Inishturk is an inhabited island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 off the coast of County Mayo

County Mayo

County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...

 in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. It has a permanent population of about seventy people. There are two main settlements, both on the more sheltered eastern end of the island, Ballyheer and Garranty. Bellavaun and Craggy are abandoned settlements. There is a regular ferry from Roonagh pier near Louisburgh. Some inhabitants are descended from evacuees from Inishark

Inishark

Inishark or Inishshark , sometimes called Shark Island, is a small island neighbouring the larger Inishbofin in County Galway, Ireland.-Overview:...

 to the southwest. The social club Mountain Common is situated on the hill that separates the two settlements. The British

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

 built a Martello tower

Martello tower

Martello towers are small defensive forts built in several countries of the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the Napoleonic Wars onwards....

 on the western coast during the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

. Inishturk has the highest per capita donation rate towards the RNLI in the whole of Ireland.

Winner of the All Ireland Islands Championship in 2008.

Documented as part of the RTÉ documentary Pride of the Parish

Between Inishturk and Clare Island

Clare Island

Clare Island is a mountainous island guarding the entrance to Clew Bay in County Mayo, Ireland. It is famous as the home of the pirate queen, Gráinne O'Malley...

 lies Caher Island

Caher Island

Caher Island , an uninhabited island off the coast of County Mayo in Ireland, is situated between the larger Clare Island and Inishturk. An ancient centre for pilgrimage, it is still visited for this reason today. On the 15th of August every year, the Feast of the Assumption, there is a pilgrimage...

.

External links

• Inishturk National School
• http://www.podcasts.ie/weekly-shows/mayos-heritage/ In this series of podcasts on Mayo's Heritage you can hear an excerpt from Ger Reidy's Heritage Tour of Inishturk