Coney Island or Inishmulclohy () is an island in

Sligo Bay Sligo Bay () is a natural ocean bay in County Sligo, Ireland. Geography Sligo Bay is opened between Aughris Head (South side) and Roskeeragh Point (North). The inner part of the bay is divided into three smaller bodies of water, hosting the e ...

, Ireland. It lies across the mouth of Sligo Harbour, between

Rosses Point Rosses Point ( or ) is a village in County Sligo, Ireland and also the name of the surrounding peninsula. Rosses Point is at the entrance to Sligo Harbour from Sligo Bay with Oyster Island being the long thin landmass notable when entering th ...

and the

Coolera Peninsula The Coolera Peninsula () is a peninsula in Sligo Bay, County Sligo, Ireland. It is the most populous of County Sligo's peninsulas, and the second-largest by land area. The primary population centres on Coolera are the coastal town of Strandhil ...

, and can be reached from the latter via a tidal causeway. The Irish name means "O'Mulclohy's island", in reference to a once powerful local family, while the English name means "island of rabbits".

History

In 1862 the island had a population of 124 people, with 45 children attending the local school. The island now has only one family of permanent inhabitants (traceable back to the 1750s) but has many other temporary residents, especially in the summer months.Discoverireland.ie - Coney Island
/ref> The island gained electricity in 1999 via an underground cable.

Demographics

Folklore

There are also stories of faeries,

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...

s and spirits on Coney Island, and visitors can try to find the elusive

St Patrick Saint Patrick (; or ; ) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints being Brigid of Kildare and Columba ...

's wishing chair, St Patrick's well, the remains of a washed up whale and some

fairy fort Fairy forts (also known as ''lios'' or ''raths'' from the Irish language, Irish, referring to an earthen mound) are the remains of stone circles, ringforts, hillforts, or other circular prehistoric dwellings in Ireland. From possibly the late I ...

s. In the late 1700s, the merchant ship ''Arethusa'' sailed the route between Sligo and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Regarding the naming of New York's

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

: one theory is that the ship's captain named that island after Sligo's Coney Island.

Access

Coney Island is accessible by boat from

, or by driving or walking over the causeway, two and a half kilometres across Cummeen Strand, guided by 14 pillars, at low tide. The

bollard A bollard is a sturdy, short, vertical post. The term originally referred to a post on a ship or quay used principally for mooring boats. In modern usage, it also refers to posts installed to control road traffic and posts designed to pre ...

s were constructed in the mid-1800s, lining up with the Black Rock lighthouse, to aid in night time travel across the bay. A spate of drowning tragedies in the 1800s, including that of the owner of the island, William Dorrin, in 1823, prompted the construction of the bollards.McGoldrick, Seamus. ''History of Cummeen Strand''
/ref>

References

External links