Beginish () is an island in Valentia Harbour, in south west Kerry Kerry,

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Geography

Dominating the northern skyline is Doulus Head and Killelan mountain, with Valentia island to the south and Ballycarbery to the east. The north west of the island faces out to the Atlantic ocean and Dingle bay. Surrounding Beginish are other small islands, including Lamb Island to the north and Church Island to the east. Church Island is notable for having the remains of a monastic settlement with an oratory and hut,

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, Spring (hydrosphere), spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christianity, Christian or Paganism, pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualitie ...

and

shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

. On the northern edge of the island is a series of columnar

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

cliffs which have a hexagonal shape formed in a similar manner to the famous

Giant's Causeway The Giant's Causeway () is an area of approximately 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcano, volcanic fissure eruption, part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province active in the region during the Paleogene period. ...

. There are a small number of holiday homes on the island which are used seasonally. The island is used for

sheep farming Sheep farming or sheep husbandry is the raising and breeding of domestic sheep. It is a branch of animal husbandry. Sheep are raised principally for their meat (lamb and mutton), milk (sheep's milk), and fiber (wool). They also yield sheepskin ...

and some small scale forestry, and by tourists in the summer months who use the island's beaches for recreational purposes.

History

The island has numerous

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

s. A Viking settlement was occupied between the 9th and 12th centuries, which consisted of a group of 8 houses, 15 cairns with a network of small fields enclosed by low stone walls and numerous

midden A midden is an old dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bones, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human oc ...

s. This site was excavated by archaeologist M. J. O'Kelly in the 1950s, with further analysis conducted by John Sheehan more recently. The main dwelling currently visible was dated to the 11th century AD and is of Scandinavian-Irish origin. This circular building (6.75m in diameter) has a sunken floor 1.5 m below the surface with walls of dry masonry. It was originally covered with a thatched roof, the beams of which were held by holes in the wall. The 1.85 m long, 0.45 m wide and 0.1 m thick lintel is made of sandstone. A small cross and a rune inscription are carved into its surface, which says: "Verr erected this stone and Munulfr carved the runes". This lintel is now in the Cork Public Museum. Occupying the highest point on the western end of the island is a block hut known locally as "Pilots lookout". This which was used in the 19th and early 20th century to spot ships coming into Dingle bay which may have required piloting into Valentia harbour. Beginish Island is currently

uninhabited The list of uninhabited regions includes a number of places around the globe. The list changes year over year as human beings migrate into formerly uninhabited regions, or migrate out of formerly inhabited regions. Definitions The exact def ...

. The last permanent residents were two elderly brothers who left the island in the 1990s. Beginish once hosted numerous families living from farming and fishing, most notably the O'Connell, Casey and McCrohan families.

Environment

Beginish is host to a seal colony located in a

cove A cove is a small bay or coastal inlet. They usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creek (tidal), creeks, or recesses in a coast ...

on the southern part of the island named Casey's landing, and has abundant

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

and

sea A sea is a large body of salt water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the interconnected body of seawaters that spans most of Earth. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order section ...

life.

Notable people

The family of legendary Kerry Gaelic footballer Mick O'Connell came from Beginish.

Sport

An annual swim of approximately takes place intermittently around the island.

References

External links

Archaeological re-evaluation of Viking excavations on Beginish IslandShort documentary about 2010 Beginish Island SwimBeginish Ferry provided by Valentia Harbour Tours
{{County Kerry Islands of County Kerry Uninhabited islands of Ireland