Inishmurray Teampall Molaise N 2007 08 22

Inishmurray ( or ) is an uninhabited island situated off the coast of

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in the county. Sligo County Council is the local ...

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 ...

Geography

The island covers .

Etymology

Inishmurray may be named after the early saint, Muiredach mac Echdach (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

early 6th century) of

Killala Killala () is a village in County Mayo in Ireland, north of Ballina. The railway line from Dublin to Ballina once extended to Killala. To the west of Killala is a Townsplots West (known locally as Enagh Beg), which contains a number of ancient ...

History

There are remains of an early Irish

monastic settlement Monastic settlements are areas built up in and around the development of monasteries with the spread of Christianity. To understand Christian monastic settlements, we must understand a brief history of Christian monasticism. Monasticism was a moveme ...

. Laisrén (

Saint Molaise In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Orth ...

) Mac Decláin reputedly founded a monastery here in the 6th century. He was confessor of Saint

Columba Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is tod ...

(Colmcille) after the

Battle of Cúl Dreimhne The battle of Cúl Dreimhne (also known as the ''Battle of the Book'') took place in the 6th century in the túath of Cairbre Drom Cliabh (now Co. Sligo) in northwest Ireland. The exact date for the battle varies from 555 AD to 561 AD. 560 AD is ...

on the mainland nearby. His feast day is 12 August. The island's ecclesiastical settlement was attacked in 795 and again in 807 by the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

, and eventually the monks abandoned the island and it remained uninhabited until the first secular settlement, probably in the 12th century.

Monastery

The enclosure wall is impressive - reaching in height at its highest point and up to thick. The site contains various ecclesiastical buildings including enclosures, a stone-roofed oratory, two churches, a

clochán A clochán (plural clocháin) or beehive hut is a dry-stone hut with a corbelled roof, commonly associated with the south-western Irish seaboard. The precise construction date of most of these structures is unknown with the buildings belonging ...

, 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.

Recent history

The local population peaked at just over 100 in the 1880s but the last residents moved out to the mainland on 12 November 1948. Some of the buildings are still visible including 15 houses and the island's school. The site remained a pilgrimage destination right up to recent times. In 2018, the Marine Survey Office of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport caused controversy when it banned commercial operators from landing visitors on the island, due "to concerns for safety during embarking and disembarking".

Literature

* Jerry O'Sullivan and Tomas O Carragain: "Inishmurray: Monks and Pilgrims in an Atlantic Landscape", Collins, Cork, 2008, (v. 1) * Joe McGowan: ''Inishmurray: Island Voices'', Aeolus Publications, 2004, . * John Haywood: ''The Historical Atlas of the Celtic World'', Thames & Hudson, 2009, . * H.Th. De Booy: ''Het spook van Inish Murray'' (Ghost at Inishmurray - fiction). Deltos Elsevier, Amsterdam/Brussel 1971, .

References

External links

Inishmurray website
{{Authority control Christian monasteries in the Republic of Ireland Important Bird Areas of the Republic of Ireland Islands of County Sligo National Monuments in County Sligo Uninhabited islands of Ireland