The Skerries are a small group of rocky islands ( skerries) just off

Portrush Portrush () is a small seaside resort town on the north coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It neighbours the resort of Portstewart in County Londonderry. The main part of the old town, including the Portrush railway station, railway stati ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

, on the north coast of

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Winkle Isle is the local name for the large Skerry island, the small Skerry being known as Castle Isle. The islands are part of an Area of Special Scientific Interest. Local boat trips from Portrush pass the Skerries en route to the

Giant's Causeway The Giant's Causeway () is an area of approximately 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcano, volcanic fissure eruption, part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province active in the region during the Paleogene period. ...

Area of Special Scientific Interest

In 1996 the islands were designated as part of the Ramore Head and The Skerries Area of Special Scientific Interest. The islands are a habitat for breeding by a range of seabirds including kittiwake, black guillemot and eider duck. The temperature of the Skerries during the summer months is warmer than other parts of Northern Ireland, and so the rocks are home to particularly interesting fauna; it is the only place many southern species such as the cotton spinner sea cucumber '' Holothuria forskali'' are found in Northern Ireland. There are several protected habitats located around the Skerries, notably for seagrass ('' Zostera marina'') and horse mussel ('' Modiolus modiolus''). In addition, recent surveys have found numbers of the spiny spider crab ('' Maja brachydactyla''), which is new to Northern Ireland.

Shipwrecks

On 28 December 1879 the sailing vessel, ''Thomas Graham'', owned by John and Thomas Candlish of Palnackie in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and captained by John Candlish, was stranded at the Skerries and lost.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skerries, Northern Ireland Landforms of County Antrim Northern Ireland coast Islands of County Antrim Skerries Portrush