Lambay Island

This article is about the island in the Irish Sea. For the island off Taiwan formerly known as Lambay, see Xiaoliuqiu. For the Filipino rice cake, see Pusô.

Lambay

Native name: Reachrainn
Lambay Lambay
Geography
Location	Irish Sea
Coordinates	53.494147°N 5.995671°W / 53.494147; -5.995671
Area	2.5 km2 (0.97 sq mi)
Length	2.7 km (1.68 mi)
Width	2.2 km (1.37 mi)
Coastline	10 km (6 mi)
Highest elevation	127 m (417 ft)
Highest point	Knockbane
Administration
Ireland
Province	Leinster
County	Dublin
Electoral division	Donabate
Demographics
Population	7 (2017)
Pop. density	2.4/km2 (6.2/sq mi)
Ethnic groups	Irish

Lambay, (also Lambay Island) lies in the Irish Sea off the coast of north County Dublin in Ireland. The island is four kilometres (2 mi) offshore from the headland at Portrane and is the easternmost point of the province of Leinster. It has been inhabited since prehistoric period. The island is privately owned and managed by a trust belonging to the Baring family.

Toponym

The name Lambay comes from the word "lamb". This is derived from Norse and Old English, of Germanic origin, which is related to the Dutch word "lam" and German "Lamm". The name probably originated from the practice of sending ewes to the island in Spring so they could lamb in a predator-free environment. It known as Reachrainn in Irish Gaelic. The Irish name for the nearby coastal area of Portrane, Port Reachrainn, originated from its position facing the island.

Similar Viking sounding place names include Lamba in Shetland and Lamba in the Faroe Islands.

Geography

Lambay Island is the largest island off the east coast of Ireland. It covers about 2.5 km² (0.97 sq mi). The highest point - known as Knockbane - rises to 127 m (417 ft). The islands high ground lies to the east and that includes Heath Hill and Tinian Hill. Steep cliffs cover the northern, eastern, and southern sides of the island, while the western side has low lying gentle slopes. The island's geology is mostly made up of igneous rocks, but there are beds of shales and limestones. A small number of wells and streams are created by aquifers.

Due to the island's shape, the western shore is where the island's habitation is locations, such as the Castle, coastguard cottages, harbour and guest ranges.

Demographics

The table below reports data on Lambay'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

Year Pop. ±% 1831 84 —     1841 89 +6.0% 1851 75 −15.7% 1861 71 −5.3% 1871 88 +23.9% 1881 61 −30.7% 1891 32 −47.5% 1901 28 −12.5% 1911 44 +57.1% 1926 45 +2.3% 1936 32 −28.9% 1946 31 −3.1% 1951 21 −32.3%	Year Pop. ±% 1956 34 +61.9% 1961 25 −26.5% 1966 24 −4.0% 1971 24 +0.0% 1979 8 −66.7% 1981 12 +50.0% 1986 10 −16.7% 1991 8 −20.0% 1996 8 +0.0% 2002 6 −25.0% 2006 6 +0.0% 2011 6 +0.0% 2016 —
Source: John Chambers. "Islands - Change in Population 1841 - 2011". irishislands.info. Retrieved 25 March 2015.

Wildlife

Flora

The island is home to 308 plant types. However, surveys have found that 33 are invasive species that have arisen as weeds from agriculture or horticulture.

Fauna

Red-necked wallabies were first released on the island in the 1950s.

The island supports one of the largest seabird colonies in Ireland, with more than 50,000 common guillemots, 5,000 kittiwakes, 3,500 razorbills, 2,500 pairs of herring gulls, as well as smaller numbers of puffins, Manx shearwaters, fulmars, and greylag geese.

North Atlantic sea mammals such as grey seals annually pup on the island. Non-native red-necked wallabies (introduced by Rupert Baring in the 1950s, augmented by a surplus from Dublin Zoo in the 1980s, numbering perhaps around 100 in 2017), and introduced fallow deer (a herd of about 200). There is also a herd of farmed cattle on the island. Rockabill and Lambay islands are the best places in County Dublin to see harbour porpoises.

History

Prehistory

The island was important in the Neolithic period in Ireland as a ground stone axe quarrying and production site. Two outcrops of andesite, or Lambay porphyry as it is more commonly known, were utilised. The quarry site is unusual in Ireland for being the only Neolithic stone axe quarry with evidence for all stages of production, from quarrying to final polishing.

Aerial Approach to Lambay

Classical period

In the 1st Century CE the Ancient Roman writer Pliny knew about the island and referred to it as Limnus or Limni. Its Irish name, Reachra, was eventually joined by a Norse name based on the root word ey for island. A number of Iron Age burials were discovered on the island in 1927 during works on the island's harbour. The finds included a number of Romano-British items, and the site has been interpreted as evidence for the arrival of a small group of refugees from Brigantia, fleeing the Romans from 71 to 74CE.

Ptolemy's Geography in the 2nd century AD may have described Lambay island when he mentioned Εδρου (Edrou). PIE *sed- ‘to sit, settle’ had descendants in many languages, including Greek ἑδρα (hedra) ‘sitting place’ whose many specific uses included ‘base for ships’.

Early Medieval

St. Columba is said to have established a monastic settlement on Lambay c. 530 AD. The religious settlement, which was raided Vikings in 795, resulted in the church and buildings being ransacked and burned. Surveys in the early 20th century found remains of an enclosure to the south of the present chapel which suggested it was a moated site.

Late Medieval

Sitric, a Danish King of Dublin, granted Lambay to Christ Church Cathedral, and in 1181 Prince John granted it to the Archbishops of Dublin. This was reconfirmed by King Edward in 1337 and by King Richard in 1394. A later archbishop gave the rents of the island to the nuns of Grace Dieu for the upkeep of their monastery and school. He also gave the tithes of the Lambay rabbits to the nuns and at that time the rabbit taxes were worth 100 shillings a year.

In 1467, it was provided by statute that the Earl of Worcester, then Lord Deputy, be granted Lambay to build a fortress for England's protection against the Spaniards, French and Scots. Worcester paid the Archbishop of Dublin 40 shillings per annum and though he had a licence to build a castle on Lambay it is not certain that it was actually built.

Early modern

During the English Reformation in the mid 16th century, George Browne, the English Augustian Archbishop of Dublin gave Lambay to John Challoner, the first British Secretary of State for Ireland, for a rent of £6.13.4. The conditions were that Challoner would within six years build a village, castle and harbour for the benefit of fishermen and as a protection against smugglers. He was to inhabit Lambay "with a colony of honest men". He was a very active man who worked four mines for silver and copper and bred falcons on the island's many cliffs. During this period, Lambay Castle - a small fort - was built on the western side of the island.

Throughout the most of the reign of Elizabeth I, Challoner owned Lambay but in 1611 the island was granted to Sir William Ussher and his heirs. James Ussher, later the Anglican Archbishop of Armagh, took up residence on Lambay in 1626 but by 1650 he had moved to London. Ussher was highly respected by Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell and was buried in Westminster Abbey. The island remained in the possession of the Ussher family for 200 years.

During the Williamite war in Ireland, the island was used as an internment camp for Irish soldiers. More than one thousand of them were imprisoned there after the Battle of Aughrim in 1691 and some died of wounds and starvation.

In the 17th century, exploratory mining was again undertaken on the island but it did not develop into industrial activity.

Georgian and Victorian era

Castle Wall

In 1805, the leasehold of Lambay was inherited by Sir William Wolseley, and in 1814 it was acquired by the Talbot family of Malahide.

On 21 January 1854, the RMS Tayleur, one of the largest merchant ships of her day, struck the island's rocks and sank just hours into her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Perth, Australia; of the 650 people onboard, 380 lives were lost.

In 1860 the existing farmers were removed and replaced with English and Scottish tenants.

After selling his property on the mainland, Count James Consedine bought Lambay in 1888 to develop the island as a hunting retreat.

Baring family

In 1904, Lambay was bought by the John Baring, 2nd Baron Revelstoke of the Baring Banking family for £5,250 pounds (depending on different sources). After his death in 1929, his younger brother Cecil Baring hired Sir Edwin Lutyens to work on renovating the island's main residence. Lutyens became a firm friend of the island and continued to return there throughout the remainder of his life, adding to his architectural designs and renovations over the course of 30 years or so.

Cecil Baring, who had inherited his brother's title "Lord Revelstoke" lived on the island till his death in 1934. He and his beloved wife Maude Lorillard are buried in the family Mausoleum on Lambay, along with their son Rupert Baring and grandsons John and James Baring. The Mausoleum, which was also designed by Lutyens, forms part of the circular rampart wall around the Castle and is engraved with a poem Cecil wrote in memory of Maude when she died.

The island is still privately owned by the Baring family trust. The medieval castle is one of only a half-dozen properties, which are still in the occupation and ownership of the original family that commissioned it, the others being: the Liria Palace, Madrid (the Dukes of Alba); Ammerdown, Somerset (the Lords Hylton); Mells Manor (the Earl of Oxford and Asquith); Misarden Park House (the Willis family); Mothecombe House (the Mildmay family); and Penheale Manor (the Colville family). Alex Baring (7th Baron Revelstoke) is currently in occupation of Lambay. The farm has accepted WWOOFers as volunteers in the past.

The estate includes domestic extensions to the old Castle, a row of Coastguard cottages, the Bothy, the White House (family guesthouse), a harbour and boathouse and a distinctive open-air real tennis court, the only one remaining in Ireland (there was one in the old University College Dublin complex on Earlsfort Terrace). There is also the farm with cottages, and the Chapel is located on an isolated promontory. All architecture was either designed or renovated by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

Due to its deep surrounding waters, the island attracts scuba divers and fishermen, as well as lobster-potters. The island is accessible by invitation only, mainly from Malahide Marina and occasionally Rogerstown Pier, Rush and Skerries Harbour, all north of Dublin.

Lambay Castle

Castle Approach

A small late 16th-century fort with battlemented gables, possibly incorporating a 15th-century blockhouse, on the island was transformed by Sir Edwin Lutyens into a romantic castle for the Hon. Cecil Baring, afterwards 3rd Lord Revelstoke. Baring had been working in the USA when he fell in love with the wife of one of his co-directors. She divorced her husband and married Baring. He bought the island for £5,250 in 1904 as a place to escape to with his beautiful young wife, Maude Louise Lorillard, the daughter of Pierre Lorillard, the first American to win The Derby. The story of their early life on the island inspired Julian Slade’s musical Free as Air.

Lutyens made the old fort habitable and built a quadrangle of kitchens, bathrooms and extra bedrooms adjoining it, with roofs of grey Dutch pantiles sweeping down almost to the ground. He also built a circular curtain wall or enceinte surrounding the castle and its garden, with an impressive bastioned gateway; this wall serves the practical purpose of a wind break, enabling trees and plants to grow inside it – which would not grow outside. Everything is of a silvery grey stone. The rooms in the castle have vaulted ceilings and stone fireplaces; there is a stone staircase with many curves and an underground gallery in the new quadrangle which might have been conceived by Piranesi. According to the Revelstoke records on the island, Lambay Castle is also the location where Michael Powell wrote his screenplay for Black Narcissus (1947).

Lutyens also designed the approach from the harbour, with curved step-like terraces reminiscent of the now-vanished Ripetta in Rome and a series of ellipses, circles being a long-standing symbol of welcome and also of wholeness. Characteristically, having ascended those Baroque steps, one has to cross an open field to come to the curtain wall, the entrance gateway not being at first visible; so there is a sense of expectancy.

Close to the harbour is the White House, a largely horse-shoe shaped house with high roofs and whitewashed walls, which Lutyens designed in the 1930s for Lord Revelstoke's daughters Daphne and Calypso and their families, while the castle and island were left to his only son Rupert Baring. On a small cliff-top near the White House is an old Catholic chapel, with a portico of tapering stone columns (also added by Lutyens) and a barrel vaulted ceiling. Inside are various religious symbols and artefacts made by members of the family, including the little stain-glass window.

Ballooning

The winners of the 1921 Gordon Bennett Gas Balloon Race managed to land on Lambay after taking off from [Brussels]], Belgium. Captains Paul Armbruster and Louis Ansermier, from Switzerland, landed on the island after flying 756 km (470 mi) at a maximum altitude of 3,600 m (11,800 ft) during a 27 hours and 23 minutes flight.

See also

• List of abbeys and priories in Ireland (County Dublin)

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

• Cooney, G. (1993). "Lambay: an island on the horizon." Archaeology Ireland, 7 (4), 24–8.
• MacAlister, R. A. S. (1929). "On some antiquities discovered upon Lambay island." Proceedings of the royal Irish Academy, 38c, 240–246.
• Merne, O. J. & Madden, B. (1999). "Breeding seabirds of Lambay, County Dublin." Irish Birds, 6, 345–358.
• Rynne, E. (1976) "The La Tène and Roman Finds from Lambay, Co. Dublin: a re-assessment." Proceedings of the royal Irish Academy, 76c, 231–44.
• Stillman, C. (1994) "Lambay, an ancient volcanic island in Ireland." Geology Today, 62, 62–67.
• Denniston, George "James Gordon Bennett Coupe (Cup) Gas Balloon Races; Chapter 10 // http://gasballooning.net

External links

• Lambay Island Views
• Article on the history and prehistory of Lambay Island
• Article on the future of the Island