Rathlin Island
Rathlin Island is an island and civil parish off the coast of County Antrim in Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's northernmost point. As of the 2021 Census there were 141 people living on the island.
Geography
Rathlin is the only inhabited offshore island of Northern Ireland, with a population of approximately 150 people, and is the most northerly inhabited island off the coast of Northern Ireland. The reverse-L-shaped Rathlin Island is from east to west, and from north to south.The highest point on the island is Slieveard, above sea level. Rathlin is from the Mull of Kintyre, the southern tip of Scotland's Kintyre peninsula. It is part of the Causeway Coast and Glens council area, and is represented by the Rathlin Development & Community Association.
Townland
Rathlin is part of the traditional barony of Cary, and of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council. The island constitutes a civil parish and is subdivided into 22 townlands:| Townland | Area acres | Population |
| Ballycarry | 298 | ... |
| Ballyconagan | 168 | ... |
| Ballygill Middle | 244 | ... |
| Ballygill North | 149 | ... |
| Ballygill South | 145 | ... |
| Ballynagard | 161 | ... |
| Ballynoe | 80 | ... |
| Carravinally | 116 | ... |
| Carravindoon | 188 | ... |
| Church Quarter | 51 | ... |
| Cleggan | 202 | ... |
| Craigmacagan | 153 | ... |
| Demesne | 67 | ... |
| Glebe | 24 | ... |
| Kebble | 269 | ... |
| Kilpatrick | 169 | ... |
| Kinkeel | 131 | ... |
| Kinramer North | 167 | ... |
| Kinramer South | 173 | ... |
| Knockans | 257 | ... |
| Mullindross | 46 | ... |
| Roonivoolin | 130 | ... |
| Rathlin | 3388 | ... |
Demography
2021 Census
Rathlin Island is labelled as The_Glens_B1 Data Zone, according to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. As of the 2021 Census it is the smallest Data Zone. On Census day there were 141 people living in Rathlin Island. Of these:- 57.5% belong to or were brought up in the Catholic religion, 19.9% belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and Other Christian ' religion, 17.7% had no religious background and 5.0% came from other religious backgrounds.
- 38.3% had an Irish national identity, 39.0% had a Northern Irish national identity and 22.0% indicated that they had a British national identity.
- 31.91% claim to have some knowledge of the Irish language, whilst 8.51% claim to be able to speak, read, write and understand spoken Irish. 4.26% claim to use Irish daily. 0.00% claim that Irish is their main language.
- 21.28% claim to have some knowledge of Ulster Scots, whilst 2.84% claim to be able to speak, read, write and understand spoken Ulster Scots. 2.13% claim to use Ulster Scots daily.
Irish language
The local dialect shows many features typical for Scottish Gaelic and not found in other dialects of Ireland, e.g. forming plurals with -an, use of the interrogative có, it uses the object pronouns e, i for subjects of finite verbs, etc. It is nevertheless mutually intelligible with dialects of the Irish mainland in the Glens of Antrim. The features shared with Irish dialects are typically retentions that were lost in Scotland between the 17th and 20th century rather than innovations common with Irish, e.g. retention of eclipsis of p, t, c, f after some words ending in a consonant.
Transport
A ferry operated by Rathlin Island Ferry Ltd connects the main port of the island, Church Bay, with the mainland at Ballycastle, away. Two ferries operate on the route – the fast foot-passenger-only catamaran ferry Rathlin Express and a purpose-built larger ferry, commissioned in May 2017, Spirit of Rathlin, which carries both foot passengers and a small number of vehicles, weather permitting. Rathlin Island Ferry Ltd won a six-year contract for the service in 2008 providing it as a subsidised "lifeline" service. There is an ongoing investigation on how the transfer was handled between the Environment Minister and the new owners.Natural history
Rathlin is mostly of prehistoric volcanic origin sitting on a foundation of marine sedimentary rocks. The lowermost rocks on Rathlin are the Cretaceous-aged Ulster White Limestone, correlative with the Chalk that forms the White Cliffs of Dover. The limestone contains fossils of belemnites. Overlying an unconformity, the bulk of the island's rock are basalt of the Lower Basalt series, with a weathered horizon of bright red laterite paleosols separating the lavas from the overlying Causeway Basalts. The Causeway series show well-developed columnar jointing, and are named for the exposures at the Giant's Causeway in mainland Northern Ireland. Both packages of lava are part of the British Tertiary Volcanic Province.The island was owned by Rev Robert Gage who was also the island's rector. He had two daughters, Adelaide in 1832 and Dorothea in 1835. Adelaide was a botanist who wrote a book concerning the island's flora and fauna. She visited Dorothea in Germany after she married his Serene Highness Prince Albrecht zu Waldeck und Pyrmont. Adelaide was buried in Ramoan Churchyard in Ballycastle in 1920 and her book on Rathlin is now lost.
Rathlin is one of 43 Special Areas of Conservation in Northern Ireland. It is home to tens of thousands of seabirds, including common guillemots, kittiwakes, puffins and razorbills – about thirty bird families in total. It is visited by birdwatchers, with a Royal Society for the Protection of Birds nature reserve that has views of Rathlin's bird colony. The RSPB has also successfully managed natural habitat to facilitate the return of the red-billed chough. Northern Ireland's only breeding pair of choughs can be seen during the summer months.
The cliffs on this relatively bare island stand tall. Bruce's Cave is named after Robert the Bruce, also known as Robert I of Scotland: it was here that he was said to have seen the legendary spider which is described as inspiring Bruce to continue his fight for Scottish independence. The island is also the northernmost point of the Antrim Coast and Glens Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
In 2008-09, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency of the United Kingdom and the Marine Institute Ireland undertook bathymetric survey work north of Antrim, updating Admiralty charts. In doing so a number of interesting submarine geological features were identified around Rathlin Island, including a submerged crater or lake on a plateau with clear evidence of water courses feeding it. This suggests the events leading to inundation – subsidence of land or rising water levels – were extremely quick.
Marine investigations in the area have also identified new species of sea anemone, rediscovered the fan mussel and a number of shipwreck sites, including HMS Drake, which was torpedoed and sank just off the island in 1917.
Algae
Species of algae recorded from Rathlin, such as Hypoglossum hypoglossoides, Apoglossum ruscifolium, Radicilingua thysanorhizans and Haraldiophyllum bonnemaisonii, were noted by Osborne Morton in 1994. Maps showing the distribution of algae all around the British Isles, including Rathlin Island, are to be found in Harvey and Guiry 2003.Flowering plants
Details and notes of the flowering plants are to be found in Hackney.Archaeology
The island has been settled at least as far back as the Mesolithic period. A Neolithic stone axe factory featuring porcellanite stone is to be found in Brockley, a cluster of houses within the townland of Ballygill Middle. It is similar to a stone axe factory found at Tievebulliagh mountain on the nearby mainland coast. The products of these two axe factories, which cannot be reliably distinguished from each other, were traded across Ireland; these were the most important Irish stone axe sources of their time.In 2006, an ancient burial was discovered when a driveway was being expanded by the island's only pub, dating back to the early Bronze Age, ca. 2000 BC. Genomic analysis of DNA from the bodies showed a strong continuity with the genetics of the modern Irish population and established that the continuity of Irish population dates back at least 1000 years longer than had previously been understood.
There is also an unexcavated Viking vessel in a mound formation.