Coney Island, County Sligo

Coney Island

Overview from Knocknarea
Coney Island Location in Ireland
Geography
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 km^2 (0.63 sq mi)
Administration
Ireland
Province	Connacht
County	Sligo
Demographics
Population	2 (2011)

An old road on the island; mainland & Sligo in background

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").

History

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.^[1] The island gained electricity in 1999 via an underground cable.^[2]

Demographics

Historical population
Year Pop. ±% 1841 124 —     1851 104 −16.1% 1861 95 −8.7% 1871 93 −2.1% 1881 59 −36.6% 1891 57 −3.4% 1901 64 +12.3% 1911 59 −7.8%	Year Pop. ±% 1926 47 −20.3% 1936 36 −23.4% 1946 29 −19.4% 1951 25 −13.8% 1956 14 −44.0% 1961 10 −28.6% 1966 9 −10.0% 1971 5 −44.4%	Year Pop. ±% 1979 7 +40.0% 1981 7 +0.0% 1986 6 −14.3% 1991 5 −16.7% 1996 6 +20.0% 2002 3 −50.0% 2006 6 +100.0%
Source: Central Statistics Office. "CNA17: Population by Off Shore Island, Sex and Year". irishislands.info. Retrieved October 12, 2016.

Activities

Coney Island sunset (Ireland)

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.^[1]

Folklore

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.^[1]

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.

Access

Coney Island is accessible by boat from Rosses Point, or by driving or walking over the causeway, two and a half kilometers across Cummeen Strand, guided by 14 pillars, at low tide. The bollards were constructed in the mid-1800s, lining up with the Black Rock lighthouse, to aid in night time travel across the bay. A spate of drowning tragedies in the 1800s, including that of the then owner of the island, William Dorrin, in 1823, prompted the construction of the bollards.^[3]

See also

• List of islands of Ireland

References

1. discoverireland.ie
2. Moran, Michael. Sligo Champion, April 1999
3. McGoldrick, Seamus. history of Cummeen Strand

External links

Media related to Coney Island, County Sligo at Wikimedia Commons

• Sligo boat charters
• sligoheritage.com, "miracle of Coney"