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Inishvickillane
Native name: Inis Mhic Aoibhleáin
	Inishvickillane
Geography
Location	Atlantic Ocean
Coordinates	52°02′37″N 10°36′30″W / 52.04350°N 10.60829°W
Archipelago	Blasket Islands
Area	205 acres (83 ha)
Highest elevation	138 m (453 ft)
Administration
	Ireland
Province	Munster
County	County Kerry
Demographics
Population	0 (0)
Pop. density	0/km2 (0/sq mi)

Inishvickillane or Inishvickillaun (from Irish Inis Mhic Aoibhleáin meaning 'Mac Killane's island')^[2] is one of the Blasket Islands of County Kerry, Ireland.

History and Archaeological Significance

Referred to by Blasket islanders as "The Inis",^[3] Inishvickillane was intermittently inhabited during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, by one or more families.

There are extensive ruins of ancient stone buildings of archaeological note on the island. For example, at the south-east end of Inisvickillane are the remains of an early monastic settlement. The unenclosed site comprises the ruins of a dry-stone oratory, a graveyard, a leacht with stone cross, a possible beehive hut, and a holy well dedicated to St. Brendan.^[4] The south wall of the oratory featured an inscribed stone with the text:

OR DO MAC RUED U DALAC ("A prayer for Mac-Ruaid, grandson of Dálach").^[5]

In 1902 a number of local newspapers reported on the removal of this Ogham stone from the island's ancient oratory as an act of vandalism.^[6] In fact, the stone had been brought to Trinity College Dublin for study and examination,^[7] where it remains to this day.^[8]

Inishvickillane, sometimes referred to as "the last parish before America", ^[3] will be the first land in Europe to experience the solar eclipse of 23 September 2090.^[9]

Purchase by Charles Haughey

In the early 1970s, the perception of West Kerry Gaeltacht was changing as the region received increased tourist activity following the movie Ryan's Daughter.^[10]^[11] In 1974, Inishvickillane was purchased by Charles J Haughey, a former Irish senior government minister who was lingering in the backbenches since being sacked on foot of the Arms Crisis.

"IT WAS LEARNED yesterday that Mr. Charles Haughey, T.D., had purchased Inishvickillane, an island retreat in the Blaskets in Kerry, for an undisclosed sum. Covering an acre of ground, the former Minister proposes to use it for a family summer home.
The island formerly belonged to the Ó Dalaigh family of Dún Chaoin. All that remains on the deserted' island is the ancestral home of the Ó Dalaighs, who pulled up their roots about 70 years ago. A stone cabin, with lattice windows, it is a solitary reminder of livelier days in Inishvickillane. Members of the Ó Dalaigh family still cross from Dún Chaoin in the summer, using the island for grazing sheep.
Mr. Haughey is likely to build a new bungalow-type house and intends to see to it that the unspoiled charm of the place remains undisturbed".^[12]

The purchase generated much media attention at the time,^[13] creating much discussion about Haughey's own wealth, business instincts (as land in the area was rising in value) as well as his interest in the heritage of the Gaeltacht. In 1989 while Taoiseach, Haughey introduced legislation to turn the Blasket Islands into a national park, including powers of compulsory purchase order.^[14] This was ruled unconstitutional by Mr Justice Declan Budd in 1998.^[15]^[16]

The 1989 State Papers revealed that the Irish Naval Service and Irish Air Corps had an elaborate plan in place to retrieve Haughey from the remote island in the event that he was required for a government emergency.^[17]

Geography

Apart from Tearaght and some rocks, this island is the most western land of Ireland; it is possibly the most western part of the country that had anything like normal habitation, since Tearaght's sole inhabitants seem to have been the keepers of the lighthouse there before that was automated in 1988.^{[citation needed]}

Robin Flower noted in his writings that the island's inhabitants claimed the soil was too rich for potatoes but good for cabbage and onions, and records a claim that tobacco was once successfully grown there.^[18]

Nature

Inishvickillane holds important seabird colonies, being especially notable for northern fulmar, European storm-petrel and Atlantic puffin. A herd of red deer was introduced to the island by Haughey in 1980 and reached a peak population of around 100 in 2005. Numbers are currently managed by private cullers.^[19]

Gallery

As viewed from Inishtearaght. Note: Inishnabro to left, and Inishvickillane to right
The island as seen from the air in 1987

References

^ Townlands.ie - Inishvickillane
^ Placenames Database of Ireland
^ ^a ^b J. & R. Stagles, The Blasket Islands: Next Parish America. O'Brien Press, Dublin, 1980
^ Okasha, Elisabeth (2001). Early Christian inscriptions of Munster : a corpus of the inscribed stones. Katherine Forsyth. Cork, Ireland: Cork University Press. ISBN 1-85918-170-8. OCLC 45532437.
^ Macalister, Robert Alexander Stewart (1996). Corpus inscriptionum insularum celticarum. Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland: Four Courts Press. ISBN 1-85182-242-9. OCLC 36013640.
^ "Vandalism in West Kerry". The Kerry People. 11 October 1902. p. 3.
^ "Vandalism In West Kerry". Kerry Evening Star. 11 October 1902. p. 3.
^ "Ogham in 3D - Trinity College Dublin / 185. Inishvickillane". ogham.celt.dias.ie. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
^ "NASA - Total Solar Eclipse of 2090 September 23".
^ Brennan, Marjorie (30 December 2020). "How the film Ryan's Daughter helped rescue the town of Dingle". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
^ "Ryan's Daughter Brought a Bonanza to Kerry 50 Years Ago – Ireland's Own". Retrieved 5 April 2021.
^ "Haughey Buys Kerry Island". Irish Independent. 20 April 1974. p. 1.
^ "Contribution to Irish Writing?". Nationalist and Leinster Times. 26 April 1974. p. 21.
^ Book (eISB), electronic Irish Statute. "electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB)". www.irishstatutebook.ie. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
^ "Court rules Blasket Act is unconstitutional". The Irish Times. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
^ "Four win case over Haughey islands Act". independent. 28 February 1998. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
^ Correspondent, Harry McGee Political. "State papers: Elaborate plan in place for contacting Haughey on private island". The Irish Times. Retrieved 5 April 2021. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
^ Pochin Mould, Daphne (29 August 1968). "I Flew To Inishvickillane". The Irish Press. p. 11.
^ "Haughey confirms red deer cull on his island". The Irish Times. 20 April 2005. Retrieved 6 December 2021.