Overview
Rutland Island is what a speculative property scheme looks like after 230 years. In 1784 a landlord laid out a whole village here, betting on herring; the fish moved on, the village emptied, and the last permanent residents left in the 1960s. Today nobody lives on the island year-round. The cottages that stand are holiday homes, built mostly in the 2000s and still without piped water, and the pull of the place is the quiet: a low, sandy Gaeltacht island (Irish: Inis Mhic an Doirn, also Inishmacadurn) sitting half a mile off Burtonport in the Rosses.
If you have one afternoon, spend it walking the line of Tarent Street and the dunes behind it. That is the island’s whole story in one short walk.
The rise and fall of “Newtown”
In 1784 William Burton Conyngham established a planned settlement on Rutland, meaning to build a premier fishing and commercial port off the back of the region’s herring shoals. He got a proper street of houses – Tarent Street, built in 1789 – along with business premises, a post office, a schoolhouse and a fish landing and curing station.
It barely got going. Within a few years of the buildings going up, the herring catches collapsed, the businesses closed, and the public services drifted back to the mainland. A stubborn handful of islanders stayed on into the 1960s. Mains electricity reached Rutland in 1957, though mostly by accident of geography: the island was a convenient stepping stone for the undersea cable running out to the far larger, still-inhabited Arranmore. Piped water never arrived at all, which is why the surviving cottages still run on rainwater tanks and spring wells.
The island has a couple of sharper footnotes too. The United Irishman Napper Tandy landed here in 1798 with a French expeditionary force, part of a rising that came to nothing. And in 2009 the timbers of an old wooden ship, possibly an Armada wreck, turned up off the southeastern shore – heavy oak, with the stern assembly still preserved.
Rutland Island and Sound SAC
The island and its surrounding waters are a Special Area of Conservation (site code 002283), which protects an unusually varied run of coastal and marine habitats:
- Coastal lagoons and reefs: the shallow inlets, bays and reefs support a complex marine ecosystem.
- Sand dune systems: embryonic shifting dunes, white dunes held together by marram grass (Ammophila arenaria), fixed grey dunes with rich herbaceous cover, and humid dune slacks.
- Marine flora: the Rutland South Channel is noted for its diverse seaweeds, including Gracilaria gracilis, Rhodymenia holmesii and Heterosiphonia plumosa.
- Harbour seals: the reefs and quiet bays are important haul-out sites for the harbour seal (Phoca vitulina).
- Terrestrial wildlife: foxes, and a recorded population of badgers (Meles meles). The badgers appear to survive on a poor diet, likely a consequence of the restricted island environment.
What to see and do
- The ghost village: walk the remains of Tarent Street to see the stone walls of the 1780s settlement, the foundations of the old schoolhouse and the remnants of the fish-curing station.
- Coastal walking: the beaches, rocky shore and low dunes give open views across to Inishcoo and Arranmore. It is easy, flat ground.
- Birdwatching: the lagoons and salt marsh draw waders, gulls and terns, which nest along the dunes.
- Sea angling: the sheltered water of Rutland Sound is a known local mark for mackerel and pollack.
Practical information
- Getting there: there is no scheduled vehicle ferry. In summer, Donegal Sea Adventure runs a small boat out of Burtonport, and will take island-hopping and private-charter trips; confirm sailings before you travel, as there is no fixed timetable. Kayakers and private boat owners can launch straight from Burtonport, half a mile across the sound.
- Facilities: none. No shop, no café, no public toilet, no drinking water. Bring everything you need, including waterproofs and sturdy footwear, and plan to take it all back with you.
- Leave no trace: stay on the paths, keep well clear of hauled-out seals, and carry your litter back to the mainland.
- Contact: for seasonal crossings and local guidance, the small-islands cooperative, Comharchumann na nOileán Beag, is on +353 (0)74 953 2571 or +353 (0)74 953 2594 (ancaire@eircom.net).