Islandmagee () is a peninsula and

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 ...

on the east coast of

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, located between the towns of

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight roll-on roll-off port. Larne is administered by Mid ...

and Whitehead. It is part of the

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council Mid and East Antrim Borough Council is a local authority that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaced Ballymena Borough Council, Carrickfergus Borough Council and Larne Borough Council. History On 2 December 2021, the councils chief ex ...

area and is a sparsely populated rural community with a long history since the mesolithic period. In the early medieval period it was known as Semne, a petty-kingdom within

Ulaid Ulaid (Old Irish, ) or Ulaidh ( Modern Irish, ) was a Gaelic over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include Ulidia, which is the Latin form of Ulaid, and i ...

. It is the site of Northern Ireland's main power station Ballylumford and the endpoint of the Scotland-Northern Ireland gas pipeline.

History

The name comes from ''Mac Aodha'' (Magee) a prominent Irish family in the area. An earlier Irish name was ''Rinn Seimhne'' (peninsula of (the district of) ''Seimhne'') from an original tribal name. The Bissett family held the tenancy of the peninsula in

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

's reign (1558 - 1603), their rent being an annual offering of goshawks, birds which bred on the rugged white chalk cliffs nearby. At the outset of the Irish Rebellion of 1641, a number of Catholic residents were murdered by Scottish and English troops from the nearby garrison at

Carrickfergus Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest ...

; despite claims by an anonymous 17th century author that this amounted to "above 3,000 men women and children", the true figure is now thought to have been two dozen. This is alleged to be the first massacre to take place during the rebellion and the

War of the Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of related conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, then separate entities united in a personal union under Charles I. They include the 1639 to 1640 B ...

. In 1711, the Islandmagee witch trial resulted in eight women being convicted of

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

and sentenced to a year's imprisonment. The last such trial to take place in Ireland, it is hoped to include these in a new historical tour. In the 19th century, the first dinosaur fossil bones found on in Ireland were discovered near Islandmagee.

Archaeology

*Islandmagee is the home of the

Ballylumford Dolmen Ballylumford Dolmen is situated on Islandmagee, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, near the north-west tip of the Islandmagee peninsula and near Ballylumford power station. It is known locally as the "Druid's Altar", and could be 4000 years old, o ...

. Known locally as the "Druid's Altar", this megalithic monument could date to 2500 BC (The Early Bronze Age), or be the remains of an earlier Neolithic simple passage tomb dating to c. 4000 BC. It consists of four upright stones, with a heavy capstone and a fallenstone within the structure. The fallenstone may have been put there to block the entrance to the tomb. *

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

houses have been excavated at Ballyharry, on the Islandmagee peninsula. Finds included Neolithic pottery, flint arrowheads, javelin heads, polished stone axe fragments and quernstones. *Dinosaur remains were found in the area in the 19th century and in the 20th century. These were the first find of dinosaur fossil bones ever found in Ireland.

Gas storage project

The Gas storage project, owned by famous ship building firm

Harland & Wolff Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the W ...

, will consist of 7 caverns storing up to 500 million cubic meters of gas and is the only one in North West Europe to have 'Project of Common Interest' status from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. The facility is expected to provide 25% of the UK's gas capacity when it is completed.

Sport

* Islandmagee F.C. plays in the

Northern Amateur Football League The Northern Amateur Football League, also known as the Northern Amateur League and often simply as the Amateur League, is an association football league in Northern Ireland. It contains 13 divisions. These comprise four intermediate sections: ...

. Their home is Wilbourne Park and Michael Moore is the current manager.

Civil parish of Island Magee

The peninsula is part of the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

of Island Magee. The boundaries of the parish and the peninsula match.

Controversy

The gasline project is the subject of objections, citing "concerns of harm to dolphins, porpoise and whales". This caused the Environment Agency to extend the response time for consultation. In January 2022, the group "No Gas Caverns Islandmagee" confirmed that they have mounted a legal challenge against the project. There has also been controversy over commemorating the Islandmagee Witch Trials. A local councillor said it would be a 'shrine to paganism'. But others have said it should go ahead. One historian citing "It's a dark event in our history - but it happened. People are fascinated by what happened at the Islandmagee witch trials, and the council could get a lot more tourism value from their interest".

Townlands

The civil parish contains the following townlands: * Balloo * Ballycronan Beg *

Ballycronan More Ballycronan More is a townland of 356 acres in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Islandmagee and the historic Barony (Ireland), barony of Belfast Lower. The HVDC Moyle Interconnector ...

* Ballydown * Ballyharry *

Ballykeel Ballykeel (from Irish An Baile Caol, meaning "the narrow townland/farmstead") is a townland, containing a large housing estate off the Crebilly Road in South-East Ballymena, County Antrim, in Northern Ireland. History The Ballykeel estate is di ...

* Ballylumford *

Ballymoney Ballymoney ( ga, Baile Monaidh , meaning 'townland of the moor') is a small town and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is within the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area. The civil parish of Ballymoney is situated i ...

* Ballymuldrogh * Ballyprior Beg * Ballyprior More *

Ballystrudder Ballystrudder or Ballystruder () is a small village and townland (of 255 acres) on Islandmagee in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the historic barony of Belfast Lower and the civil parish of Islandmagee. It is part of Mid and Ea ...

* Ballytober *

Carnspindle Carnspindle () is a townland of 217 acres in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the civil parish of Islandmagee and the historic barony of Belfast Lower. The small village of Mill Bay is within the townland. See also *List of ...

* Castletown * Cloghfin * Drumgurland *

Dundressan Dundressan () is a townland of 255 acres in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the civil parish of Islandmagee and the historic barony of Belfast Lower. See also *List of townlands in County Antrim In Ireland Counties are di ...

* Gransha * Kilcoan Beg * Kilcoan More * Mullaghboy *

Mullaghdoo Mullaghdubh (pronounced Mullaghhdoo and meaning Dark Hill) is a townland in Islandmagee, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The local Mullaghdubh Primary School and Kilcoan Primary School amalgamated to form Islandmagee Primary school. Reference ...

* Portmuck * Temple-effin

References

External links

Islandmagee Community websiteIslandmagee Community Facebook Page
{{County Antrim Landforms of County Antrim Peninsulas of Northern Ireland Larne