The islands of Ireland
QUESTION How many islands in total – inland and offshore – are there in Ireland? THE big island of Ireland has an extraordinary number of smaller islands, 362 in total, off the coastline, in estuaries and in inland loughs.
Most of the islands, 242, are coastal and include such wellknown places as Lambay Island, off the north Co. Dublin coast; Ireland’s Eye, near Howth; Tuskar Rock, off the Co. Wexford coast; Cape Clear Island and Bere Island, off the west Co. Cork coast; the three Aran Islands, off the Co. Galway coast; Achill in Co. Mayo, which is the largest of all the offshore islands; the Arranmore and Tory islands, off Co. Donegal; and Rathlin Island, off the north coast of Co. Antrim.
There are also a host of smaller islands, in such places as Cork Harbour and Connemara. Many of the larger islands are inhabited and it’s estimated that, in total, the population of all the inhabited offshore islands comes to around 10,000. The largest centres of offshore island populations are Achill and the three Aran Islands: Inishmore, Inisheer and Inishmaan.
But there are countless smaller islands around the coast, such as Dalkey Island off the coast of south Co. Dublin, that have long been uninhabited.
In addition to all the offshore islands, some rivers and estuaries also have islands, such as King’s Island in the River Shannon in Limerick city, and Cork city centre island on the River Lee.
Strangford Lough, in Co. Down, which flows into the sea, has a total of 18 islands. Some of the larger inland lakes are also renowned for their islands. Upper and Lower Lough Erne in Co. Fermanagh have the biggest number of lough islands anywhere in Ireland, with Lower Lough Erne having 36 islands and Upper Lough Erne having 15 in total. Also in the North, Lough Neagh has a total of eight islands.
Along the western part of Ireland, Lough Gill in Co. Sligo has 22 islands in total, including the island made famous by WB Yeats, the Lake Isle of Innisfree.
In Co. Kerry, not far from Killarney, Lough Leane has a total of 22 islands. Altogether, Ireland has close to 100 islands in loughs – some of them quite large, others very small.
Ireland has an amazing collection of islands, off the coast and in inland waterways, and for sailing enthusiasts they can provide many attractions as well as challenges.
Jonathan Murray, Co. Wicklow. QUESTION Does the Guinness Book of Records itself hold any world records? GUINNESS World Records, previously known as the Guinness Book of Records, does hold one world record in its own right: It’s the best selling copyrighted book of all times, with sales to date of more than 100million copies.
The book started in 1955 and had its origins in a dispute during a shooting party in Co. Wexford. One of the people who attended that party was Sir Hugh Beaver, then managing director of the Guinness brewery company. He decided that the Guinness Book of Records would be an ideal way for people to solve queries over world records. The Guinness Book of Records was first published in London in 1955; in 2000, the name was changed to Guinness World Records. The book has long since ceased to be owned by the Guinness group, which is now part of Diageo.
The primary world authority on a whole variety of records, Guinness World Records is published in around 100 countries and some 23 languages. The franchise has also been extended to museums and exhibitions, as well as TV series. But while Guinness World Records holds the title for the bestselling copyrighted book of all time, other books have been produced in greater quantities.
The biggest production of all over the centuries has been the Bible. It’s hard to quantify exactly how many copies have been sold, because of the number of versions sold over several centuries. But it’s estimated that between 1815 and 1975, more than five billion were printed. This includes the King James version, which has sold around 2.5billion, and the Gideon free version, of which more than two billion have been distributed. Then there is the Koran, of which more than three billion copies have been produced, but Muslims prefer to see it distributed free rather than sold. Aside from these two religious books, other titles which aren’t covered by copyright have had tremendous sales. Don Quixote, by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes, is estimated to have sold 500million copies, while Charles Dickens’s novel A Tale Of Two Cities is estimated to have sold 200million copies. But even though Guinness World Records has a lot of catching up to do to emulate all these rival titles, in its own class, of copyrighted books, it still holds the world record. David Murphy, Gorey, Co. Wexford. QUESTION During World War II, my father L/Bdr B. Tunley served with the 8th Army in Egypt and was an honorary member of the Alexandria Fleet Club. What was known about this club? IN May 1939, the Mediterranean Fleet was based in Alexandria, Egypt. Prices ashore were high for food and drink, while beds at reasonable prices could only be found in rather doubtful parts of the city, and entertainment was nonexistent. The Fleet Club was set up to satisfy these requirements.
The British admiralty bought the dilapidated Greek hospital near Nabi Daniel Street. Volunteers helped to clear the buildings and establish bunks. When the fleet moved away during the winter of 1939, the club almost closed. But just before Italy joined the war in June 1940, the fleet returned in far greater numbers.
For the next three years, the club thrived: A 100-table restaurant was built, along with cafés, lounges, a general store, a barber’s, shoe shop, shoe shine, billiard room, ballroom and garrison theatre. The club struck deals with local hotels for cheap boarding and a 350-bed annexe was built at Rue Sesostris. The crowning glory was the summer and winter beer garden, which could hold 2,000 people.
Winning the war would spell the decline of the club, however. By June 1944, the main fleet was stationed between Algiers and Taranto in Italy, and by 1947 the club had closed. Stephen Yeats, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
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