Lambs, Ancient Axes & Wallabies

Lambay Island lies just 4km off the north County Dublin coast and is the easternmost point of Ireland. This has been a unique production site for axes from the Neolithic times where they uniquely both quarried and polished the stones. It was named Limnus in ancient Greek texts by Pliny and Ptolemy as Limnus but its present name comes from the old Norse for “Lamb Island”. This was derived from a practice of sending young ewes over in springtime to a wolf-free environment! A monastery was established here by St.Columba in c.530 a.d which was raided by Vikings in 795. The island was granted by King Sitric to the church in Dublin. In 1467 it was used as a fortress by the English and in 1691 as a harsh internment camp after the Battle of Aughrim.  Its rocks have claimed many lives including 380 lives on the RMS Tayleur. It also has magical wildlife including the only grey seal colony on the east coast, significant bird colonies, a herd of farmed cattle, and even a troupe of wild wallabies! The island is now privately owned by the Baring family trust.