Clare Island
| Native name: Oileán Chliara | |
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Clare Island from Clew Bay
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 Clare
Clare Island (Ireland)
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| Geography | |
| Location | Atlantic Ocean |
| Coordinates | 53.°48.13′N 9°59.17′W / 53.80217°N 9.98617°WCoordinates: 53.°48.13′N 9°59.17′W / 53.80217°N 9.98617°W |
| Archipelago | Clew Bay |
| Total islands | 117 |
| Major islands | Clare Island, Inishturk, Inishbofin, Inishark, Achillbeg, Caher Island |
| Area | 3,949 acres (1,598 ha) |
| Coastline | 21 km (13 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 462 m (1,516 ft) |
| Highest point | Knockmore |
| Administration | |
| Province | Connacht |
| County | Mayo |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 168 (2011) |
| Pop. density | 7.8 /km2 (20.2 /sq mi) |
Clare Island (Oileán Chliara in Irish) is a mountainous island guarding the entrance to Clew Bay in County Mayo, Ireland. It is famous as the home of the pirate queen Gráinne O'Malley. Approximately 145 people live there today.
Southwest of Clare Island lie the uninhabited Caher Island and the inhabited Inishturk.
Through the Middle Ages, Clare Island was part of the lands of the O' Malley family. The ruins of an O'Malley tower-house, known as Granuaile's Castle because of its most famous resident, are close to the pier at the eastern edge of the island. Clare Island Abbey near the south coast of the island was founded by the O'Malleys and contains the O'Malley Tomb, a possible burial site of Gráinne O'Malley. The Abbey is known for its rare medieval roof paintings. In 1588 a ship from the Spanish Armada was wrecked on Clare Island and its men were killed by the O'Malleys.
A very prominent landmark of the island is the Clare Island Lighthouse, established by John Denis Browne, the 1st Marquess of Sligo, in 1806. On 29 September 1813 a fire, caused by careless disposal of the oil-lamp wicks, destroyed part of the tower and the lantern. The rebuilt light was ready in 1818. In 1834 the tower was struck by lightning. After 159 years of faithful service the lighthouse was taken out of service on 28 September 1965, replaced by the modern Achillbeg Island lighthouse on the south side of Achill Island.
Clare Island Lighthouse has been refurbished and is now an upmarket guesthouse.
The table below reports data on Clare Island's population taken from Discover the Islands of Ireland (Alex Ritsema, Collins Press, 1999) and the Census of Ireland.
Between 1909 and 1911, the Belfast naturalist Robert Lloyd Praeger led an exhaustive biological survey of the island, the Clare Island Survey, which was unprecedented at the time and served as a template for future studies. A new study of the Island was made in 1990 to 2005 and the results were published in six volumes, the last of which was published in 2007. They are available for purchase from the Royal Irish Academy (https://www.ria.ie/research/nsci/publications.aspx) This is reputedly the only survey of its kind in Europe and is serving as a model for measuring the effects of climate change on environment.
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Wikipedia