While a \u201ccauseway\u201d (raised road) now exists connecting Mutton Island to the mainland, this was not always the casei<\/sup>. Despite its (the causeway\u2019s) recency, the island itself has had an extensive history in Galway dating back at least to colonisation efforts by the Anglo-Normans entering into the region around 1169ii<\/sup>. The island, initially known as Inis Caorach (\u201cSheep Island\u201d), derives its name from its role in sheep keeping on the island in periods where land crossing was possibleiii,iv<\/sup>.<\/p>\n Common in style for fifteenth century castles, the building was comprised of a standard tower house with two separated towers connected to it by a curtain wall rather than a bawn\u2014a brief distinction between the two terms is that curtain walls are aimed primarily at defence from large attacks where a bawn is intended for more broad purposes such as defence and keeping animalsv,vi<\/sup>.<\/p>\n While no remnants remain, a medieval castle was present on the island with the likely goal of decreasing the risk of coastal raidsvii,viii<\/sup>. Plans dating back to the \u201cSircute of the towne of Galloway\u201d of 1592 to fortify Mutton Island are known of howeverix,x<\/sup>. These lacking remnants of the castle will be discussed in greater detail in the section entitled \u201cBecoming a Lighthouse\u201d.<\/p>\n The following paragraphs provide two separate accounts of castle\/fort repairs. Unfortunately, as an amateur historian, I am not personally in a position to comment on the validity of either entry, but I will provide a shortened version of these potential events.<\/p>\n During a brief period in the mid-1600s, the island was used by Cromwellian forces until the local Garrison had raided the island under nightfall, seizing the base and killing the invading forcesxi<\/sup>. By 1652 however, following Cromwell\u2019s takeover, the fort on the island was given up as a condition of surrender with some portion of a \u00a31,000 amount being made available to repair the fort and to arm the island with troops and 10 pieces of canonxii,xiii,xiv<\/sup>. Further repairs and extensions would later be made following Queen Anne\u2019s rise to power in the early 1700sxv<\/sup>.<\/p>\n Later, in 1664, an inquisition was conducted to determine the rough size of the island. At three acres, they determined it to be appropriate to act as commonage for the \u201cinhabitants of Galway and its liberties\u201dxvi<\/sup>. Then, when the Williamites were in control by 1691, a \u00a31,000 investment was made into the island to repair the castle and erect a fort. With this, a garrison was brought into the island with ten \u201cpieces of cannon\u201d to protect shipping in the bayxvii<\/sup>.<\/p>\n Moving away from military use, in 1720, Mutton Island was one of the pieces of land sold by Charles Morgan to Edward Eyre to continue his mass property acquisitions in Galway at the timexviii<\/sup>.<\/p>\n The exact date that the site came into effect as a makeshift lighthouse is difficult to pinpoint. Having had a tower with a less fit-for-purpose light in place before the lighthouse was built, the site was less officially taking on the role of one prior to its construction. Despite this, more recent updates are of greater certainty. When George Halpin, the then-Corporation Inspector of Lighthouses was directed to bring a lighthouse into Galway in June 1815, he chose Mutton Island as its site, with the castle being demolished and construction finishing two years laterxix<\/sup>. This development saw the lighthouse begin to operate on October 25th<\/sup>, 1817. Walter Walsh served as its inaugural lighthouse keeper and accommodation was available for him and his family on the islandxx,xxi<\/sup>.<\/p>\n With shellfish accessible at the shoreline and well cultivated land by the lighthouse which could be fertilised by the seaweed, in instances where the tide was too high to walk into Claddagh (pre-causeway), the island allowed for its keepers to be largely self-sufficientxxii<\/sup>.<\/p>\n Despite being largely sustainable with regards to resources, given that the children of keepers could not access school with ease, permission was granted for the keeper of 1923 to use a small boat for his children to attend schoolxxiii<\/sup>. Later that year however, due to dangerous winds and waves, the Irish Lights\u2019 board provided the keeper with an educational allowance for his children to attend a local boarding schoolxxiv<\/sup>.<\/p>\n J.J. McCann served as the final keeper of the lighthouse with the structure becoming automated by November 1958. This automated system would eventually end in 1977, being replaced with a buoy in the bay instead. Years would pass before another significant development in the sight, with a controversial causeway\u2019s construction being finished in 1999, connecting the island to the mainland of Galway. This site would then be used as a sewage treatment plant from 2003 with future extensions being completed in 2017xxv,xxvi<\/sup>.<\/p>\n 1<\/sup> William Henry, Galway: Walking through History<\/em> (William Henry, 2020), 194.<\/p>\n 2<\/sup> Se\u00e1n Spellissy, The History of Galway: City & County<\/em> (Celtic Bookshop, 1999), 106.<\/p>\n 3<\/sup> Henry, Galway<\/em>, 194.<\/p>\n 4<\/sup> Spellissy, The History of Galway<\/em>, 106.<\/p>\n 5<\/sup> Spellissy, The History of Galway<\/em>, 107.<\/p>\n 6<\/sup> Collins<\/em>, \u2018bawn\u2019 (HarperCollins Publishers), accessed 28 November 2025, https:\/\/www.collinsdictionary.com\/dictionary\/english\/bawn.<\/p>\n 7<\/sup> Henry, Galway<\/em>, 194.<\/p>\n 8<\/sup> Spellissy, The History of Galway<\/em>, 107.<\/p>\n 9<\/sup> Peadar O\u2019Dowd, A History of County Galway<\/em> (Gill & Macmillan, 2004), 69.<\/p>\n 10<\/sup> Peadar O\u2019Dowd, Galway City<\/em> (The Connacht Tribune Ltd., 1998), 14.<\/p>\n 11<\/sup> Henry, Galway<\/em>, 194.<\/p>\n 12<\/sup> Brendan McGowan and Tanya Williams, Galway City: Through Time<\/em> (Amberly Publishing, 2013), 73.<\/p>\n 13<\/sup> McGowan and Williams, Galway City: Through Time<\/em>, 73.<\/p>\n 14<\/sup> Edward Fox et al., Galway: Past and Present<\/em> (Regional Technical College, Galway, 1979), 56.<\/p>\n 15<\/sup> Fox et al., Galway: Past and Present<\/em>, 57.<\/p>\n 16<\/sup> Spellissy, The History of Galway<\/em>, 107.<\/p>\n 17<\/sup> Spellissy, The History of Galway<\/em>, 107.<\/p>\n 18<\/sup> Spellissy, The History of Galway<\/em>, 66.<\/p>\n 19<\/sup> Tom Kenny, \u2018Inis Caorach, Mutton Island\u2019, Galway Advertiser<\/em>, 4 August 2022, https:\/\/www.advertiser.ie\/galway\/article\/130893\/inis-caorach-mutton-island.<\/p>\n 20<\/sup> Henry, Galway<\/em>, 194.<\/p>\n 21<\/sup> William Henry, Hidden Galway: Gallows, Garrisons and Guttersnipes<\/em> (Mercier Press, 2011), 36\u201337.<\/p>\n 22<\/sup> Henry, Galway<\/em>, 194.<\/p>\n 23<\/sup> Henry, Hidden Galway<\/em>, 37.<\/p>\n 24<\/sup> Henry, Hidden Galway<\/em>, 37\u201338.<\/p>\n 25<\/sup> Henry, Hidden Galway<\/em>, 38.<\/p>\n 26<\/sup> John Cunningham and Ciaran McDonough, eds, Hardiman & beyond: The Arts & Culture of Galway since 1820<\/em> (Arden Publishing, 2023), 306.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Introduction While a \u201ccauseway\u201d (raised road) now exists connecting Mutton Island to the mainland, this was not always the casei. Despite its (the causeway\u2019s) recency, the island itself has had an extensive history in Galway dating back at least to colonisation efforts by the Anglo-Normans entering into the region around […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2332,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,203],"tags":[473,658,7,656,449,659,660,655,657],"class_list":["post-2330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-history","tag-brief","tag-claddagh-lighthouse","tag-featured","tag-galway-lighthouse","tag-history","tag-island","tag-mutton","tag-mutton-island","tag-salthill-lighthouse"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Castle\/Fort<\/h6>\n
Potential Errors<\/h6>\n
Becoming a Lighthouse<\/h6>\n
Recent Developments<\/h6>\n
\nEndnotes<\/h6>\n