sneem and Blackwater Bridge.  There are about a dozen houses on the island, which is about 2km from NE to SW and 1km from north to south. Most of the island is rough grazing with some trees, gorse, bracken and brambles.

End of the council road

The middle of Rossmore Island

Gate at the end of the council road

Ruined house

Low tide - lots of smelly seaweed!

View from the bridge

Road bridge to Rossmore Island

Island 506 - Ilaunleagh, Cove Harbour, County Kerry

Illaunleagh is a small island located on the north side of Cove Harbour a mile south west of the village of Castle Cove.  It is linked to the mainland by a short causeway with a road on top of it.  There is one house on the island and a small quay. The quay is currently used by local fishermen. The rest of the island has grass, gorse, brambles and bracken growing on it.  

The house on the island is called Pier Cottage and is available to rent for self-catering holidays. It was originally two coastguard cottages.

Looking north from Illaunleagh

Lobster pots on the quay

Lobster pots and other fishing equipment

Quay

Notice on the quay

Looking north from the quay

Pier Cottage: the only house on Illaunleagh

Looking towards the causeway

The causeway

View from the causeway onto the island

Island 505 - Abbey Island, Derrynane, County Kerry

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.

Ahamore Abbey ruins

Ahamore Abbey ruins

Plaque on the grave of Mary O'Connell

Mary O'Connell's grave

Darrynane Bay from Abbey Island

Darrynane Bay from Abbey Island

Grave at Ahamore Abbey

Cows on Abbey Island

Darrynane Bay from Abbey Island

Abbey Island

Cliffs at the south end of Abbey Island

Cliffs at the south end of Abbey Island

Map of Abbey Island

Abbey Island from the mainland

Island 504 - Oilean na Ron/Ilaunarone 2, Derrynane, County Kerry

Oilean na Ron/Ilaunarone 2  is the second in the pair of islands located on the beach at Darrynane Bay near Caherdaniel.  This one was mainly covered in grass and I spotted a pair of common gulls on the island.

Looking across Darrynane Bay from Illaunarone 2

Darrynane Beach from Illaunarone 2

Darrynane Beach from Illaunarone 2

Looking north west from Illaunarone 2

Island 503 - Oilean na Ron/Ilaunarone 1, Derrynane , County Kerry

Ilaunarone or Oilean na Ron is a pair of small uninhabited tidal islands (which I have called 1&2) located on the beach at Darrynane Bay near Caherdaniel.  The name means "island of seals".  When I visited in mid May 2023 thrift, daisies and kidney vetch were flowering on the islands.

Illaunarone 1

Cahernageeha Mountain from Illaunarone 1

Darrynane Bay from Illaunarone 1

Thrift on Illaunarone 1

Island 502 - Bannow Island, County Wexford

Bannow Island hasn't been a true island for several centuries: it was still an island c1660 but since then the channel to the east of the island has silted up and it is now firmly attached to the mainland.  There is one farm on the island and some ruined buildings.  You can walk along the beach but you can only walk up the road as far as the entrance gates of the farm

On 1st May 1169 an army of c400 Norman archers, knights and men-at-arms landed on Irish soil for the first time, at Bannow Island. They had been invited to Ireland by the Diarmuid McMurrough, the deposed King of Leinster, who wanted them to help him regain his kingdom.  From Bannow, Irish warriors loyal to Diarmuid McMurrough and the Norman army marched to Wexford.  After a short siege they defeated the descendants of Vikings, who had settled there. Over the following century a Norman town grew up at Bannow.  It declined in the mid-14th century, due to the Black Death and then its harbour silted up.  The only visible remains of this town today are the ruins of St Mary's Church.

Bannow Bay is a Special Area of Conservation and a Special Protection Area for birds. Around 20,000 wildfowl, including light-bellied brent geese, shelduck, widgeon and teal overwinter on the extensive sandflats, sand dunes and saltmarshes.

Bannow Island Beach

Bannow Island Beach

Bannow Island Beach

Bannow Island

Bannow Island - the road is private beyond here

Ruined buildings on Bannow Island

Bannow Island

Island 501 - Chapel Rock, Marazion

Chapel Rock lies to the south of the village of Marazion in Mounts Bay, Cornwall.  It is more of a rock than an island but it does have some grass growing on it (although not enough to keep a sheep happy for very long).  Its main use is as a mid-tide landing place for the St Michael's Mount ferry and for this reason steps have been constructed up onto the top of Chapel Rock.

St Michael's Mount from Chapel Rock

St Michael's Mount from Chapel Rock

St Michael's Mount from Chapel Rock

St Michael's Mount from the top of Chapel Rock

Steps up onto Chapel Rock

Chapel Rock