placenamesPuffin Island
Oileán na gCánóg
Surveying and predator control form part of the documented history of this island reserve off Kerry.
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
- Oileán na gCánóg · Irish · main form · validated name
- Puffin Island · English · main form
Place & story
A television record of fieldwork
RTÉ’s catalogue for a Summerhouse programme broadcast on 8 July 1981 describes Áine O’Connor visiting Puffin Island with boatman Des Lavelle. The ornithologists working there were establishing a baseline for future surveys. Because puffin numbers visible above ground fluctuated, they counted nesting burrows in sample areas instead. They also fitted numbered leg rings to birds. The catalogue records both the practical difficulties of counting an island colony and the intention to measure changes over time. [2]
Responding to an introduced predator
BirdWatch Ireland’s 2011 annual report describes three expeditions between April and August to search for and trap American mink. A sighting had first been reported in 2007. The team removed one adult male, after which signs diminished and no further animals were caught. The report warned that mink could recolonise from the nearby mainland; it did not establish permanent eradication. [3]
An island and a marine reserve
The National Parks and Wildlife Service records Puffin Island Nature Reserve as partly State-owned and partly privately owned. Protection also extends to surrounding sea and foreshore, intended to control disturbance to the breeding seabirds. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Townland
- County
- Kerry
- Barony
- Iveragh
- Civil parish
- Killemlagh
- Coordinates
- 51.83824, -10.40653
- Mapped area
- 0.51 km²
- Logainm ID
- 22403 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Puffin Island. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Counting Puffins Over Time1981: Summerhouse8July1981 catalogue · RTÉ Archives
- Annual Report2011,p16:American Mink on Puffin Island · BirdWatch Ireland
- Puffin Island Nature Reserve · National Parks and Wildlife Service
- Boundary geometry retains its source attribution and licence in the downloadable geographic record. Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.
- Distant Puffin Island from the Ring of Kerry, County Kerry, as photographed in August 2024 illustration: based on a View from the Ring of Kerry towards Puffin Island by Marathon. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.