Lambay Island

Lambay Island is situated off the coast of north county Dublin, Ireland, north of Ireland's Eye. It is located at 53°29′30″N, 6°01′00″W.

Physical description

The island extends to 2.5 square kilometres, and rises to 127 metres. There are steep cliffs on the northern, eastern and southern sides of the island, with a more low-lying western shore. The geology is dominated by igneous rocks, with shales and limestones.

Prehistory and history

Lambay was important in the Neolithic period in Ireland as a ground stone axe quarrying and production site. Two outcrops of porphyritic andesite, or Lambay porphyry as it is more commonly known, were utilised. The quarry site is unusual in the Ireland (or indeed in the British Isles) for being the only Neolithic stone axe quarry with evidence for all stages production, from quarrying to final polishing.

A number of Iron Age burials were discovered in 1927 on Lambay during works on the island's harbour. The finds included a number of Romano-British items, and the site has been interpreted as evidence for the arrival of a small group of refugees from Brigantia, fleeing the Romans from 71 to 74.

Ireland's Viking age began with a raid on a church on Lambay Island in 795. It is the largest island off the east coast of Ireland and is about 2.5 square kilometres in size.

The ancient Greek writers Pliny and Ptolemy knew about the island and referred to it as Limnus or Limni. Its early Irish name, Reachra, was eventually replaced by the Danish Lambay, meaning Lamb Island. This name probably originated with the practice sending over ewes to the island in spring and allowing them to remain there until the autumn.

During the Williamite war in Ireland the island was used as an internment camp for Irish soldiers. More than one thousand of them were imprisoned there after the Battle of Aughrim in 1691.

The island has claimed a number of shipwrecks, one of the most notable of which was RMS Tayleur. One of the largest merchant ships of her day, she struck the island on 21 January 1854 and sank with the loss of 380 lives.

Wildlife

Lambay Island supports one of the largest and most important seabird colonies in Ireland, with over 50,000 Common Guillemots, 5,000 Kittiwakes, 3,500 Razorbills, 2,500 pairs of Herring Gulls, as well as smaller numbers of Puffins, Manx Shearwaters, Fulmars and other species.

Among the mammals of the island are Grey Seals (Ireland's only east-coast colony) and introduced fallow deer (a herd of about 200) and wallabies (whose ancestors were exiled to the island in the 1980s when Dublin Zoo became overcrowded).

Current status

Now privately owned, Lambay is home to a medieval castle and an Edwin Lutyens-designed estate for the Baring family. The estate includes a distinctive open-air real tennis court. Due to its deep surrounding waters, the island is a particularly popular location for scuba-divers. The island is accessible only by prior permission from Rogerstown Harbour, 27 km north of Dublin in Rush.

References

• Cooney, G. (1993). "Lambay: an island on the horizon." Archaeology Ireland, 7 (4), 24-8.
• MacAlister, R. A. S. (1929). "On some antiquities discovered upon Lambay island." Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 38c, 240-246.
• Rynne, E. (1976) "The La Tène and Roman Finds from Lambay, Co. Dublin: a re-assessment." Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 76c, 231-44.
• Stillman, C. (1994) "Lambay, an ancient volcanic island in Ireland." Geology Today, 62, 62-67.

This article is licenced under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Lambay Island".