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Inishmurray

Coordinates: 54°26′N 8°40′W / 54.433°N 8.667°W / 54.433; -8.667
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Inishmurray
Native name:
Inis Muirígh
Early Medieval Ecclesiastical Site
Inishmurray is located in island of Ireland
Inishmurray
Inishmurray
Geography
LocationAtlantic Ocean
Coordinates54°26′N 8°40′W / 54.433°N 8.667°W / 54.433; -8.667
Area0.9 km2 (0.35 sq mi)
Administration
ProvinceConnacht
CountySligo
Demographics
Population0 (2011)
Teampall Molaise, the principal church of the monastery, as seen from the north with the mainland in the background.
Inishmurray Teach Molaise E 2015 09 06

Inishmurray (Irish: Inis Muirígh[1][2] or Inis Muireadheach meaning 'Muireadheach's island')[3] is an uninhabited island situated 7 km (4 mi) off the coast of County Sligo, Ireland.[4]

Geography

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The island, which is approximately 3.75 km (2.3 mi) long and 0.75 km (0.5 mi) wide,[5] is 0.9 km2 (0.3 sq mi) in area. It is 7 km (4.3 mi) from the coast of County Sligo within Donegal Bay.[5]

Etymology

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Inishmurray may be named after the early saint, Muiredach mac Echdach (fl. early 6th century) of Killala.[6]

History

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There are remains of an early Irish monastic settlement. Laisrén (Saint Molaise) Mac Decláin reputedly founded a monastery here in the 6th century.[7] He was confessor of Saint Columba (Colmcille) after the Battle of Cúl Dreimhne on the mainland nearby. His feast day is 12 August.[6]

The island's ecclesiastical settlement was attacked in 795[8] and again in 807 by the Vikings,[9] and eventually the monks abandoned the island and it remained uninhabited until the first secular settlement, probably in the 12th century.[5]

Monastery complex

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The monastery's enclosure wall reaches 4.5 metres (15 ft) in height at its highest point and is up to 3 metres (9.8 ft) thick in places.[10] The site contains various ecclesiastical buildings including enclosures, a stone-roofed oratory, two churches, a clochán, a large beehive-shaped cell, a holy well and other remains including cross slabs suggesting foreign influences. The whole complex is composed of what is probably local sandstone rubble.[5]

19th and 20th century

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The island's population, which peaked at just over 100 in the 1880s,[11] were involved in lobster fishing, vegetable farming and grazing cattle.[12] Some locals were also involved in the "illicit" distilling and selling of poitín.[12][13][14]

The "King of Inishmurray", a customary title used by inhabitants of the island which was similar to the King of Tory,[15] was last claimed by Michael Waters, who died in January 1951.[16] Increases in barley and potato prices, during and after The Emergency (World War II), impacted the island's economy. In the 1940s, Waters and the island's 60 remaining inhabitants petitioned the Irish government for new land and were "evacuated" to the mainland of County Sligo in 1948.[12] Inishmurray's last residents left the island on 12 November 1948.[17]

Later history

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Some of the island's abandoned buildings are still visible, including a number of houses and the island's school.[18] The monastery site remained a pilgrimage destination into the early 21st century.[citation needed]

In 2018, the Marine Survey Office of the Department of Transport barred commercial operators from landing visitors on the island, due to "concerns for safety during embarking and disembarking".[7] As of August 2019, landing facilities had not been developed and,[19] as of March 2023, the development had yet to progress.[20][needs update]

See also

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Further reading

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  • Jerry O'Sullivan and Tomas O Carragain: Inishmurray: Archaeological survey and excavations 1997-2000, Collins, Cork, 2008, ISBN 9781905172474
  • Joe McGowan: Inishmurray: Island Voices, Aeolus Publications, 2004, ISBN 0-9521334-3-1.
  • John Haywood: The Historical Atlas of the Celtic World, Thames & Hudson, 2009, ISBN 978-0-500-28831-3.
  • Emer Condit, Jerry O'Sullivan: Inishmurray: An Island Off County Sligo, Archaeology Ireland, 2002. JSTOR archirel.18.1.

References

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  1. ^ "Inis Muirígh/Inishmurray". logainm.ie. Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  2. ^ "Ballygilgan (Lissadell) Nature Reserve". National Parks and Wildlife Service (Ireland). Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  3. ^ Coyle, Cathal (September 2017). Little Book of Irish Landmarks. The History Press. p. 23. ISBN 9780750985208. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  4. ^ DeAngelis, Camille (May 2017). Moon Ireland. Avalon Publishing. p. 729. ISBN 9781631214219. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d "Inshmurray monastic site". Voices from the Dawn. 7 August 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Killala". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. Robert Appleton Company, New York. 1910. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  7. ^ a b McDonagh, Marese (23 April 2018). "Minister to intervene in row over access to historic island". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  8. ^ Roesdahl, Else (2016). The Vikings (Third ed.). Penguin Books. p. 232. ISBN 978-0-141-98476-6.
  9. ^ Gwynn, Aubrey; Hadcock, R.N. (1970). Medieval Religious Houses: Ireland. Longman, London. p. 387. ISBN 0-582-11229-X.
  10. ^ Heraughty, Patrick (1982). Inishmurray: Ancient Monastic Island. O'Brien, Dublin. p. 23. ISBN 0-86278-473-5.
  11. ^ "Reflections on living on Inishmurray island off the coast of North Sligo". Sligo Champion. 11 January 2025. Retrieved 26 April 2025. At its peak there were 15 families on the island and 102 people in 1880 but the population had fallen to 46 at the time of the evacuation in 1948
  12. ^ a b c "Ireland: The Broth of a King". Time. 22 January 1951. Retrieved 12 April 2025.
  13. ^ "Big Capture on Inishmurray - "King" sentenced in Sligo Court". Sligo Independent & West of Ireland Telegraph. 7 June 1924. Retrieved 12 April 2025 – via inishmurray.com.
  14. ^ McTernan, J. C. (n.d.). In Sligo Long Ago: Aspects of the Town & County Over Two Centuries.
  15. ^ "Ireland's Men of the West". The Literary Digest. 54 (11). Funk & Wagnalls: 720. 17 March 1917 – via archive.org. The shores are inhabited by septs […] which preserve a clannish allegiance to one another, but the islands are ruled by kings. There is a King of Tory and a King of Innismurray"
  16. ^ "King of Inishmurray, Irish Isle, Dead at 80". St. Louis Review. 19 January 1951. Retrieved 12 April 2025 – via thecatholicnewsarchive.org.
  17. ^ "Evacuation of island off the County Sligo coast in 1948 recalled at special gathering". Sligo Champion. 27 November 2023. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  18. ^ "List of Placemarks « Inishmurray". inishmurray.com. Retrieved 12 April 2025.
  19. ^ Crowley, Sorcha (3 August 2019). "No Innishmurray solution until 2020". Sligo Champion. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  20. ^ McLaughlin, Gerry (10 March 2023). "Plug pulled on proposal for new landing facility on Inishmurray Island off Sligo coast". Sligo Champion. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
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