- Inisheer
Inisheer ( _ga. Inis Oírr, the island's official name, _ga. "Inis Oirthir", meaning "east island", and traditionally _ga. "Inis Thiar", meaning "rear island") is the smallest and most eastern of the three
Aran Islands inGalway Bay ,Ireland .History
St Caomhán, patron saint of Inisheer, is the elder brother of St Kevin, who founded
Glendalough . The official name, _ga. "Inis Oírr", is a recent invention of the Irish Ordnance Survey and appears to be a compromise between the traditional local name _ga. "Inis Thiar" and the previous official name _ga. "Inis Oirthir". There is no Irish word corresponding to the second element in the official name. It seems from the annals that the island's name always contained the element _ga. "iarthar" or _ga. "thiar" in the sense of "rear or back island" and not "west" as is the usual sense of this word. The form _ga. "Inis Oirthir", used by the 17th century scholar Rory O'Flaherty, seems to have arisen out of his own misreading of the annals.Landscape
The island has a medieval O'Brien
castle built in an ancient stonefort on top of the hill, and various church ruins including a church named Teampall Caomhán, which has to be uncovered annually as the floor of it is well below the level of the sand. Irish is still today the daily language of the 300 residents.The island is reached by ferry from
Rossaveal inConnemara andDoolin inCounty Clare as well as from the otherAran Islands . Tourism is important to the island. In addition, many school pupils come to the island to learn Irish in an environment where it is a living language.The cargo vessel "Plassey" was shipwrecked off Inis Oírr in the 1960s, and has since been thrown above high tide mark at "Carraig na Finise" on the island by strong
Atlantic waves. The islanders rescued the entire crew from the stricken vessel using abreeches buoy - an event captured in a pictorial display at the National Maritime Museum inDún Laoghaire ,County Dublin .In the media
The island gained some
television exposure in the 1990s when it (and the "Plassey") appeared in theopening credits of the sitcom "Father Ted " masquerading as the fictionalCraggy Island .Gallery
External links
* [http://www.inisoirr.ie Official (Inis Oírr Co-operative) tourism website for Inis Oírr]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
