Islandeady () is a village in

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

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 ...

, about halfway between the towns of

Castlebar Castlebar () is the county town of County Mayo, Ireland. Developing around a 13th-century castle of the de Barry family, from which the town got its name, the town now acts as a social and economic focal point for the surrounding hinterland. Wi ...

and Westport. The parish of Islandeady meets Castlebar to the east, Westport and Newport to the west, and Aughagower and Killawalla to the south. There is a view of

Croagh Patrick Croagh Patrick (), nicknamed 'the Reek', is a mountain with a height of and an important site of pilgrimage in County Mayo, Ireland. The mountain has a pyramid-shaped peak and overlooks Clew Bay, rising above the village of Murrisk, several ...

to the west and Nephin to the northeast. The main route by road is the N5. The parish has four national schools and a private secondary school.

History

Islandeady

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

straddles the baronies of Carra and Burrishoole. Its name was reinterpreted in recent centuries as ''Oileán Éadaí'' but ultimately derives in fact from ''Oileán Éadain'', where ''Éadan'' is a gaelicised form of the Anglo-Saxon name ''Aedwine'' or ''Haedwine''. A person of this name was ordained bishop of Mayo in the late eighth century, according to the medieval chronicler

Symeon of Durham __NOTOC__ Symeon (or Simeon) of Durham (fl. c.1090 to c. 1128 ) was an English chronicler and a monk of Durham Priory. Biography Symeon was a Benedictine monk at Durham Cathedral at the end of the eleventh century. He may have been one of 23 mo ...

. The Islandeady

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

of Raheens is mentioned in an early biography of

Saint Patrick Saint Patrick (; or ; ) was a fifth-century Romano-British culture, Romano-British Christian missionary and Archbishop of Armagh, bishop in Gaelic Ireland, Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Irelan ...

Tírechán Tírechán was a 7th-century Ireland, Irish bishop from north Connacht, specifically the Killala Bay area, in what is now County Mayo. Background Based on a knowledge of Irish customs of the times, historian Terry O’Hagan has concluded that T ...

(700c). Islandeady townland was historically called ''Illaneedan''. Islandeady belonged to the 'Patrician lands of

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

'. The date given by historians to St.Patrick's

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

work in Islandeady is 440 A.D., where he preached on the shores of a lake in the peaceful little parish. Today, the modern village lies within the townlands of Rinnaseer and Cloonan. On 2 September 1973 during '

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the ...

reservists from Lisnaskea were attacked by gunmen at Kilbree Lower on the Westport-Castlebar road, as they were on their way home from a fishing holiday in Westport. There were no fatalities, but three members were wounded by automatic fire.

Amenities

National schools in the area include Cloggernagh NS, Cougala NS, and Cornanool NS. St. Patrick's Academy is a local (private) secondary school. Islandeady had a shop, beside the church, which closed in 1988. An embroidery and sewing shop is located behind the church. There is also a B&B beside the GAA pitch. The lakes in the area include Lough Bilberry and Lough Lannagh.

Transport

Islandeady is served by the N5 (Westport-Dublin road)

national primary road A national primary road () is a road classification in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. National primary roads form the major routes between the major urban centres. There are 2649 km of national primary roads. This category of road has the pr ...

. Islandeady railway station, which was 2-km south of the village and opened in May 1914 on the Midland Great Western Railway Athlone to Westport line, was closed in June 1963.

Notable people

* Ray Moylette, boxer. *

Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 201 ...

, former Taoiseach. * Seán Mac Aoidh, poet.

References

{{County Mayo Towns and villages in County Mayo Civil parishes of County Mayo

History

Amenities

Transport

Notable people

See also

References