Bere Island or Bear Island (, although officially called ''An tOileán Mór'' meaning "the big island") is an island in

Bantry Bay Bantry Bay ( ga, Cuan Baoi / Inbhear na mBárc / Bádh Bheanntraighe) is a bay located in County Cork, Ireland. The bay runs approximately from northeast to southwest into the Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 3-to-4 km (1.8-to-2.5 mil ...

off the

Beara Peninsula Beara ( ga, Béarra) or the Beara Peninsula is a peninsula on the south-west coast of Ireland, bounded between the Kenmare "river" (actually a bay) to the north side and Bantry Bay to the south. It contains two mountain ranges running down it ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. It spans roughly 10 km x 3 km, with an area of 17.68 km², and, as of 2012, had a population of between 210 and 220 people. Legend says that the island was named by a 2nd-century king of

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following t ...

, Mogh Nuadat, in honour of his wife, Beara, the daughter of Heber Mór, King of Castile.

History

Early traces of human occupation include

megalithic A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

tombs and standing stones. The island was the property of the O'Sullivan Bere clan and remained so until the power of the Gaelic chieftains was finally broken in 1602. This period also saw the first military interest in the island when Sir George Carew ordered a road to be built across the island to transport the pro-English forces to the Siege of Dunboy. In December 1796, a French fleet entered

and Berehaven Harbour, led by General Hoche under the direction of

Wolfe Tone Theobald Wolfe Tone, posthumously known as Wolfe Tone ( ga, Bhulbh Teón; 20 June 176319 November 1798), was a leading Irish revolutionary figure and one of the founding members in Belfast and Dublin of the United Irishmen, a republican socie ...

, the leader of the

United Irishmen The Society of United Irishmen was a sworn association in the Kingdom of Ireland formed in the wake of the French Revolution to secure "an equal representation of all the people" in a national government. Despairing of constitutional reform, ...

. The French longboat which landed in Bere Island is now in the National Museum of Ireland. Adverse winds prevented the main force landing and eventually caused the fleet to disperse and return home. In August 1798, there was a further invasion attempt, at Killala in

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the yew trees") is a county in Ireland. In the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Counci ...

, following the Irish Rebellion of that year. The result of these events was that the British authorities reviewed their defensive plans and in 1803, with the country once again at war with France,

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

William Twiss was sent to Ireland to draw up a plan of defence for the country. As part of this review he was directed to examine what security could be given to Bantry Bay.

Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Sir

Robert Calder Admiral Sir Robert Calder, 1st Baronet, (2 July 174531 August 1818) was a British naval officer who served in the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. For much of his career h ...

, who commanded the naval squadron based in Castletownbere Port wrote to the

Rt. Hon. ''The Right Honourable'' (abbreviation: ''Rt Hon.'' or variations) is an honorific style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations. The term is ...

William Wickham on 22 December 1803 to request protection for his victualers and store ships, which were to be based at the Berehaven anchorage to supply his squadron. Wickham agreed that protection for the ships was necessary and instructed

William Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart General William Schaw Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart (17 September 175516 June 1843) was a British soldier and diplomat. Early life He was the son of Charles Cathcart, 9th Lord Cathcart and his wife Ann Hamilton. Cathcart born at Petersham, Lon ...

to order his engineers to carry out works to build

Martello Towers Martello towers, sometimes known simply as Martellos, are small defensive forts that were built across the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards. Most were coastal forts. They stand up ...

on the island. The Bere Island towers were reported as ready on 2 February 1805 and were therefore probably among the earliest Martello Towers to be completed in Ireland. The four, all circular in shape and built of rubble masonry, were sited to defend the anchorage between the mainland and the small harbour of

Lawrence Cove Lawrence Cove is a sheltered inlet on the north side of Bere Island, West Cork, Ireland, to the west of the village of Rerrin Rerrin () is the main village on Bere Island, within County Cork in Ireland. The village is located on the north of ...

on Bere Island. In addition to the Martello Towers, a signal tower, a barracks for 2 officers and 150 men, a quay and storehouses were also constructed. After the end of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

there followed a period of military stagnation. This ended in 1898 when the British military raised a

compulsory purchase order A compulsory purchase order (CPO; , ) is a legal function in the United Kingdom and Ireland that allows certain bodies to obtain land or property without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for p ...

on large areas of the island in order to construct additional fortifications in order to protect the British Fleet at anchor in Berehaven Harbour. During the Anglo-Irish War some Irish republicans were interned on Bere Island, including Canon William Kennedy, head (from 1919-1932) of St Flannan's College, Ennis. In 1922, under the terms of the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...

that followed the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

, the British withdrew from most of Ireland but three deep water

Treaty Ports Treaty ports (; ja, 条約港) were the port cities in China and Japan that were opened to foreign trade mainly by the unequal treaties forced upon them by Western powers, as well as cities in Korea opened up similarly by the Japanese Empire. ...

, at Berehaven, Queenstown (renamed Cobh), and Lough Swilly, were retained as sovereign bases until 1938. Standing stone and Martello Tower (geograph 6251777)

Standing stone and Martello Tower (geograph 6251777)

Archaeological and historic sites

Evidence of more ancient settlement on the island include the remains of a circular enclosure (at Greenane), a hut site (Ardaragh West), a

promontory fort A promontory fort is a defensive structure located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus using the topography to reduce the ramparts needed. Although their dating is problematic, most seem to da ...

, a

ringfort Ringforts, ring forts or ring fortresses are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built during the Bronze Age up to about the year 1000. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are also many in South Wale ...

(at Cloonaghlin West, Greenane), a collapsed wedge tomb (Ardaragh West), and

standing stone A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be fou ...

(at Greenane). Ruins and remains relating to the island's military history include the remains of an

artillery battery In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to f ...

(Ardaragh West, Cloonaghlin West),

Martello tower Martello towers, sometimes known simply as Martellos, are small defensive forts that were built across the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards. Most were coastal forts. They stand u ...

(Ardaragh West, Cloonaghlin West), a telegraph station, and a signal tower (at Derrycreeveen).

Shipwrecks

The wreckage of the Bardini Reefer lies just north of the island. It sank on 12 December 1982 after burning for several days

Geography

Location

The island is located between Berehaven Harbour and

in the western part of

, about 1.5 km off the port of

Castletownbere Castletownbere () is a town in County Cork in Ireland. It is located on the Beara Peninsula by Berehaven Harbour. It is also known as Castletown Berehaven. A regionally important fishing port, the town also serves as a commercial and retail hub ...

. It belongs to the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

of Killaconenagh (''Cill Eacha Naoineach'') in the

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

Bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the No ...

. The highest point on the island is Knockanallig, at a height of 270 metres. The main harbour is

, near the main village of

Rerrin Rerrin () is the main village on Bere Island, within County Cork in Ireland. The village is located on the north of the island and is next to the sheltered mooring of Lawrence Cove. It is also the name of the townland surrounding the village. ...

(Raerainn), toward the eastern end of the island. The church and its graveyard are located in Ballinakilla.

Subdivisions

Ten of the 75

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

s of the civil parish of Killaconenagh are located on the island. These include Ardra West, Ardra East, Ballinakilla (with St Michael's Roman Catholic church and graveyard and nearby pub), Cloonaghlin West, Cloonaghlin Upper, Cloonaghlin Lower, Derrycreeveen, Greenane, Ardagh and

Infrastructure

Transport

The Bere Island ferry (geograph 6250317)

The island is served by two ferries both of which can carry light vehicles. One sails between Castletownbere and the west of the Island while the other serves Pontoon (a pier about 2 km east of Castletownbere along the R572) and Rerrin village During the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland, in conjunction with other "isolation" efforts, the island's ferry services were curtailed, with only residents permitted to board in order to prevent the virus from reaching the island.

Energy

Work started on providing mains electricity to the island via submarine cable in July 1957 and was completed in April 1958

Local radio

A local radio station broadcasts for a few hours on Sundays from a small transmitter on the island on 100.1 MHz FM

Demographics

As of 2022, the population is approximately 190. As of the mid-19th century, the population was significantly higher, with the 1841 census indicating a population of 2,122 people. However, by the 1851 census the population had decreased to 1,454 due to the Great Famine. The population decline continued in line with the national trend for emigration throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Unlike many of the other islands off the Irish coast, the inhabitants of Bere Island were speakers of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

and Irish according to a sample of the 1911 census.

Notable people

Former or current residents of the island have included: * Michel Houellebecq (born 1956), French author, known for his novels, poems, and essays.

References

External links

Bere Island information
{{Authority control Islands of County Cork Beara peninsula