Schull or Skull ( ; or ''Scoil Mhuire'', meaning "Mary's School") is a town in

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 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 ...

. Located on the southwest coast of Ireland in the municipal district of West Cork, the town is dominated by

Mount Gabriel Mount Gabriel () is a mountain on the Mizen Peninsula immediately to the north of the town of Schull in West Cork, Ireland. Mount Gabriel is 407m high and is the highest eminence in the coastal zone south and east of Bantry Bay. A roadway s ...

(407 m). It has a sheltered harbour, used for recreational boating. The area, on the peninsula leading to Mizen Head, is a tourist destination, and there are numerous holiday homes along the adjoining coast. Schull had a population of 700 in 2016. The town's secondary school, Schull Community College, houses one of the only planetariums in Ireland, along with a sailing school. Each year Schull harbour hosts the Fastnet International Schools Regatta.

Name

The first recorded place name for this area is "scol", from a Decretal Letter of Pope Innocent III in 1199 to the bishop of Cork confirming the rights of the bishop of Cork. Both Skull and Skul are used in the

Down Survey The Down Survey was a cadastral survey of Ireland, carried out by English scientist, William Petty, in 1655 and 1656. The survey was apparently called the "Down Survey" by Petty, either because the results were set down in maps or because the s ...

of 1656–58. Skull is also used in the Grand Jury Map surveyed in the 1790s and published 1811. The Placenames (County Cork) Order of 2012 lists "An Scoil" as the Irish name for the village, in which "Scoil" is translated from "school". This is attributed by some to a school which was ostensibly located in the area. However, others question this derivation, and Gary Dempsey's thesis ("Whispered in the Landscape/Written on the Street, A Study of Placename Policy and Conflict in Ireland from 1946 to 2010") suggests that the "Scoil Mhuire" form dates to 1893 when the parish priest of Schull at the time, Very Rev. John O’Connor (P.P. Schull 1888–1911), who "fancied himself as a historian, misread a latin sentence as referring to a 'College of St. Mary' in Skull; in fact, the text referred to a collegiate church in Waterford but the PP had set the ball rolling".

History

In the early 17th century, the nearby

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 ...

of Leamcon was a pirate stronghold, at a time when pirates traded easily in nearby

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and

Whiddy Island Whiddy Island ( ga, Oileán Faoide) is an island near the head of Bantry Bay in Ireland. It is approximately long and wide. The topography comprises gently-rolling glacial till, with relatively fertile soil. As late as 1880 the island had a res ...

Transport

Schull once had its own railway station, which was the western terminus of the

Schull and Skibbereen Railway The Schull and Skibbereen Railway (also known as the Schull and Skibbereen Tramway and Light Railway) was a minor narrow gauge railway in County Cork, Ireland. It opened in 1886 and closed in 1947. The track gauge was a narrow gauge. The form ...

, a steam-operated narrow gauge railway.

Schull railway station Schull railway station was on the Schull and Skibbereen Railway in County Cork, 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 ...

opened on 6 September 1886, closed for passenger and goods traffic on 27 January 1947, and finally closed altogether on 1 June 1953. The main bus route is Bus Éireann's number 237 to/from

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 ...

, though only some services reach Schull. Also, on occasional days there are buses to/from other towns/villages in the local area. There is a ferry service between Schull and Cape Clear Island.

In literature

The book ''Silver River'' (2007) by

Daisy Goodwin Daisy Georgia Goodwin (born 19 December 1961) is an English screenwriter, TV producer and novelist. She is the creator of the award winning ITV/ PBS show ''Victoria'' which has sold to 146 countries. She has written three novels: ''My Last Duc ...

includes a section on the efforts of her 3x great-grandfather, the Rector of Skull, to help the populace during the Great Famine.

Notable people

* Fionn Ferreira, scientist and winner of the 2019 Google Science Fair, attended Schull Community College. *

Timothy O'Hea Timothy O'Hea VC (1843 – 1874), born in Schull, County Cork, was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for valour that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Victoria Cross O'Hea wa ...

, recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

was born in the area *

Ralph Allan Sampson Ralph Allan (or Allen) Sampson FRS FRSE LLD (25 June 1866 – 7 November 1939) was a British astronomer. Life Sampson was born in Schull, County Cork in Ireland, then part of the UK. He was the fourth of five children to James Sampson, a Corn ...

, astronomer, born here * John Sampson, linguist and Romani scholar, born here *

Sophie Toscan du Plantier Sophie Toscan du Plantier, a 39-year-old French woman, was killed outside her holiday home near Toormore, Goleen, County Cork, Ireland, on the night of 23 December 1996. British journalist Ian Bailey, who lived near Toscan du Plantier's home ...

, French television producer murdered on the night of 23 December 1996 * Robert Traill (1793–1847), the local rector, who was notable for his efforts to alleviate suffering during the Great Irish Famine. *

Colin Vearncombe Colin Vearncombe (26 May 1962 – 26 January 2016), known by his stage name Black, was an English singer-songwriter. He emerged from the punk rock music scene and achieved mainstream pop success in the late 1980s, most notably with the 1986 sin ...

, English singer-songwriter, known professionally as Black, lived in Schull

References

External links

*{{Wikivoyage-inline
Schull.ie Website
Towns and villages in County Cork Pirate dens and locations