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Sandycove Island

County Cork geography stubsIslands of County CorkUse Hiberno-English from July 2021
Sandy Cove Island from the Irish Mainland geograph.org.uk 596664
Sandy Cove Island from the Irish Mainland geograph.org.uk 596664

Sandycove Island (Cnoc an Rois in Irish) is a small island and townland at the mouth of Ardkilly Creek on the south coast of Ireland, just to the west of the Castlepark peninsula, which forms the western side of the entrance to Kinsale harbour in County Cork. It is located directly opposite the tiny hamlet of Sandycove (population around 100) and no more than 200 metres (656 ft) off the shore. The island is uninhabited except for a herd of feral goats which has grazed on the island for generations, an indication that there is probably a reliable source of fresh water on the island. Over the centuries a number of ships have foundered on the rocks off the island, including the 147-ton brig Eliza which went aground on the island in 1826.The Sandycove Island Challenge is an open-water swimming race. It has been held annually since 1994. The course is from the slipway at Sandycove on the mainland, around Sandycove Island and back to the slipway. The total distance is approximately 1,600m. If sea conditions are unsuitable on the day, a more sheltered course is followed.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Sandycove Island (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Sandycove Island
L3224,

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Wikipedia: Sandycove IslandContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 51.676015 ° E -8.518782 °
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Address

L3224
P17 VP63 (Kinsale Rural)
Ireland
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Sandy Cove Island from the Irish Mainland geograph.org.uk 596664
Sandy Cove Island from the Irish Mainland geograph.org.uk 596664
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Nearby Places

Castlepark
Castlepark

The Castlepark peninsula in Kinsale harbour on the coast of County Cork, on the south coast of Ireland is really more a presque-isle than a peninsula, being joined to the mainland only by an extremely narrow neck at its north-western corner. Thus, the Castlepark peninsula is almost surrounded by water: the River Bandon, flowing from the north-west, bounds the peninsula on the north; the entrance to Kinsale harbour bounds the peninsula on the east; the Atlantic Ocean bounds it to the south; and the tidal inlet known as Sandycove Creek bounds the peninsula on the west. Most traffic into Castlepark now arrives via the Duggan Bridge, built in 1976, which crosses the River Bandon from the northern, Kinsale, bank just east of the neck which joins the peninsula to the mainland.Among the old buildings on the peninsula are: James's Fort (early 17th century); Ringrone Castle (12th or 13th century), a former seat of the Barons Kingsale; and the ruins of Ringrone Church, the latter surrounded by an ancient graveyard that is still in use.Court records from the later seventeenth century show that much of the land was held by two families, the Brocketts and the Bathursts, both fairly recently arrived from England. A series of lawsuits testify to the poor relations between the two families. Located within the parish of Courceys, the peninsula, which has an area of a little under 500 acres (2.0 km2), contains three townlands: James's Fort, Castlepark and Castlelands. The James's Fort townland, which contains James's Fort, is, itself, a peninsula, protruding out of the north-eastern corner of the Castlepark peninsula. On the western side of the neck which joins the James's Fort peninsula to the main Castlepark peninsula, there is a marina; on the eastern side of the neck, there is a sandy beach; a small village, most of whose houses were built in the 1970s although some date back to at least the early 19th century, straddles the neck. The rest of the peninsula consists of farmland with scattered housing. Most of the land is used for tillage (cereals and sugar beet), although there is some grazing of cattle and sheep. By the late 1990s, only one of the farms was still involved in dairying. Sandycove Island, at the mouth of Sandycove Creek, is uninhabited; a herd of goats grazes the island so, presumably, fresh water is available.