Dalkey Island
Coordinates: 53 ° 16 '19.3 " N , 6 ° 5' 2.9" W.
Dalkey Island ( Irish Deilginis , "island of thorns") is an approximately nine hectare uninhabited Irish island.
It is located around 16 kilometers southeast of the capital Dublin on the east coast of the island of Ireland, around 300 meters from the mainland on which the city of Dalkey is located. Although the island is currently uninhabited, there are still remains of houses, a ruined church and a former well-preserved Martello tower from the time of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) on the island. From the port of Dún Laoghaire, three kilometers away , it is possible to visit the island.
history
There is evidence that the island was inhabited as early as the 4th millennium BC and was also used as a Viking base. The church ruin with the Rathdown Slab and a rope cross dates from the 7th century and was named after St. Begnet. A Bronze Age and Iron Age fortification (a Promontory Fort ) at the northern end of the island is still visible today. The rocks off the island to the east are known as “The Muglins” and pose a threat to shipping. They were equipped with a distinctive beacon.
Dalkey Island is home to a colony of harbor seals that has been breeding in recent years. A herd of wild goats also live on the island, as well as a colony of rose terns , which have mainly established themselves on the Maiden Rock rock north of the island since 1995. More recently, bottlenose dolphins have been spotted around Dalkey Island.
Individual evidence
- ^ Edwards, Nancy (2002), The archeology of early medieval Ireland, pg. 41, London: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-22000-9 .
- ↑ Dalkey Island Tern Project ( Memento of the original from November 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
