Island Eddy is a small, depopulated island at the inner, eastern end of Galway Bay, Ireland.
Orthography The island is always referred to locally as 'Island Eddy' not 'Eddy Island'. The official Irish Government commission on placenames confirms this usage, giving its Irish and English orthography thus: ‘Oileán Eide / Island Eddy’. It is not to be confused with Islandeady, an inland village and parish in County Mayo.
Geography
Location Island Eddy is situated on the inner reaches of Galway Bay on the west coast of Ireland. The nearest town, as the crow flies, is Kinvara, which sits at the head of a shallow inlet some 7 km to the south, south-east.
Administration Townland Name: Island Eddy(Index to Townlands … of Ireland, 1851) Civil Parish: Drumacoo Barony: Dunkellin Electoral Division: Drumcoo ED County: Galway Province: Connacht Diocese – historical: Kilmacduagh Diocese (R. C.) - modern: Galway, Kilmacduagh & Kilfenora Poor Law Union: Galway Rural District: 10: Galway District electoral division: 043: Ballynacourty
Physical geography
Island Eddy consists of three low islets, inter-linked and flanked by extensive isthmuses and spits. At the south-west end of the island a number of the latter combine to form a large lagoon-like area, and a second series also define another 'lagoon' towards the eastern end. These are known locally as "Malluirs", probably because they fill and drain up to an hour behind the normal tidal pattern.from the Irish Mallmhuir, meaning neap tide. See P. S. Dinneen, Foclóir Gaedhilge agus Béarla. Dublin, 1934. They are labelled as the North Mallmhuir and the South Mallmhuir, respectively. The islets are probably partially submerged drumlins while the isthmuses and spits are largely composed of sea-rolled cobbles and shingle. At the eastern extremity of the island there is a long sinuous sand-spit called "the cush", which allows access to the island by foot at certain spring tides.
In the Books of Survey and Distribution, compiled in the 1650s, 'Illand Edye' is listed as a 'Denomination' of ' of a Qur' comprising '113 0 0 Acres profittable' (Plantation measure).Breandán Mac Giolla Choille and R. C. Simington (eds.) Books of Survey and Distribution being abstracts of various surveys and instruments of title, 1636-1703, Vol. III county of Galway. Irish Manuscripts Commission, Dublin, 1962, page 233.
According to the OS six inches to the mile (1:10,560) scale map the island is '165 Acres, 3 Roods and 24 Perches' (67.14|ha) in extent.(OS 1:10,560 scale map, 1922). Its maximum dimensions are long, east to west, and wide, north to south. Its maximum elevation is .OS Discovery Series map, 1998
Maps
Ownership (landlords) 1574: Bishop of Kilmacduagh(The Compossicion Booke of Conought) 1641: 'Sr Roebuck Lynch Bart of Quarter'Breandán Mac Giolla Choille and R.C.Simington (eds.) Books of Survey and Distribution being abstracts of various surveys and instruments of title, 1636-1703, Vol. III county of Galway. Irish Manuscripts Commission, Dublin, 1962, page 233 1667: 'Dr Robert Gorges' 1855: Sir Thomas N. Redington(Griffith's Primary Valuation of Ireland, 1848-64) Current: the enclosed land and house plots are owned by a number of local mainland families (Irish Land Registry online)
Population Demographics
Nothing quantifiable is known of the island's population prior to the 19th century. However, the quality of the land and the availability of natural resources (seaweed, shellfish etc.) in the inter-tidal zone suggest that the island is likely to have been an inhabited place from early medieval times if not well before. This is hinted at by the archaeological sources and confirmed by the historical data (see below).
The attached table presents details of the population and house data from the official government census returns, and Griffith's land valuation, between 1821 and 1981. The peak of 125 in the island population in 1841 reflects national trends as does the halving of the community in the following decade due to the Great Famine of 1845–49. Though the population recovered somewhat in the 1870s, it declined steadily in the later 19th and early 20th centuries. Though the closure of the school c.1901, was a major blow, the community remained viable until the eve of the 2nd World War. However, like many islands on the west coast, it went into terminal decline thereafter.
In Oileáin: A guide to the Irish Islands (2004), David Walsh states that Island Eddy was 'abandoned in 1947'Presda Press, 2004, 120-121. but the census returns contradict this. In fact, two people still lived there until early December, 1980.pers. obs. Jeff O'Connell, Doorus.
Families A number of family names are closely associated with the past two hundred years of the island's history. The principal families in the 19th and 20th centuries were the Berminghams, Conlons, Keanes and Hynes. The Corless family were also part of the community in the early 19th century, and Fitzgeralds and Finnegans feature in the census records for 1901.See the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-37), Griffith's Land Valuation (1847-64) and the Census of Ireland records for 1901 and 1911.
The earliest individuals recorded as being of Island Eddy, are 'Richard fitz James Skeret', 'Walter Perrell' and 'Henry Perrell' (presumably the latter's son). They are mentioned in a deed of 1552 concerning the island's castle, Skeret being the owner and the Perrells being the occupiers.Kenneth Nicholls, 'The Lynch Blosse Papers', Analecta Hibernia, Vol. 29 (1980), 115-218: see pages 156-7 The historical sources indicate that the Perrells were associated with Island Eddy for at least four generations from the early 1500s to the 1640s.For details of the historical sources, see the History section.
In the 1860s, the lessee of the island's oyster beds was a Mr Wray, who described his methods and the success of his venture in some detail in his report to the Deep Sea and Coast Fishery Commissioners. The oyster beds later came into the ownership of the Atlantic Oyster Fisheries Company.
Although the island is no longer populated (the last residents having left in the early 1980s), descendants of former occupants are living, and remain in contact through Facebook and other social media.
History Timeline The earliest documentary reference to the island (so far identified) dates from AD 1225. In his Irish Family History;...an historical and genealogical account of the Gaedhals, Richard Cronnelly refers to a raid on 'Hy-Fiachra' by Murtogh O'Brien and the English of Desmond in that year which 'left not a four-footed beast from Island-Eddy to Athenry, or from Tuam to Ectge.'Richard Francis Cronnelly, Irish Family History; being an historical and genealogical account of the Gaedhals, from the earliest period to the present time (Dublin, 1865, page 289). Jerome Fahey, History and Antiquities of the Diocese of Kilmacduagh,(Dublin, 1893, 145-6) also reproduces this quote. The quotation is annalistic in style but a trawl through the major annals by Paul Gosling of Cave (in July 2011) has failed to identify its source. The castle is first recorded in a property deed drawn up in August 1552.Kenneth Nicholls, 'The Lynch Blosse Papers', Analecta Hibernia, Vol. 29 (1980), 115-218: see pages 156-7. Therein, one Richard fitz James Skeret and Walter and Henry Perrell renewed an earlier agreement dated March 1513 concerning property on Island Eddy. The renewal included ‘the house or parte of Castell that belongethe to Richard’. Whether the latter formed part of the earlier agreement is not made clear but the deed represents the earliest solid evidence for the castle's existence. In 1574, 'Iland Eddie' castle was in the sole possession of 'Henry Parell'Nolan, J.P. 1901 ‘Galway castles and owners in 1574.’ Journal of the Galway Archaeological & Historical Society, Vol. 1 (1900-01), p. 113. In 1585, during a commission of enquiry by the English authorities into the causes of feuding among the O'Flahertys of Connemara, a number of witnesses attested that the chief O'Flahertie had an 'anuall rent the some of 3s 4d oute of the Islands of Eddy'.James Hardiman, A Chorographical Description of West or H-Iar Connaught, written in 1684, by Roderic O'Flaherty Esq. Dublin 1846, p. 393. In 1641, 'Illand Edye' is listed as in the possession of 'Sr Roebuck Lynch Bart' and 'Richard Oge Perroll'. Of the '113 0 0 Acres profittable' (Plantation Measure) on the island, the former held 99 acres, the latter 14.Breandán Mac Giolla Choille and R.C.Simington (eds.) Books of Survey and Distribution being abstracts of various surveys and instruments of title, 1636-1703, Vol. III county of Galway. Irish Manuscripts Commission, Dublin, 1962, page 233. In 1780, arising out of an Act "For vesting several lands, tenements and hereditaments in the counties of Galway and Mayo, late the estate of Robert Blake of Ardfry, esquire, deceased, and of Richard Blake his son, deceased, in trustees for sale of a competent part thereof for payment of debts and encumbrances affecting the same, and for settling the residue thereof to and for the several uses, intents and purposes therein mentioned", a man named Joseph Blake (the younger) became 'seized and possessed by Virtue of the Limitations in the said Act' to numerous lands in Counties Galway and Mayo, including "Islandeddy".Registry of Deeds, Dublin. Memorial: 333-570-226126. Registered 20/12/1780. "A Memorial of an Indented Deed the sixth day of December one thousand seven hundred and Eighty reciting that by an act of parliament made in the first and second years of the Reign of his present Majesty King George the third Intitled an Act for Vesting Several Lands, Tenements and Hereditaments in the Countys of Galway and Mayo late the Estate of Robert Blake of Ardfry, Esq, deceased and of Richard Blake his son, deceased, in Trust for Sale of a Competent part thereof for payment of Debts and incumbrances affecting the same and for Settling the residue thereof to and for the several..." The OS Name Books, compiled in the late 1830s as part of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland, record the following regarding the island: 'Prop. Thos. Reddington, Esq., M.P., Kilcornan. Agent Mr. O’Flaherty, Inischill. This townland pays £200. Tenants at will. Soil light clay. Produce wheat and oats. There are 24 Tenants appearing very poor. Houses of stone. To the east of the island stands a village called Eddy'.http://places.galwaylibrary.ie under 'Island Eddy' A National School was established on the island in November 1877 by the Redington family of Clarinbridge, the island's landlords. According to the application to the National Schools Board for funding of same,The National Archives, National Schools, Ref.: 19 S 79B, received 19 May 1879 the school comprised a single-roomed thatched building ' long, broad, high' with an earthen floor. The 'walls are plastered' but the building was 'not ceiled'. A total of 34 students were on the rolls in May 1879, of which 20 were male and 14 female. The first teacher was Kate Madden, aged 19 years. Approval for the payment of the teacher's salary, and for books etc., was given in August 1879. The exact date of the closure of the school is unclear but a number of sources place it c.1901. In 1926–7, the island community was involved in a dispute with local government over the perceived high rate of valuation of the land, resulting in a boycott of rates. Details of this are recorded in The Irish Times 9 June 1926, 31 July 1926, and 5 July 1927. and in Dáil Questions 31 March 1927. Two interesting topographical points emerge from these sources - firstly the statement in the Dáil Questions that the island's valuation 'exceeds the valuation on the best lands in the county'. The second point (in a report by Galway County Council) was that Eddy 'was not a true island' The Irish Times, 5 July 1927.
Archaeology