Inishfree ( ga, Inis Fraoigh, ) refers to two small islands off the coast of

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

in the north of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Inishfree Upper is the larger of the two at around . It is often known simply as "Inishfree".

Inishfree Upper

In the 4th or 5th century, Inishfree Upper was reputedly controlled by Niall of the Nine Hostages, future High King of Ireland. Later, the late medieval period, saw Inishfree as a possession of the descendants of Niall of the Nines Hostages, namely the clan of Red Hugh O'Donnell, the leader of the last stand of the Ulster chieftains against the English. In the early 20th century there were 36 families living on the island.

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and

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each taught at the school there. Peadar O'Donnell was at one point the schoolmaster. In 1980, the Atlantis commune moved to cottages on Inishfree from

Burtonport or (English name: Burtonport) is a fishing village about northwest of Dungloe in The Rosses district of County Donegal, Ireland. The main employers in the village were the Burtonport Fishermen's Co-op and the ''Bord Iascaigh Mhara Bord ...

, where they had set up in 1974. The commune were known as The Screamers for their practice of

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, and subsequently moved near to

Icononzo Icononzo () is a municipality located in the department of Tolima in Colombia. The average temperature is 21°F (-6°C), altitude 1304 metres (4278'). History In 1875 there was the community of Guamitos inherited by Don Vicente Reyes Daza. ...

in Colombia in 1989. The last permanent resident of Inishfree Upper was Barry Pilcher who had moved there in 1993 from

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

and to where he returned in 2013. Because of the possibility that bad weather would stop the votes being counted, Pilcher and residents of nearby islands were the first in Ireland to vote on the

Treaty of Lisbon The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member s ...

in 2009. There are still holiday homes in use on the island. In 2016, two people voted in the Irish general election on Inishfree, both of whom had moved to live primarily in

Inishfree Lower

Inishfree Lower is the smaller of the two islands. It was home to one family until the 1960s or 1970s.

References

{{County Donegal Former populated places in Ireland Islands of County Donegal Uninhabited islands of Ireland

Inishfree Upper

Inishfree Lower

Further reading

References