Arranmore Island (Árainn Mhór in the Irish language) is the largest inhabited island in Donegal, and the second largest in all of Ireland, with a population of around 600. The island is officially part of the Donegal Gaeltacht, although the Irish language is today rarely spoken or used there.

The island was the first offshore island in the Republic of Ireland to get electricity from the Rural Electrification Scheme in 1957, but was amongst the last places in the country to get piped water (in the 1980s) and an automatic phone exchange (in the 1990s). It went directly from a manual switchboard to an ISDN-enabled system, which had to be upgraded within weeks due to massive demand for consumer phone lines, as the previous exchange had been limited to issuing numbers to business ventures only, and only had 47 internal lines.

The island lies 3 miles off Burtonport, and is the north-westernmost point in Europe. It has been settled since pre-Celtic times, and the few remaining signs of early settlement include a promontary fort to the south of the island and shell middens dotted along the beachs. Its position near the Atlantic shipping lanes was exploited, with a coastguard station and a lighthouse positioned on the most north-westerly point, and a World War 2 monitoring post set up to look out for U-Boats.

The island is home to Ireland's only island-based football team, as well as Donegal's only lifeboat service.

It relies mostly on tourism and fishing for its income, as well as the traditional Gaeltacht summer schools, but in recent years, a local development co-op has encouraged the development of other industries on the island, such as a call centre and teacher training for Irish teachers.

External links

Official Website