Rutland Island, County Donegal
Native name: Inis Mhic an Doirn | |
|---|---|
 Remains of Conyngham's fishing complex on Rutland Island. | |
  Location within island of Ireland | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Atlantic Ocean |
| Coordinates | 54°58′45″N 8°27′32″W / 54.97917°N 8.45889°W |
| Administration | |
| Province | Ulster |
| County | Donegal |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 12 (2022)[1] |
Rutland Island or Inishmacadurn[2] (Irish: Inis Mhic an Doirn) is an island in County Donegal, Ireland. It is also an electoral and census reporting district covering the island, surrounding islands and part of the mainland. It lies between the village of Burtonport and Arranmore Island.
Anglo-Irish politician William Burton Conyngham founded a fishing village on the island in the 1780s, re-naming it in honour of the British chief governor, Charles Manners, 4th Duke of Rutland. This largely fell into ruin soon after.
History
The island was originally called Inis Mhic an Doirn, anglicised Inishmacadurn or Inishmacdurn. It was known for its herring fishery. In 1783–1784, Anglo-Irish politician William Burton Conyngham founded a company to take advantage of the island, aiming to make it into a major fishing station. A fish processing facility and a planned settlement were built. It included streets of houses and businesses, a customs house, a barracks, and a sail and net factory. Conyngham re-named the island "Rutland", in honour of the British Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at the time, Charles Manners, 4th Duke of Rutland (England).[3]
However, fish catches declined heavily soon after construction, and in 1793, the fishery failed. Part of the village also became half-buried under sand dunes.[3] Nevertheless, the island remained inhabited into the 1960s.
Mains electricity reached the island in 1957, due to its being a crucial stepping stone for the Arranmore supply, but piped water has never been provided for its remaining housing stock, which consists entirely of holiday homes.
Rutland Island has become a popular holiday destination with a number of holiday homes built in the first decade of the 2000s.
Demographics
The table below reports data on Rutland's population taken from Discover the Islands of Ireland (Alex Ritsema, Collins Press, 1999) and the Census of Ireland. Census data in Ireland before 1841 are not considered complete and/or reliable.
Historical population | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: Central Statistics Office. "CNA17: Population by Off Shore Island, Sex and Year". CSO.ie. Retrieved 12 October 2016. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fauna
Badgers have been recorded from this island.[4] There is evidence that their diet is poor.[5]
The island is also home to some foxes.[6]
Flora
The following algae have been reported from Rutland South Channel: Gracilaria gracilis (Stackhouse) Steentoft, L.M. Irvine et Farnham; Rhodymenia holmesii Ardissone; Polysiphonia fucoides (Hudson) Greville; Polysiphonia nigra (Hudson) Batters; Sphondylothamnion multifidum (Hudson) Nägeli; Heterosiphonia plumosa (J. Ellis) Batters.[7]
References
- ↑ Population of Inhabited Islands Off the Coast (Report). Central Statistics Office. 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
- ↑ "Inis Mhic an Doirn/Rutland Island or Inishmacadurn". Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 20 July 2026.
- 1 2 Rowan, Alistair (1979). North West Ulster. Yale University Press. pp. 480–481.
- ↑ Sleeman, P.D. et al. 2009. The small-bodied Badgers (Meles meles (L.)) of Rutland Island, Co. Donegal. Irish Naturalists' Journal 1 - 6
- ↑ Sleeman, D.P. and Daverport, J. 2016. Irish Naturalists' Journal. 35(1) 22 - 26
- ↑ McCarthy, Ryan (2 March 2020). "6 islands around Ireland you never knew existed (but people live on)". Ireland Before You Die. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
- ↑ Morton, O. 2003. The marine macroalgae of County Donegal, Ireland. Bulletin Irish Biogeographical Society no. 27: 3 - 164
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