Ardoileán or Ard Oileán, known in
English as High Island (a translation of the
Irish name), is a small island off the northwest coast of
Connemara
Connemara ( ; ) is a region on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, ...
in
County Galway
County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...
,
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. It was once the site of an early Irish monastic community.
Hermitage
It is one of thirty-odd islands off the west coast of Ireland, between
Inishtrahull and
Clear Island, which were settled by hermits and monastic communities in the early Christian period.
[Herity, "The hermitage on Ardoileán, Co Galway", p. 65.] Other such islands in the direct vicinity of Ardoiléan include
Clare Island
Clare Island ( or ''Oileán Chliara''), also historically Inishcleer, is a mountainous island guarding the entrance to Clew Bay in County Mayo, Ireland. Historically part of the kingdom of Umhaill, it is famous as the home of the 16th century p ...
,
Chapel Island
Chapel Island is a limestone outcrop that lies in the Leven estuary of Morecambe Bay in England, less than from the shoreline at Bardsea in the area known as Ulverston Sands. It is located at ( OS grid ref. SD 321759). It is one of the Isl ...
,
Caher Island,
Inishturk,
Inishbofin and
Inishark.
Since (at least) the seventh century, Ardoiléan had been the site of an early monastery or hermitage, reputedly founded by St
Féchín of Fore
Saint Féchín or Féichín (died 665), also known as Mo-Ecca, was a 7th-century Irish saint, chiefly remembered as the founder of the monastery at Fore (''Fobar''), County Westmeath.
Sources for his life and legend include Irish annals, marty ...
(d. 665).
Above the south landing-place, near the remains of the monastery, there is a Christian cross-slab dating perhaps to the seventh century.
Modern history
Between 1969 and 1998, the island was in the possession of Irish poet
Richard Murphy, then a resident of
Inishbofin. In personal memoirs published by Granta in ''The Kick'' (2002), Murphy remembers the opportunity when the previous owner considered selling the island: "I got excited at the thought of buying this inaccessible holy island, restoring the beehive cells and oratory of its derelict hermitage and preserving the place from destruction either by tourists or by sheep."
In February 2019, the island was put up for sale for €1.25 million by Spencer Auctioneers.
See also
*
Gormgal of Ardoileán
Gormgal of Ardoileán, Connemara, died 1017/1018.
Biography
Gormgal is credited with building a number of monastic settlements in the late 10th century. Noted as an anchorite of exceptional sanctity, he made Ardoileán (High Island) famous, so ...
*
Caolánn
Caolánn, Irish monk and author, fl. 7th century.
Biography
Caolánn is credited with writing a Life of Brigid of Kildare in Latin verse. He seems to have built the first chapel on Croughnakeela, an island two miles west of Macdara's Island, ...
, fl. 7th century.
*
Mocán
*
Seven Sisters of Renvyle
Notes
Secondary sources
*Herity, Michael. "The Hermitage on Ardoileán, Co Galway." ''Journal of the
Royal Society of the Antiquaries of Ireland'' 120 (1990). pp. 65–101.
*Macalister, R.A.S. "The Antiquities of Ard Oilean, Co. Galway." ''Journal of the Royal Society of the Antiquaries of Ireland'' 26 (1896). pp. 196–210.
Further reading
Poetry
*Murphy, Richard. ''High Island: New and Selected Poems''. Harper and Row, 1975.
*Murphy, Richard. ''High Island''. Faber, 1974.
External links
*Gabriel Cooney
"High Island, high ideals", in ''Irish Times'' (31 March 2001)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ardoilean
Islands of Connemara
Uninhabited islands of Ireland
Archaeological sites in County Galway