Inishbiggle
{{Short description|Irish island off Ballycroy coast in Mayo}}
{{morefootnotes|date=December 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Use Irish English|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox islands
| name = Inishbiggle
| image_name = View to Inisbiggle (geograph 3263430) (cropped).jpg
| image_caption = View to Inisbiggle from nearby Achill Island
| map = island of Ireland
| map_caption =
| native_name = Inis Bigil
| native_name_link = Irish language
| nickname =
| location = Atlantic Ocean
| coordinates = {{coord|53|59|45|N|9|54|15|W |region:IE_type:isle |display=inline,title}}
| archipelago =
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| country = Ireland
| country_admin_divisions_title = Province
| country_admin_divisions = Connacht
| country_admin_divisions_title_1 = County
| country_admin_divisions_1 = Mayo
| country_admin_divisions_title_2 =
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|population = 12
|population_as_of = 2022
|population_footnotes = {{cite report |title=Population of Inhabited Islands Off the Coast|publisher=Central Statistics Office|date=2023 |access-date=29 June 2023|url=https://data.cso.ie/table/F1019}}
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Inishbiggle ({{irish place name|Inis Bigil}}) is a small inhabited island off the coast of Ballycroy in County Mayo. Its name in Irish means "Vigil Island".
The island is unique in that it is traditionally both a Gaeltacht and Protestant.{{Cite web |title=The Blue Tailor |url=https://ifi.ie/film/the-blue-tailor/ |access-date=2024-08-28 |website=Irish Film Institute |language=en}}
Geography
The island is situated between the northeast of Achill Island and the mainland, and is accessed by boat from either Doran's point at Ballycroy or Bullsmouth, Dooniver on Achill Island. The island is 2½ km x 1½ km, or {{convert|650|acre|km2}} in area.
Description
The main activities are sheep and cattle farming, fishing and winkle picking.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}} Facilities on the island included a school and a post office, both now closed.
Plans to build a cable-car link across the Bullsmouth Channel, one of the strongest currents in Europe separating the island from Achill had been under discussion since 1996, but have now been abandoned. Planning permission for the cablecar was denied by Mayo County Council on the grounds that "It would be visually obtrusive in an area of special scenic importance, that it would create traffic problems and that it would devalue houses in the vicinity."[https://www.rte.ie/archives/2017/1011/911611-inishbiggle-cable-car-plans/ Cable Car Battle On Isolated Inishbiggle Continues 1997]
Unpredictable currents in the channel during winter months can render the island inaccessible, even though the passage during fair weather is about ten minutes in the traditional boat, the currach.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}} Emergency access is by helicopter.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}}
Demographics
The table below reports data on Inishbiggle's population taken from Discover the Islands of Ireland (Alex Ritsema, Collins Press, 1999) and the Census of Ireland.
At the end of 2023 the population had dropped to 8 people.
{{Historical populations
| align = none
| cols = 3
|footnote= Source: {{cite web |url= http://www.cso.ie/px/pxeirestat/Statire/SelectVarVal/Define.asp?Maintable=CNA17&Planguage=0 |title= CNA17: Population by Off Shore Island, Sex and Year |author= Central Statistics Office |date= |website= irishislands.info |publisher= |accessdate=12 October 2016}}
|1841|67
|1851|61
|1861|0
|1871|154
|1881|171
|1891|135
|1901|135
|1911|149
|1926|162
|1936|157
|1946|106
|1951|123
|1956|116
|1961|113
|1966|103
|1971|112
|1979|97
|1981|89
|1986|69
|1991|51
|1996|48
|2002|39
|2006|24
|2011 |25
|2022|12
}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.discoverireland.ie/Ireland-s-Islands/West-%28Mayo-and-Galway%29/Inishbiggle-Inis-Bigil Discover Ireland - Inishbiggle]
{{County Mayo}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Islands of County Mayo
{{Mayo-geo-stub}}