Coney Island, County Sligo
Overview from Knocknarea
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 Coney Island
Location in Ireland
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| Geography | |
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| Location | Atlantic Ocean |
| Coordinates | 54°17′46″N 8°35′17″W / 54.2962°N 8.588°WCoordinates: 54°17′46″N 8°35′17″W / 54.2962°N 8.588°W |
| Area | 1.62 km2 (0.63 sq mi) |
| Administration | |
| Province | Connacht |
| County | Sligo |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 2 (2011) |
Coney Island or Inishmulclohy, in County Sligo, Ireland, is one of several islands of the same name off the coast of Ireland. It is an island of approximately 400 acres and is named after the vast quantity of rabbits which can be spotted on the island at any time (Coney (/ˈkoʊni/, historically /ˈkʌni/) is an English word for a rabbit or rabbit hair, deriving from the Latin cuniculus, meaning "rabbit").
In 1862 the island had a population of 124 people, with 45 children attending the local school. The island now has only one family of permanent inhabitants (traceable back to the 1750s) but has many other temporary residents, especially in the summer months. The island gained electricity in 1999 via an underground cable.
Visitors to Coney Island like to frequent the local pub, spot the faerie ring and Napoleonic star shaped forts, visit Carty’s strand (the secluded beach to the rear of the island) for a swim or walk around the island to spot rabbits or the schoolhouse and other famine structures which remain.
There are also stories of faeries, mermaids and spirits on Coney Island, and visitors can try to find the elusive St. Patricks wishing chair, St. Patricks well, the remains of a washed up whale and some fairy forts.
In the last century the merchant ship “Arethusa” used to sail between Sligo and New York City. The captain of the ship, observing many rabbits on the New York island, apparently then named Coney Island, New York, after his own Coney Island in Sligo Bay.
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Wikipedia