Edøy is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1960. It was located in the southern and central parts of the present-day Smøla Municipality. The old municipality originally encompassed all the islands surrounding the Edøyfjorden. This included the islands of Smøla, Tustna, Stabblandet, and the many smaller islands between the larger ones. The island of Edøya lies between the two and that was the center of the old municipality. Over time, parts of Edøy were split off to form other municipalities. At the time it was dissolved, Edøy Municipality was . The Old Edøy Church and later the (new) Edøy Church were the main churches for the municipality.
Prior to its dissolution in 1960, the municipality was the 445th largest by area out of the 743 municipalities in Norway. Edøy Municipality was the 629th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 1,115. The municipality's population density was and its population had decreased by 4.5% over the previous 5-year period.
General information The parish of Edø (later spelled Edøy) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). A royal resolution of 3 May 1873 directed that the southern Tustern parish be removed from Edøy Municipality to create the new Tustern Municipality effective on 1 January 1874. This left Edøy Municipality with 2,166 inhabitants.
On 1 January 1915, the large Edøy Municipality was split into three to form: Edøy Municipality (population: 973) in the south, Hopen Municipality (population: 1,050) in the northeast, and Brattvær Municipality (population: 1,452) in the northwest.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1960, the 1915 partition was reversed, merging Brattvær Municipality (population: 1,361), Edøy Municipality (population: 1,135), and Hopen Municipality (population: 1,550), creating the new Smøla Municipality.
Name The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Edøy farm () since the Old Edøy Church was built there. The first element is which means "eider", a common type of sea bird for the area. The last element is which means "island". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Edø. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Edøy.
Churches The Church of Norway had one parish () within Edøy Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Edøy prestegjeld and the Nordmøre prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nidaros.
Churches in Edøy MunicipalityParish ()Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtEdøyEdøy ChurchStraumen1885Old Edøy ChurchEdøya1190 In 2019, archaeologists from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research using large-scale high-resolution georadar technology, determined that a long Viking ship was buried near the Edøy Church. Traces of a small settlement were also found. They estimate the ship's age as over 1,000 years: from the Merovingian or Viking period. The group planned to conduct additional searches in the area. A similar burial was found previously by NIKU archaeologists in 2018, in Gjellestad.
Geography The municipality was located on the southern part of the large island of Smøla, along with the surrounding smaller islets and skerries including Kuli and Edøya. Brattvær Municipality was located to the northwest and Hopen Municipality was located to the northeast. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Ramndalshaugen on the small island of Kuli.
Government While it existed, Edøy Municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Frostating Court of Appeal.
Municipal council The municipal council of Edøy Municipality was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.
Mayors The mayor () of Edøy Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:
1838–1842: Halvor Christian Heyerdahl 1843–1844: Jørgen Foss 1845–1848: Paul Ulrik Stabell 1849–1850: Halvor Kulø 1851–1855: Daniel A. Rognskaug 1856–1859: Paul Ulrik Stabell 1860–1863: Sverker Moe 1864–1871: Jonas Halse 1872–1877: Knut Kuløy 1878–1884: Ole Soleim 1885–1892: Iver Paulsen Høsteng 1893–1909: Ole Soleim 1910–1913: Bastian Width 1914–1928: Halvard Knutsen Kuløy 1928–1930: O. Th. Engdal 1931–1937: John Lervik 1938–1941: Johan Gjøstøl 1945–1945: Ola Schjølberg (Ap) 1946–1947: Olav J. Gjernes (V) 1948–1959: Ove Gjernes (V)
See also List of former municipalities of Norway
References