Great Island
| Great Island Irish: An tOileán Mór | |
 Cobh is the largest town on Great Island | |
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| Location | |
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| Location: | 51°51’57"N, 8°16’2"W |
| Grid reference: | W816682 |
| Area: | 20½ square miles |
| Data | |
| Population: | 14,000 |
Great Island is an island within Cork Harbour, by far the largest island in the harbour, at the mouth of the River Lee and close to the city of Cork. It is linked to the mainland by a single road bridge from the adjacent island and by a long railway viaduct over the sands of the inner harbour.
The largest town on the island is Cobh, or Queenstown as it was known from 1849 to 1922. The village of ‘Cove’ or 'Cove of Cork', which became Queenstown grew up as a hive of maritime activity and the economic and social history of the island has historically been linked to the naval, ship-building, and shipping activities in the town's environs.[1]
In the early 21st century, a different marine industry has arisen. Tourism and related services have become a significant part of the local economy, including cruise ships attracted by the Port of Cork berthing facilities on the island. This is the only dedicated cruising ship berth in the Republic of Ireland.[2][3]
History
The ancient name of the island was Ard-Neimheadh, the "High (or important) island of Neimheadh".[4] According to the 11th-century work Lebor Gabála Érenn, eimheadh was the leader of a group who invaded Ireland by way of Cork Harbour in prehistoric times.[5]
Archaeological evidence of prehistoric and early mediæval settlement on Great Island is recorded on the Record of Monuments and Places of the National Monuments Service.[6] This includes records of ringfort, fulacht fiadh, holy well, and bee bole structures.[7][8]
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By the early 13th century, the island was under the control of the Anglo-Norman Hodnett family.[9][4] The Hodnetts built several structures, including Belvelly Castle, to defend the island and its approaches.[9] The island and its defences were taken by the de Barra (Barry) family in the 14th century. The Barry family (later Earls of Barrymore) retained power in the area for several centuries, and the island became known as "Barrymore Island" or Oileán Mór an Bharraigh, meaning "Great island of the Barrys".[4]
In the 18th and 19th centuries, due to the strategic importance of the island within Cork Harbour (overlooking the naval berths and military bases at Haulbowline and Spike Island), several |coastal defence fortifications were built on Great Island. These included construction by the Army of Cove Fort (between Cove and Cuskinny) in the 18th century and several Martello towers (at Belvelly, Monning and Rossleague) in the 19th century.[10]
The largest settlement on Great Island, Queenstown (now Cobh), had significant development during the 19th and early 20th centuries, stimulated by additional expansion in shipping and naval activity in the area.[11]
Access
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The island's only road connection to the outside world is by a road bridge to Fota Island to the north: Fota in turn, connects by way of a causeway to the mainland. This road bridge, Belvelly Bridge, was built in 1803 at one of the narrowest points in the channels around Great Island.[12] More than 200 years old, it remains the only road bridge to the island.
A railway bridge and rail line also runs out from the mainland, crossing over a corner of Fota Island to Great Island. Railway stations on Great Island include Carrigaloe station and Rushbrooke, and the terminus at Cobh.
A ferry service also connects the island (from a point near Carrigaloe) to the mainland (at a point near Passage West).[13]
During windstorms in 2017 (including Storm Ophelia), downed trees and high winds resulted in the closure of the only road bridge to Great Island. Ferry and rail services were cancelled, leaving 12,000 residents stranded on the island.
Land use and economy
In the 19th century Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (published by Samuel Lewis in 1837), Great Island is described as "very fertile" with its "light productive soil" supporting agricultural uses with "two-thirds [of the island] under tillage, and the remainder in pasture or included in demesnes".[4] Lewis describes the island's location, environment and climate as factors "induc[ing] many genteel families to settle here".[4]
As of the 21st century, land use on Great Island remains primarily agricultural and residential in nature. The island has a population of between 12,000 and 14,000. While some of this population work on the island, as of the early 21st century, an increasing percentage of the island's residents commute to Cork city for work, traveling by car, Cork Commuter Rail, and bus services to the city.[3] Residential developments are concentrated mainly around Cobh, with other populated townlands and settlements on the island including Ballymore, Ballynoe, and Belvelly.
Before the 21st century, land use included industrial zones, and the Verolme Cork Dockyard at Rushbrooke, and the latter was long the site of construction of vessels for the Irish Naval Service. Many of these heavy industries have since closed.
Tourism is now important to the island economy: it is the location of the only berth in the Republic of Ireland dedicated for visiting cruise ships.
Ecology
Several proposed conservation sites and green areas are located on and around the island. These include Cuskinny Marsh Nature Reserve (which is managed by BirdWatch Ireland),[14] Marlogue Wood (operated by Coillte),[15] and the Great Island Channel Special Area of Conservation, in order to protect the animal and bird habitats of the area's salt marshes.
References
- ↑ "Cobh Town Development Plan 2013 – Volume 1: Main Policy Material". Cork County Council. 2013. https://corkcocoplans.ie/wp-content/uploads/bsk-pdf-manager/2016/07/Cobh-T.C.-Plan-Vol-1-2013.pdf.
- ↑ "Cork set for €15 million tourism boost this summer as cruise liner grows". Irish Times. 24 March 2018. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/cork-set-for-15-million-tourism-boost-this-summer-as-cruise-liner-grows-1.3439435.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Future of this town has to be in tourism". Irish Examiner. 7 December 2011. https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/future-of-this-town-has-to-be-in-tourism-176374.html.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Samuel Lewis (1837). Lewis: A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland – Volume 1. London: Lewis. https://www.libraryireland.com/topog/G/Great-Island-Barrymore-Cork.php.
- ↑ Geoffrey Keating (1723). The History of Ireland. University College Cork. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100054/index.html. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- ↑ "Recorded Monuments Protected under Section 12 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act – County Cork". Department of The Environment, Heritage and Local Government. 1998. https://www.archaeology.ie/sites/default/files/media/pdf/Archaeology-RMP-Cork-Manual-2-(1998)-0008.pdf.
- ↑ "Cuskinny Marsh Nature Reserve – Archaeology". BWI. http://www.cuskinnynaturereserve.com/Archaeology.htm.
- ↑ "Cultural Heritage Assessment of proposed works on outfalls at Cobh – Report". Nicholas O’Dwyer Consulting Engineers. June 2016. https://www.water.ie/docs/clh/Cultural-Heritage-Assessment-for-Cobh-Outfalls-Estuary-Crossing.pdf.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Nathaniel Parker Willis; Joseph Stirling Coyne (1842). The Scenery and Antiquities of Ireland (volume 2). George Virtue.
- ↑ "Notes and queries: The Martello towers of Cork harbour". Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society: 200. 1907.
- ↑ Henry Edward Dennehy (1990). History of Great Island : the cove of Cork, and Queenstown. Tower Books.
- ↑ "Belvelly Bridge, County Cork". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=CO®no=20907578.
- ↑ "Cross River Ferries – About". Doyle Shipping Group. http://crossriverferries.ie/about/.
- ↑ "Cuskinny Marsh Nature Reserve". BWI. http://www.cuskinnynaturereserve.com/Home.html.
- ↑ "Marlogue Woods". Coillte. https://www.coillte.ie/site/marlogue/.
