Lambay Island

Lambay island is an island off the coast of Rush.

It is 250 hectares in size and it rises to a height

of 127 metres. There is a castle on the island

which is dated from as far back as the 1500's.

It is rumoured that there are wallabies on the

island and that there is a plague of rabbits.

History

Lambay is a extinct vocano which was active a few hundred million years ago. There have been artefacts found from 7000b.c on the island .St Colmcille is reputed to have founded a settlement there while he was on his travels. It is said that the greeks had become aware of Lambay and started marking it in on their maps.

The Romans were also aware of the island and they had called it Limnus meaning the snail because of the shape of the island.

It is only when the Danish Viking came here that the island was called Lambay meaning Lamb island.

The Tayleur ship was shipwrecked on the island .It was an iron clipper on its maiden voyage to Melbourne , Australia.

There is a mass grave on the island for all those who died in the wreck.