Haulbowline

The island's name may derive from Old Norse ál-boling or similar = "eel dwelling" ("area where there are conger eels"). The 17th and 18th-century spellings end in "-ing"; there may have been nautical influence on the spelling later. The Irish language name for the island, Inis Sionnach, translates to "island of the foxes".

{{Historical populations

| align = none

| cols = 3

|footnote= Source: {{Cite web |title=CNA17: Population by Off Shore Island, Sex and Year |url=http://www.cso.ie/px/pxeirestat/Statire/SelectVarVal/Define.asp?Maintable=CNA17&Planguage=0 |access-date=12 October 2016 |website=CSO.ie |publisher=Central Statistics Office |ref=none}}

|1841|222

|1851|252

|1861|525

|1871|379

|1881|447

|1891|401

|1901|559

|1911|431

|1926|430

|1936|190

|1946|372

|1951|275

|1956|256

|1961|284

|1966|262

|1971|306

|1979|325

|1981|452

|1986|466

|1991|307

|1996|110

|2002|75

|2006|165

|2011|148

|2016|216

|2022|148

}}

At a strategic and deepwater position in the harbour, the island has long been a military base. The island was first fortified in 1602, and initially an important base for the British Army. In 1603 the Cork city fathers were accused of attempting to demolish it, and William Meade, the Recorder of Cork, was charged with treason as a result.

In 1720, much of the island was owned by the Cork Water Club, later connected to the Royal Cork Yacht Club (claimed as the world's first yacht club). There was a castle on the island which was the clubhouse for the Cork Water Club.Corinthian, History of yachting in the South of Ireland, 1720–1908 (Cork, 1909)

In 1806, the British Army moved to nearby Spike Island, and the fortifications were handed over, with {{convert|14|acres|0|abbr=on}} of land going to the Royal Navy, and the remaining {{convert|8|acres|0|abbr=on}} to the Board of Ordnance.{{Cite book |last=Coad |first=Jonathan |title=Support for the Fleet: Architecture and engineering of the Royal Navy's bases, 1700-1914 |date=2013 |publisher=English Heritage |location=Swindon}} (At the time the island was less than half its present size.)

File:LE Aisling.jpg alongside the former Victualling Storehouses of 1807-24]]

An Ordnance Yard was established on the westernmost part of the island, separated from the rest by a large stone wall. A Martello tower was built for defence, and in 1808 a pair of magazines were erected on nearby Rocky Island with capacity for 25,000 barrels of gunpowder. East of the wall a Victualling Yard was laid out, and from 1807 to 1824 a series of buildings were constructed, several of which are still standing. Most prominent are six large Storehouses, three grouped together around a quay on the north side of the island, and three along what was then its eastern edge. Behind these was a large rectangular rainwater tank (which collected fresh water for the ships), on top of which was a quadrangular cooperage complex. To the south were a mast and boat store, at the top of a slipway, and to the west, along the length of the wall, were cottages and houses for the workers and officers of the yard. At this time, some {{convert|4|acres|0|abbr=on}} was added to the island through land reclamation, the first of several such additions.

File:LE Niamh.jpg docked at the former coaling wharf, Haulbowline]]

Quite soon after so much investment, the Navy announced the closure of the Yard in 1831; ten years later, though, it reopened. The next major development came in the 1860s with the establishment of a Royal Navy Dockyard on Haulbowline, for warship repair and construction. To accommodate this new industrial complex the island was doubled in size to a total of around {{convert|60|acres|0|abbr=on}}. The large basin was constructed, which today bisects the island, with a {{convert|408|ft|abbr=on}} dry dock at one end (extended to {{convert|600|ft|abbr=on}} just prior to the First World War). By the 20th century, the (now renamed) Royal Alexandra Victualling Yard area also contained a coaling/fuelling depot, as well as a naval hospital (housed in one of the Storehouses).

In June 1940, an Irish Marine and Coastwatching Service Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB) returned to Haulbowline after making two trips to rescue French and British soldiers during the Dunkirk evacuation.{{Cite web |date=6 November 2010 |title=Price of Fighting in the Second World War |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/price-of-fighting-in-the-second-world-war-1.673514 |access-date=12 September 2020 |work=The Irish Times |quote=The [motor torpedo boat] crew made two trips across the English Channel, rescuing French and British soldiers}}

File:Irish Navy recruits.jpg

Unlike the other fortifications in Cork Harbour, which formed part of the treaty ports, the dockyard was handed over to the Irish Free State in March 1923, and remains the main naval base and headquarters for the Irish Naval Service. The majority of the Naval Service campus is on the west of the Island – much of it within the former Ordnance Yard – save for the service's football pitch which was reclaimed from land on the eastern side in the 1980s.{{Cite web |title=Toxic Island: The Story of Haulbowline Island |url=http://www.friendsoftheirishenvironment.net/cmsfiles/files/library/toxic_island.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322010516/http://www.friendsoftheirishenvironment.net/cmsfiles/files/library/toxic_island.pdf |archive-date=22 March 2012 |publisher=FriendsoftheIrishEnvironment.net}} In September 2014, the Minister for Defence Simon Coveney announced plans for a €50m upgrade of the naval base with improved quays to cater for the Naval Service's new ships and the construction of a runway to enable the Naval Service to operate UAV drones.{{Cite news |title=Navy to Use Drones to Improve Surveillance |url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/navy-to-use-drones-to-improve-surveillance-285010.html |access-date=30 September 2014 |work=Irish Examiner}}

In March 2008, one of the historic 19th century industrial storehouses on Haulbowline Island was destroyed by fire, leaving only its walls still standing.{{Cite news |date=12 March 2008 |title=RTÉ News Report on Storehouse Fire |url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0312/cork.html |publisher=Raidió Teilifís Éireann}}

File:LowerCorkHarbourBasicMap.png, (C) Fort Meagher/Camden, (D) Fort Davis/Carlisle, (E) Fort Templebreedy]]

{{main|Irish Steel}}

Irish Steel (later known as Irish Ispat) was based on the east of the island, on the site formerly occupied by the 1869 Dockyard, between 1939 and 2001.{{Cite news |date=15 June 2001 |title=400 jobs lost in Cork with closure of Irish Ispat |url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2001/0615/16048-ispat/ |publisher=RTÉ News}} During this time, waste products from the steel making process were dumped or stored on the site, and radioactive and Chromium 6 contamination remained in the soil after the plant closed.{{Cite news |date=27 June 2008 |title=Irish Independent – Residents alarmed over toxic dump at former steel mills |url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/residents-alarmed-over-toxic-dump-at-former-steel-mills-1421817.html |work=Irish Independent}} The contamination from this period of industrial use has been cited as a potential impact to the future development of the island,{{Cite report |url=http://www.heritagecouncil.ie/fileadmin/user_upload/Publications/Museums_and_Archive/Scoping_Maritime_Report.pdf |title=The Potential To Create A Naval, Or Maritime, Museum on Haulbowline Cork Harbour |date=February 2007 |publisher=Heritage Council of Ireland |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714151522/http://www.heritagecouncil.ie/fileadmin/user_upload/Publications/Museums_and_Archive/Scoping_Maritime_Report.pdf |archive-date=14 July 2014 |url-status=dead}} and campaigners, including Erin Brockovich,{{Cite news |date=22 September 2008 |title=Campaign star Erin falls ill on Irish visit |url=http://www.herald.ie/entertainment/around-town/campaign-star-erin-falls-ill-on-irish-visit-27886253.html |publisher=Herald.ie}} had requested government action on the contamination issue.{{Cite news |date=1 July 2008 |title=Get answers about toxic waste, Brockovich urges |url=http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/get-answers-about-toxic-waste-brockovich-urges-26458529.html |work=Irish Independent}} The island's 'East Tip' was made up of slag and other waste material from the plant; it added a further {{convert|22|acre|ha|sigfig=1}} to the size of Haulbowline Island, increasing it from approximately {{convert|60|acres|0|abbr=on}} to over {{convert|80|acres|0|abbr=on}} in size.{{Cite web |title=Your Town – Cork Harbour: Haulbowline Island |url=http://www.passagewestmonkstown.ie/haulbowline-island.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071118185854/http://www.passagewestmonkstown.ie/haulbowline-island.asp |archive-date=18 November 2007 |publisher=Passage West Town Council |quote=When the dockyard was being built, a further 30 acres of ground was reclaimed, bringing the total area of the island to about 60 acres [..] dumping of process slag from the steel works at Haulbowline has increased the area of the island to over 80 acres}}{{Cite web |date=October 2013 |title=EastTip Remediation Project, Haulbowline, Co Cork – Volume 2 – Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) |url=http://www.epa.ie/licences/lic_eDMS/090151b2804bf678.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117100241/http://www.epa.ie/licences/lic_eDMS/090151b2804bf678.pdf |archive-date=17 November 2017 |website=Epa.ie |publisher=Environmental Protection Agency |quote=The East Tip is an area of land, approximately 9 hectares in size, reclaimed from the sea by infilling with waste and by-products from the former Ispat steelworks}}

In July 2006, it was announced that the former steel plant site would be developed with apartments, offices, a hotel and a marina.{{Cite web |date=30 September 2013 |title=2006 Press Release from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation – Major new redevelopment planned for Haulbowline |url=http://www.djei.ie/press/2006/20060728.htm |publisher=Djei.ie}} However, this plan was shelved when the celtic tiger came to an end in 2008.{{Cite web |date=17 June 2010 |title=Oireachtas Hansard – Written Answers – Remediation of Industrial Sites (Questions relating to OPW working group to manage and develop Haulbowline) |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2010-06-17/31/?highlight%5B0%5D=haulbowline&highlight%5B1%5D=haulbowline#s65 |website=Debate record |publisher=Houses of the Oireachtas}}

File:Haulbowline Park.jpg

In 2014, plans were publicised by the Department of Agriculture and the Marine which anticipated the upgrading of the island's road bridge,{{Cite news |date=13 May 2014 |title=Haulbowline bridge repair will help Irish Steel site clean-up – Coveney |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/haulbowline-bridge-repair-will-help-irish-steel-site-clean-up-coveney-1.1793344 |work=The Irish Times}} to facilitate the clean-up of the former Irish Steel site for redevelopment as a park.{{Cite news |date=3 January 2014 |title=Threats of EU fine prompts clean-up of toxic Cork dump |url=http://www.thejournal.ie/threats-of-eu-fine-prompts-clean-up-of-toxic-cork-dump-319168-Jan2012/ |work=The Journal}}{{Cite news |date=22 June 2014 |title=Toxic dump in Cork to be turned into park |url=http://www.thejournal.ie/epa-to-turn-toxic-dump-in-haulbowline-into-a-park-1531156-Jun2014/ |work=The Journal}} Originally estimated at €40m, the cost of the clean-up and redevelopment was later updated to at least €61m,{{Cite web |date=26 August 2016 |title=€61m for Haulbowline 'not enough' to convert old steel plant to public amenity |url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/61m-for-haulbowline-not-enough-to-convert-old-steel-plant-to-public-amenity-417834.html |work=Irish Examiner}} and (as of late 2016) queried for its suitability.{{Cite web |date=13 December 2016 |title='Unsuitable' Haulbowline plan given €61m |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/unsuitable-haulbowline-plan-given-61m-szhbxwn8m |website=The Times}} While some of the clean-up and park development works were completed before the end of 2018,{{Cite web |date=14 December 2018 |title=Former toxic dump in Cork transformed into park |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/former-toxic-dump-in-cork-transformed-into-park-1.3731876 |access-date=1 June 2019 |website=The Irish Times}} some reports questioned the potential public health risks arising from residual contaminants on what was "one of the country's worst polluted former industrial sites".{{Cite web |date=15 May 2019 |title='Premature to open park' on polluted Haulbowline site |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/premature-to-open-park-on-polluted-haulbowline-site-924224.html |access-date=1 June 2019 |work=Irish Examiner}}

Following the cleanup and park developments, it was intended that the Department of Agriculture and the Marine and Department of Defence would transfer the parkland to Cork County Council in May 2019. This transfer, however, was deferred following "a delay in preparing the lease for the site". The park, officially known as Haulbowline Island Amenity Park, was opened to the public in January 2021.{{Cite web |date=14 January 2021 |title=Haulbowline Island Amenity Park to open this Friday |url=https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/arid-40206965.html |access-date=3 June 2021 |website=Echolive.ie}}

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Category:Islands of County Cork

Category:Irish Naval Service

Category:Irish military bases

Category:Cobh