Carbery's Hundred Isles are the islands along the coast of the Baronies of Carbery West and Carbery East, successors to the medieval Barony of Carbery, on the Celtic Sea, in the far south-west of Ireland. It is a term which includes those islands in and around Long Island Bay and Roaringwater Bay, County Cork. [1]
Because of the Gulf Stream influence, the islands have a mild climate. However, most of them are exposed to the elements, so patches of lush vegetation contrast with treeless expanses of hill and bog, fringed with rocky cliffs and mixed shingle and sand beaches. [2] The eastern islands within the estuary of the Ilen River are more sheltered and fertile.[ citation needed ]
The phrase "Carbery's Hundred Isles" is taken from the narrative poem The Sack of Baltimore by Thomas Davis, published in 1844, which tells of the raid on the village of Baltimore by Algerian pirates in 1631, in which most of the inhabitants were kidnapped and brought to the slave markets of Algiers. Setting the scene, the first line reads "The summer sun is falling soft on Carbery's hundred isles". [3] This is an instance of poetic license, since there are no more than 50 islands in the archipelago. The popularity of the poem in the 19th century meant that the phrase passed into popular parlance, and subsequently into tourist-industry literature. [4] The area was visited by writer Jonathan Swift in the 1720s, who described the islands and area in a poem. [5]
The largest islands in the area include Cléire and Sherkin Island. Others include: [6]
County Cork is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are Mallow, Macroom, Midleton, and Skibbereen. As of 2022 the county had a population of 581,231, making it the third-most populous county in Ireland. Cork County Council is the local authority for the county, while Cork City Council governs the city of Cork and its environs. Notable Corkonians include Michael Collins, Jack Lynch, Roy Keane, Sonia O'Sullivan and Cillian Murphy.
Baltimore is a village in western County Cork, Ireland. It is the main village in the parish of Rathmore and the Islands, the southernmost parish in Ireland. It is the main ferry port to Sherkin Island, Cape Clear Island and the eastern side of Roaring Water Bay and Carbery's Hundred Isles.
Sherkin Island, historically called Inisherkin, lies southwest of County Cork in Ireland alongside other islands of Roaringwater Bay. It had a population of 111 people at the time of the 2016 Census, and measures five kilometres long by 2.5 kilometres wide. The island has two pubs, a hotel, a bed and breakfast, a community centre, a coffee shop, and a Roman Catholic church.
The Kingdom of Desmond was a historic kingdom in southwestern Ireland. It was founded in 1118 by Tadhg Mac Cárthaigh, King of Munster when the Treaty of Glanmire formally divided the Kingdom of Munster into Desmond and Thomond. It comprised all of what is now County Cork and most of County Kerry. Desmond was ruled by the Mac Cárthaigh (MacCarthy) dynasty. Other clans within the kingdom included the O'Sullivans and O'Donovans. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland in the late 12th century, the eastern half of Desmond was conquered by the Anglo-Normans and became the Earldom of Desmond, ruled by the Fitzmaurices and FitzGeralds—the famous Irish family known as the Geraldines. The king of Desmond, Diarmaid Mac Cárthaigh submitted to Henry II of England, but the western half of Desmond lived on as a semi-independent Gaelic kingdom. It was often at war with the Anglo-Normans. Fínghin Mac Carthaigh's victory over the Anglo-Normans at the Battle of Callann (1261) helped preserve Desmond's independence. The kings of Desmond founded sites such as Blarney Castle, Ballycarbery Castle, Muckross Abbey and Kilcrea Friary. Following the Nine Years' War of the 1590s, Desmond became part of the Kingdom of Ireland.
West Cork is a tourist region and municipal district in County Cork, Ireland. As a municipal district, West Cork falls within the administrative area of Cork County Council, and includes the towns of Bantry, Castletownbere, Clonakilty, Dunmanway, Schull and Skibbereen, and the 'key villages' of Baltimore, Ballydehob, Courtmacsherry, Drimoleague, Durrus, Glengarriff, Leap, Rosscarbery, Timoleague and Union Hall.
The O'Donovans are an Irish family. Their patronymic surname derives from Irish Ó Donnabháin, meaning the grandsons or descendants of Donnubán, referring to the 10th century ruler of the Uí Fidgenti, Donnubán mac Cathail. During the 12th and 13th century, O'Donovan relations relocated from the Bruree/Croom area south to the Kingdom of Desmond and to Carbery, where they were a ruling family for centuries and played a role in the establishment of a feudal society under the MacCarthys. Other septs retreated into the southeast corner of the Ui Fidgheinte territory, reaching from Broadford/Feenagh to the Doneraile area. The northern septs of the O'Donovans did not use a White Rod as the family's position in their original territory was vastly eroded, while several septs of O'Donovans in the southwest territories were semi-autonomous flatha under the MacCarthy Reagh dynasty in Carbery, with the most notable being local petty kings. The family were counted among the leading Gaelic nobility of Ireland.
Carbery or Carbury may refer to:
Mount Gabriel is a mountain on the Mizen Peninsula immediately to the north of the town of Schull in West Cork, Ireland.
The Corcu Loígde, meaning Gens of the Calf Goddess, also called the Síl Lugdach meic Itha, were a kingdom centred in West County Cork who descended from the proto-historical rulers of Munster, the Dáirine, of whom they were the central royal sept. They took their name from Lugaid Loígde "Lugaid of the Calf Goddess", a King of Tara and High King of Ireland, son of the great Dáire Doimthech. A descendant of Lugaid Loígde, and their most famous ancestor, is the legendary Lugaid Mac Con, who is listed in the Old Irish Baile Chuinn Chétchathaig. Closest kin to the Corcu Loígde were the Dál Fiatach princes of the Ulaid.
The MacCarthy Reagh dynasty are a branch of the MacCarthy dynasty, Kings of Desmond, deriving from the Eóganacht Chaisil sept.
The Baltimore Beacon is a white-painted stone beacon positioned high above the channel between the mainland and Sherkin Island near the entrance to the harbour at Baltimore, County Cork, Ireland.
Carbery East is a barony in County Cork in Ireland. It has been split since the nineteenth century into East and West Divisions.
Carbery West is a barony in County Cork in Ireland. It has been split since the nineteenth century into East and West Divisions.
Long Island, historically called Inishfada, is an island that lies south of Schull, County Cork, Ireland. It has a permanent population of no more than 10. The island is named for being 4.8 km (3.0 mi)long and only 0.8 km (0.5 mi) wide. It is the third largest of Carbery's Hundred Isles at 1.8 km2 (0.7 sq mi), after Sherkin Island and Clear Island. The island’s most distinctive landmark is Copper Point lighthouse at its eastern end, marking the entrance to Schull Harbour.
Heir Island, also known as Hare Island or Inishodriscol, is an island in southwest County Cork, Ireland. It has a year-round population of around 25–30. The island is 2.5 km long and 1.5 km wide. It is the fourth-largest of Carbery's Hundred Isles, after Sherkin Island, Clear Island and Long Island. It is near Cunnamore Pier, which is its main access point.
Carbery, or the Barony of Carbery, was once the largest barony in Ireland, and essentially a small, semi-independent kingdom on the southwestern coast of Munster, in what is now County Cork, from its founding in the 1230s by Donal Gott MacCarthy to its gradual decline in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. His descendants, the MacCarthy Reagh dynasty, were its ruling family. The kingdom officially ended in 1606 when Donal of the Pipes, 17th Prince of Carbery chose to surrender his territories to the Crown of England; but his descendants maintained their position in Carbery until the Cromwellian confiscations, following their participation in the Irish Rebellion of 1641 after which some emigrated to the Chesapeake Colonies.
West Skeam Island is a 33-acre island in Roaringwater Bay, County Cork, Ireland that forms part of Carbery's Hundred Isles. The island is privately owned and was for sale in 2013. There are three cottages on the island, as well as some farmland. The ruins of a fifth century church stand above a beach at the east end of the island. The eastern end of this building has been washed into the sea, but the western end still remains. The Office of Public Works conducted an excavation of the area in 1990, which revealed several graves. Work was subsequently carried out to prevent further loss of the structure by building a protective wall on the beach beneath the remains of the church. In modern times, the island was inhabited from the mid nineteenth century, until the 1930s, when the last inhabitants left.
East Skeam Island is an island in Roaringwater Bay, County Cork, Munster, Ireland, that forms part of Carbery's Hundred Isles. It is situated at 51°30′30″N9°26′48″W, North from Heir Island, East from West Skeam Island, West from Cunnamore Pier. It is currently uninhabited.
Horse Island(Gaeilge: Oileán na gCapall) is a small inhabited island in Roaringwater Bay, County Cork, Ireland, off the coast of Schull, that forms part of Carbery's Hundred Isles. No ferry service operates to and from the island; however, there is a pier, a heliport and a road on the island.
Ringarogy Island is a former island in Roaringwater Bay, County Cork, Ireland that forms part of Carbery's Hundred Isles. Ringarogy is joined to the mainland with a bridge.
Carbery's Hundred Isles, in Roaringwater Bay west of Skibbereen, were under the lordship of the powerful O'Driscolls in medieval times
In the first weeks of his trip [June 1723], Swift visited Carbery's hundred isles, spectactular scenery off the coast of Ross Carbery [..] and wrote a poem in Latin, Carberiae Rupe in Comitatu Corgagensi apud Hybernicos [Carbery Rocks, County Cork, Ireland] (1723), describing the awe-inspiring scene
Other island names [..] are Spanish Island, Quarantine Island, The Catalogues, meaning little balls of yarn or rags, The Skeams, Horse Island, Castle Island, Carthy's Islands, The Calf Islands