A flying visit to Bishop's Island, Co. Clare

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dc.contributor.authorÓ Carragáin, Tomás
dc.contributor.authorO'Sullivan, Jerry
dc.contributor.authorÓ Caoimh, Tomás
dc.date.accessioned2026-02-17T12:50:02Z
dc.date.available2026-02-17T12:50:02Z
dc.date.issued2005
dc.description.abstractThere can only be a handful of Irish church sites that have not been visited and described, however briefly, over the past 150 years. Until recently, Bishop's Island belonged to this dwindling group. Situated off the coast of County Clare, about 3km south-west of Kilkee (NGR 0858 1595), it is essentially a large sea stack (180m x 90m) with sheer sides rising 40m from the sea. In 1839 Eugene O'Curry (OS Letters) wrote that those 'of the neighbouring landsmen as have nerve enough' used it for grazing, presumably by hoisting their sheep up the cliffs on ropes. Strong winds and 'the frightful steepness of the cliffs' forced him and his companion, John O'Donovan, to abandon their own attempt to ascend, and their brief description of the remains was based on what they could see from the mainland. In his Handbook of Irish antiquities (1858) William Wakeman warned that visiting the island is 'only to be effected by a skilful climber, and after a long continuance of calm weather'. He must have fitted the bill, for his description and engravings of the church and clochaun could only have been produced by someone who had made it there. All subsequent accounts of the site have been based on Wakeman's.en
dc.description.versionPublished Version
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.authororcidÓ Carragáin, Tomás §0000-0001-7227-4287
dc.identifier.authororcidO'Sullivan, Jerry
dc.identifier.authororcidÓ Caoimh, Tomás
dc.identifier.citationÓ Carragáin, T, O'Sullivan, J & Ó Caoimh, T 2005, 'A flying visit to Bishop's Island, Co. Clare', Archaeology Ireland, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 34-37.
dc.identifier.endpage37
dc.identifier.issn0790-892X
dc.identifier.issued1
dc.identifier.journaltitleArchaeology Ireland
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0001-7227-4287/work/206003328
dc.identifier.startpage34
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/18533
dc.identifier.volume19
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherWordwell Books
dc.relation.urihttps://www.jstor.org/stable/20559040
dc.rightsCopyright 2005, Wordwell Ltd.
dc.rights.accessrightsopen access
dc.statusPeer reviewed
dc.subjectBishop's Island
dc.subjectChurch site
dc.subjectClare
dc.subjectIreland
dc.subject[HumanEnvironment]
dc.titleA flying visit to Bishop's Island, Co. Clareen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)
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