Lambay Island is situated off the coast of north east county Dublin, further past the island of Ireland's Eye. It is located at .
Lambay was important in the Neolithic period in Ireland as a ground stone axe quarrying and production site. Two outcrops of porphyritic andesite or Lambay porphyry as it is more commonly known were utilised. The quarry site is unusual in the British Isles for being the only Neolithic stone axe quarry with evidence for all stages production, from quarrying to final polishing.
A number of Iron Age burials were discovered in 1927 on Lambay during works on the islands harbour. The finds included a number of romano-british items and the site has been interpreted as evidence for the arrival of a small group of british refugees from Brigantia, fleeing the Roman conquest in A.D. 71-74.
Ireland's Viking age began with a raid on a church on Lambay Island in A.D. 795. It is the largest island off the east coast of Ireland and is about 2.5 square kilometres in size.
The ancient Greek writers Pliny and Ptolemy knew about the island and referred to it as Limnus or Limni. Its early Irish name, Reachra, was eventually replaced by the Danish Lambay, meaning Lamb Island. This name probably originated with the practice sending over ewes to the island in spring and allowing them to remain there until the Autumn.
During the Williamite war in Ireland the island was used as an interment camp for Irish soldiers. More then one thousand of them were imprisoned there after the Battle of Aughrim in 1691.
Now privately owned, Lambay is home to a medieval castle and an Edwin Lutyens designed estate for the Baring family. The estate includes a distinctive open-air real tennis court. There is also a bird sanctuary and a herd of about 200 deer and a number of wallabies who's ancestors were exiled to the island in the fifties when Dublin zoo became overcrowded. Due to its deep surrounding waters, the island is a particularly popular location for scuba-divers. The island is accessible only by prior permission from Rogerstown Harbour , 27 km north of Dublin in Rush.
References
- Cooney, G. (1993). "Lambay: an island on the horizon." Archaeology Ireland, 7 (4), 24-8.
- MacAlister, R. A. S. (1929). "On some antiquities discovered upon Lambay island." Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 38c, 240-246.
- Rynne, E. (1976) "The La Tène and Roman Finds from Lambay, Co. Dublin: a re-assessment." Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 76c, 231-44.
- Stillman, C. (1994) "Lambay, an ancient volcanic island in Ireland." Geology Today, 62, 62-67.
