The parish of Little Island dates to at least the seventh century,[2] and tidal mills have been excavated dating to c. 630 AD.[3] By the fourteenth century, the parish was known as De Insula, meaning "of the island".[2][4]Henry Purdon, MP for Charleville, lived here in the eighteenth century.[5] The current Church of Ireland parish church was built in 1865 in the Gothic Revival style.[2] A limestone quarry on Little Island was the source of thousands of tons of limestone annually, which were used in the construction of public buildings nationally, including Cork's City Hall and Holy Trinity Church,[2][6] as well as Newfoundland's first legislature, the Colonial Building in St. John's.[citation needed]
Ancient protected structures, as recorded on the Record of Monuments and Places, include examples of fulacht fiadh, middens, corn-drying kilns, the remains of a medieval church and graveyard, and the 15th or 16th century tower house known locally as Wallingstown Castle.[7][8][9]
Development
A number of Cork's pharmaceutical companies are based on the island.[10] The main drainage wastewater treatment plant for Cork City was also opened in the area in 2004.[11]
Since the 1990s, development has grown, with retail and commercial spaces opened at Little Island Business Park and East Gate Retail Park.[12] As of 2017, the Little Island Business Association reported that there were approximately one thousand businesses operating in the area.[13] Over seven thousand people were employed in the area, which was described as one of Ireland's "industrial powerhouses" as of April 2018.[14]
The Cork-Cobh railway line skirts the island to the north and west. It includes Little Island railway station, which opened on 10 November 1859.[17] It has direct rail services to Cork, Glounthane, Cobh, Carrigtwohill and Midleton.
Townlands
The townlands of Little Island include Ballytrasna, Carrigrenan, Castleview, Clashavodig, Courtstown, Harper's Island, and Wallingstown.[1]
References
^ ab"An tOileán Beag". Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
^Curtin-Kelly, Patricia (2015). An Ornament to the City: Holy Trinity Church & the Capuchin Order. Dublin: The History Press Ireland. p. 52. ISBN978-1-84588-861-9.
^Wallingstown, Little Island Environmental Impact Statement(PDF). Archaeological Impact Assessment of a Proposed CD&E Facility at Wallingstown, Little Island, Cork (Report). Tobar Archaeological Services. 2008. pp. 12–14. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
^"Record of Monuments and Places - County Cork - Volume 1"(PDF). Dúchas (National Monuments and Historic Properties Service). 1998. Retrieved 8 August 2019. CO075-052 Watermill, Wallingstown / CO075-020002 Church, Wallingstown / CO075-021 Castle tower house, Wallingstown / CO075-085 Kiln corn drying, Castleview / CO075-082 Fulacht fia, Castleview / CO075-024001 Midden, Carrigrenan / CO075-025 Castle, Courtstown