Inishtrahull
|
Inishtrahull Inis Trá Tholl
|
|
|---|---|
| Island | |
 Inishtrahull
|
|
| Coordinates: 55°25′48″N 7°14′02″W / 55.430019°N 7.23381°WCoordinates: 55°25′48″N 7°14′02″W / 55.430019°N 7.23381°W | |
| Sovereign state | Ireland |
| Province | Ulster |
| County | County Donegal |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.5 km2 (0.2 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 49 m (161 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 0 |
| • Density | 0.0/km2 (0.0/sq mi) |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC+1) |
| Irish Grid Reference | C439548 |
Inishtrahull (Irish: Inis Trá Tholl, meaning "island of the hollow/empty beach") is the most northerly island of Ireland. It has an area of 0.34 square kilometres (0.13 sq mi) and lies about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north-east of Malin Head, County Donegal. The most northerly landfall of Ireland, the Tor Beg rock, is another one kilometer to the north. Inishtrahull is home to Ireland's northernmost lighthouse. The island had a resident community until 1929 and the lighthouse was manned until 1987. Today it is uninhabited and has been designated a protected area due to its wildlife.
The island is formed of a granitic gneiss, a type of metamorphic rock, which is known as Inishtrahull Gneiss. It is dated at 1.7 billion years old, making it Paleoproterozoic in age, and is the oldest known rock on the Irish Islands. The Inishtrahull Gneiss is considered to form part of the Rhinns complex that is also exposed on the islands of Islay and Colonsay. The Rhinns complex is correlated with the Ketilidian metamorphic belt of southern Greenland and the Svecofennian of Scandinavia.
Among the alga Bonnemaisonia asparagoides, Callophyllis laciniata, Kalymenia reniformis, Sphaerococcus coronopifolius, Lomentaria articulate, Lomentaria orcadensis, Rhodymenia pseudopalmata, Plumaria plumose, Ceramium shuttleworthianum, Heterosiphonia plumose, Nitophyllum punctatum, Hypoglossum hypoglossoides, Drachiella spectabilis, Odonthalia dentate, Osmundea pinnatifida, Polysiphonia lanosa, Polysiphonia stricta, Enteromorpha intestinalis, Ulva lactuca, Fucus spiralis, Fucus serratus and Ascophyllum nodosum have been recorded.
...
Wikipedia