placenamesMutton Island
Inis Caorach
An 1837 account describes the island’s role in guiding and sheltering shipping at Galway.
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 Caorach · Irish · main form · non-validated name
- Mutton Island · English · main form
Place & story
An island in the harbour
Samuel Lewis’s 1837 account describes Mutton Island as connected to the mainland by a sandbank exposed at low tide, with only the lighthouse’s attendants living there. He records a fixed light visible for nine nautical miles and explains how ships used the island, Black Head and Galway’s church steeple as alignment marks when anchoring. Lewis also reports that £1,000 had been spent on a fort and castle repairs after Galway’s capture in 1691, reflecting the island’s earlier defensive role. [2]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Mutton Island. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Mutton Island (Galway), A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) · Samuel Lewis; original 1837 text transcribed by Library Ireland
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.