Coney Island, Lough Neagh
Island in Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland
54°31′01″N 6°33′04″W / 54.517°N 6.551°W / 54.517; -6.551
Coney Island is an island in Lough Neagh , Northern Ireland . It is about 1 km offshore from Maghery in County Armagh , is thickly wooded and of nearly 9 acres (36,000 m 2 ) in area. [1] It lies between the mouths of the River Blackwater and the River Bann in the south-west corner of Lough Neagh. [2] Boat trips to the island are available at weekends from Maghery Country Park or Kinnego Marina . [3] The island is owned by the National Trust and managed on their behalf by Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council . [4] Coney Island Flat is a rocky outcrop adjacent to the island. [5] Although Samuel Lewis called Coney Island the only island in County Armagh , [6] Armagh's section of Lough Neagh also includes Croaghan Island, as well as the marginal cases of Padian and Derrywarragh Island . [7]
Name
The original Irish name of the island was Inis Dabhaill , "island of the Blackwater", so named because it lies opposite where the river Blackwater enters Lough Neagh. [8] In English it was called Enish Douel [8] and then Sidney's Island. [9] The current name comes from coney , meaning "rabbit". [8]
History
Coney Island has a rich history with long evidence of human occupation. This causeway was breached in the 19th century to allow the passage of barges from the Bann to the Blackwater. [2]
It features a 13th-century Anglo-Norman motte . [10]
A native settlement flourished there in the later Middle Ages when there was also a small iron industry. Subsequently, the island was refortified with a bank, ditch and an external palisade. [2]
It also has a 16th-century stone tower. [10] The island was one of the O'Neill's major strongholds, but was delivered to Lord Deputy Sir Henry Sydney in 1567, and appears to have continued in use as a fort for a generation at least. At some later point the defences were thoroughly razed. In the 17th and 18th centuries the island was only sporadically occupied. [2]
In the 1890s, Coney Island was bought by James Alfred Caulfield (1830-1913), 7th Viscount Charlemont, supposedly for £150. He lived in Drumcairne, just outside Stewartstown , and bought the island building a summer house in 1895. [11] In 1946, the island was given to the National Trust by Fred Storey. [1]
References
- 1 2 "Coney Island" . Coney Island, Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland . Archived from the original on 23 July 2008 . Retrieved 6 August 2010 .
- 1 2 3 4 Addyman, P. V. (1965). "Coney Island, Lough Neagh: Prehistoric Settlement, Anglo-Norman Castle and Elizabethan Native Fortress: An Interim Report on Excavations in 1962 to 1964". Ulster Journal of Archaeology . 28 : 78–101. JSTOR 20627417 .
- ↑ "Lough Neagh Boat Trips" . Discover Northern Ireland . Archived from the original on 15 January 2010 . Retrieved 6 August 2010 .
- ↑ "Coney Island" . Culture Northern Ireland . Archived from the original on 5 April 2012 . Retrieved 6 August 2010 .
- ↑ Greer, Philip John (1971). Holiday Cruising in Ireland: A Guide to Irish Inland Waterways . David & Charles. pp. 126–7. ISBN 9780715350034 .
- ↑ Lewis, Samuel (1837). "County Armagh Topography". A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland .
- ↑ "MapViewer" . Northern Ireland Environment Agency . Archived from the original on 31 August 2013 . Retrieved 1 September 2013 .
- 1 2 3 Coney Island . Place Names NI.
- ↑ "Maghery and Coney Island" . Craigavon Museum . Archived from the original on 5 December 2008 . Retrieved 7 August 2010 .
- 1 2 Stewart, Linda (9 November 2009). "Reserves of splendour to savour at Lough Neagh" . Belfast Telegraph . Retrieved 3 March 2020 .
- ↑ Capper, W. Caring for the Countryside
Islands of
Lough Neagh
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