Saint
Patrick sat down to a plate of rabbit stew, but just after he blessed the food,
his stew came to life, a cat jumped off his plate and made a beeline for the
nearest door.
Our
patron saint was understandably perturbed, and his hostess was mortified.
Despite living on ‘the island of the rabbits’, she was all out of rabbit,
and hoped her distinguished guest wouldn’t notice her alternative ingredient.
But
he did notice, and Patrick vowed from that moment never to build a church on
‘Inis Coinín’ (Coney Island). He did however promise that he would
safeguard the route to the mainland so the islanders could attend church there
instead.
Like
the stew, the tale (no pun intended) seems a little hard to swallow, but what we
do know is that our patron saint is reputed to have visited Coney Island on his
travels, and thus, there is a St Patrick’s Well, St Patrick’s Wishing chair,
as well as a St Patrick’s Fort.
He
was welcomed with open arms by the islanders and proceeded to preach the gospel,
but found the local cuisine left a lot to be desired.
We
know there was a church, and possibly an entire monastic settlement, for
centuries at Killaspugbrone, named after a local bishop St Brón or Bishop
Bronus. The chancel in St. Anne’s Church in Strandhill contains some stones
from Killaspugbrone church. However there never seems to have been a church on
Coney itself.
The
person deemed to have been the one to name New York’s Coney Island is Captain
Carey who sailed on O’Connor’s timber boat.
He
sailed several times from Sligo harbour to New York, and either he or Captain
Peter O’Connor himself noticed an island there also over-run with rabbits,
hence naming New York’s ‘Coney’ after our ‘Coney’.
Sligo’s
Coney Island is about one miles long and less than a mile wide, almost 400 acres
in all. It can be reached from Rosses Point – a short journey via ‘the Metal
Man’, or when the tide is out by driving about one mile across Cummeen Strand,
as we used to do.
When
my sister was four, she claimed to her boyfriend at the time that she swam to
Coney and back, underwater, but to this day we have our doubts.
Coney
has gone through several name-changes. It used to be known as Mulclohys’
Island and later as Dorran’s Island after its joint owner at the time, one
William Dorran.
In
1823, William was drowned on his way across Cummeen Strand, and several others
were later to also perish in this way.
It
seems hard to believe that this scenic stretch of sand and water lying under
Maeve’s watchful eye would be responsible for the loss of life.
Nevertheless,
in 1845, the 14 stone pillars still standing today were erected in line with the
main lighthouse in order to guide people to and from the island.
By
the time of the ‘Famine’, there were 24 houses on Coney and a population of
124. As with everywhere, the population then decreased and by the turn of the
20th century the population had halved.
Some
of the family names at that time are still common Sligo family names –
McGowans, Wards, Cartys, Feeneys, Flannerys and Harans.
In
the mid-19th century, the Meredith family (originally of Welsh origin) owned
most of the land on Coney, and had quite a thriving oyster bed in operation. Is
this the origin of the name of neighbouring ‘Oyster Island’?
There
was a school on Coney and in 1862 it had 45 pupils. It finally closed in 1940
amidst lots of controversy, even provoking a Dáil debate.
Now
there is only one permanent family on the island – the McGowans – who are
traceable there back to the 1750s. The island does however have temporary
residents, especially in the Summer.
There
is much more to Coney’s rich and fascinating history – stories of faeries,
mermaids, spirits and the rather eery ‘Bleak House’ which can be seen from
quite a distance away.
Go
and discover it for yourselves. Be warned however – check the tides, leave
plenty of time to get there and back, and maybe bring a mobile! I am speaking as
one who has been stranded in the past.