placenamesInishbofin
Inis Bó Finne
The Donegal island’s former school, twentieth-century church and recorded residents’ views preserve a history of shared institutions and changing island life.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Inis Bó Finne · Irish · main form · validated name
- Inishbofin · English · main form
- Inishbofinne · English · main form · local name
Place & story
The island school of 1899
The name board on Inishbofin’s former national school records the year 1899. Surveyed in 2017, the small building retained a classroom and cloakroom divided by a brick partition, timber boarding on the lower walls and a fireplace beneath a brick canopy. Red-brick surrounds distinguish the openings in the rendered stone walls. The inventory recorded the school as derelict but still retaining much of its original arrangement. [2]
Building Muire na nGrás
County Donegal Historical Society’s account of its 2023 island visit credits local man Gerry Gallagher with designing Muire na nGrás church. Construction began in December 1963 and the church was blessed on 23 June 1965. Canon Shields of Gortahork promoted the project, adding a purpose-built place of worship to the island’s communal buildings during the twentieth century. [3]
Women speaking about the island’s future
For a Women’s Programme broadcast on 21 February 1986, Doireann Ní Bhriain spoke with five women from Inishbofin about their lives and hopes for the island. The archive summary records their call for electricity and other services that might encourage younger people to return. Recollections of dances and growing up among familiar neighbours accompanied discussion of an island where only five people remained through the winter. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Townland
- County
- Donegal
- Barony
- Kilmacrenan
- Civil parish
- Tullaghobegly
- Within
- Gortahork
- Coordinates
- 55.17716, -8.17524
- Mapped area
- 1.2 km²
- Logainm ID
- 14448 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Inishbofin. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Inishbofin National School, record 40901401 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- 2023 Field Day, Inishbofin · County Donegal Historical Society; guided visit with Seán Boner
- The Old Days on Inishbofin, 1986 · RTÉ Archives; Women’s Programme, reporter Doireann Ní Bhriain
- Boundary geometry retains its source attribution and licence in the downloadable geographic record. Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.