Little Island,

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 ...

, is a

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 ...

and mainly industrial area to the east of

Cork city Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city's ...

in Ireland. It is no longer an island, since the northern channel separating it from the mainland has filled over. To the west and south is

Lough Mahon Lough Mahon () is a sea lough in the north-western part of Cork Harbour. Its area is about . Several Cork suburbs, such as Mahon, Douglas, Rochestown, Blackrock and Ballinlough as well as the town of Passage West are on its southern and west ...

, part of

Cork Harbour Cork Harbour () is a natural harbour and river estuary at the mouth of the River Lee in County Cork, Ireland. It is one of several which lay claim to the title of "second largest natural harbour in the world by navigational area" (after Port Ja ...

; across a channel to the east is

Fota Island Fota (statutory spelling Foaty; ga, Fóite) is an island in Cork Harbour, Ireland, just north of the larger island of Great Island. Fota Island is host to Ireland's only wildlife park – as well as the historical Fota House and gardens and go ...

. Little Island is within the Dáil constituency of Cork North-Central.

History

The parish of Little Island dates to the seventh century, and

tidal mills A tide mill is a water mill driven by tidal rise and fall. A dam with a sluice is created across a suitable tidal inlet, or a section of river estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers o ...

have been excavated dating to c. 630 AD. By the fourteenth century the parish was known as ''De Insula'', meaning "of the island".

Henry Purdon Henry Purdon (–1737) was an Irish barrister, politician and Law Officer of the early eighteenth century. He sat in the Irish House of Commons and held the Crown office of Third Serjeant.Hart p.179 Purdon was born in County Cork, to a junior ...

, MP for

Charleville Charleville can refer to: Australia * Charleville, Queensland, a town in Australia **Charleville railway station, Queensland France * Charleville, Marne, a commune in Marne, France *Charleville-Mézières, a commune in Ardennes, France ** ...

, lived here in the eighteenth century. The current

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the sec ...

parish church was built in 1865 in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style. A limestone quarry on Little Island was the source of thousands of tons of limestone annually, which were used in the construction of public buildings nationally, including Cork's

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

and Holy Trinity Church. Ancient protected structures, as recorded on the Record of Monuments and Places, include examples of

fulacht fiadh A burnt mound is an archaeological feature consisting of a mound of shattered stones and charcoal, normally with an adjacent hearth and trough. The trough could be rock-cut, wood-lined or clay-lined to ensure it was watertight. Radiocarbon ...

, middens, corn-drying kilns, the remains of a medieval church and graveyard, and the 15th or 16th century

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

known locally as Wallingstown Castle.

Development

A number of Cork's pharmaceutical companies are based on the island. The main drainage

wastewater treatment Wastewater treatment is a process used to remove contaminants from wastewater and convert it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once returned to the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on the environm ...

plant for Cork City was also opened in the area in 2004. Since the 1990s, development has grown, with retail and commercial spaces opened at Little Island Business Park and East Gate Retail Park. As of 2017, the Little Island Business Association reported that there were approximately one thousand businesses operating in the area. Over seven thousand people were employed in the area, which was described as one of Ireland's "industrial powerhouses," as of April 2018.

Cork Golf Club Cork Golf Club is a golf club located in Little Island, Cork, Republic of Ireland. History The club, founded in 1888, hosted the 1932 Irish Open, won by Alf Padgham and the 1932 England–Ireland Professional Match. It held the 1964 Jeyes ...

is also based on Little Island.

Transport

The N25 Cork– Rosslare road is built on the infilled channel between Little Island and

Glounthaune Glounthaune () is a village in County Cork, Ireland, some east of Cork city, on the north shore of Cork Harbour, the estuary of the River Lee. Transport The village was originally a planned town built in 1810 on a tidal quay wall and named at ...

. The R623 is an area loop road from the N25. The Cork–

Cobh Cobh ( ,), known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. With a population of around 13,000 inhabitants, Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour and home to Ireland's ...

railway line skirts the island to the north and west. It includes

Little Island railway station Little Island railway station (sometimes spelled as Littleisland, which is the name that station signs display) serves the area of Little Island in County Cork. It is a station on the Cork to Cobh or Midleton Midleton (; , meaning "mona ...

, which opened on 10 November 1859. It has direct rail services to Cork,

and

Midleton Midleton (; , meaning "monastery at the weir") is a town in south-eastern County Cork, Ireland. It lies approximately 16 km east of Cork City on the Owenacurra River and the N25 road, which connects Cork to the port of Rosslare. A satellit ...

Townlands

Townlands 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 origi ...

of Little Island include Ballytrasna, Carrigrenan, Castleview, Clashavodig, Courtstown, Harper's Island and Wallingstown.

References

{{Cork Harbour , state=collapsed Geography of County Cork Former islands of Ireland Civil parishes of County Cork