Little Island,

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, is a

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

and mainly industrial area to the east of

Cork city Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

in Ireland. It is no longer an island since the northern channel separating it from the mainland has filled over. To the west and south is Lough Mahon, part of

Cork Harbour Cork Harbour () is a natural harbour and river estuary at the mouth of the River Lee (Ireland), River Lee in County Cork, Ireland. It is one of several which lay claim to the title of "second largest natural harbour in the world by navigational ...

; across a channel to the east is

Fota Island Fota (statutory spelling Foaty; ) is an island in Cork Harbour, County Cork, Ireland, just north of the larger island of Great Island. It is the home of Fota Wildlife Park—the only such zoo or animal park (besides Dublin Zoo) in the country— ...

. Little Island is within the Dáil constituency of Cork North-Central.

History

The parish of Little Island dates to at least the seventh century, and tidal mills have been excavated dating to c. 630 AD. By the fourteenth century, the parish was known as ''De Insula'', meaning "of the island". Henry Purdon, MP for Charleville, lived here in the eighteenth century. The current

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

parish church was built in 1865 in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style. A limestone quarry on Little Island was the source of thousands of tons of limestone annually, which were used in the construction of public buildings nationally, including Cork's

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

and Holy Trinity Church, as well as Newfoundland's first legislature, the Colonial Building in St. John's. Ancient protected structures, as recorded on the Record of Monuments and Places, include examples of

fulacht fiadh A burnt mound is an archaeological feature consisting of a mound of shattered stones and charcoal, normally with an adjacent hearth and trough. The trough could be rock-cut, wood-lined or clay-lined to ensure it was watertight. Radiocarbon ...

, middens, corn-drying kilns, the remains of a medieval church and graveyard, and the 15th or 16th century

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points ...

known locally as Wallingstown Castle.

Development

A number of Cork's pharmaceutical companies are based on the island. The main drainage

wastewater treatment Wastewater treatment is a process which removes and eliminates contaminants from wastewater. It thus converts it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once back in the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on ...

plant for Cork City was also opened in the area in 2004. Since the 1990s, development has grown, with retail and commercial spaces opened at Little Island Business Park and East Gate Retail Park. As of 2017, the Little Island Business Association reported that there were approximately one thousand businesses operating in the area. Over seven thousand people were employed in the area, which was described as one of Ireland's "industrial powerhouses" as of April 2018. Cork Golf Club and Leeside A.F.C are also based on the island.

Transport

The N25 Cork- Rosslare road is built on the infilled channel between Little Island and Glounthaune. The R623 is an area loop road from the N25. The Cork-

Cobh Cobh ( ,), known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. With a population of 14,148 inhabitants at the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, Cobh is on the south si ...

railway line skirts the island to the north and west. It includes Little Island railway station, which opened on 10 November 1859. It has direct rail services to Cork, Glounthane,

, Carrigtwohill and

Midleton Midleton (; , meaning "monastery at the weir") is a town in south-eastern County Cork, Ireland. It lies approximately 16 km east of Cork City on the Owenacurra River and the N25 road, which connects Cork to the port of Rosslare. A satelli ...

Townlands

The

townlands A townland (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Outer Hebrides, Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Middle Ages, medieval Gael ...

of Little Island include Ballytrasna, Carrigrenan, Castleview, Clashavodig, Courtstown, Harper's Island, and Wallingstown.

References

{{Cork Harbour , state=collapsed Geography of County Cork Former islands of Ireland Civil parishes of County Cork