Skerries (Irish: Na SceirÃ, meaning ‘a group of small coastal islands’) is a seaside town in North County Dublin, Ireland, now part of County Fingal. The name comes from the Norse word Skere which has descended into Hiberno-English as Skerry meaning a small coastal island, a Skerries being a group of them.
Skerries has five islands off its coast. They include Shenick Island, St Patrick's, Colt and Rockabill. There is also Red Island while despite the name is actually a tombolo. The town itself is built around two long streets - Strand Street and Church Street and between the surrounding hills of North Fingal and low-lying beaches. Red Island, Mill Hill, Hillside, The public Ardgillan Park and Demesne, Barnageera and to a lesser extent Baldungan Castle are high points on which you can look over the town.
Rockabill is actually two islands, the Rock and Bill, and has the largest numbers of breeding Roseate Terns in Europe. It is also the farthest away from the town and has a lighthouse. On Shenick Island can be found a Martello tower, one of a number of defensive towers erected during the Napoleonic era along the Irish coast by the British. The other islands are harder to reach, but it is possible by boat. Red Island also has a Martello Tower. St Patrick's Island is so called because this is where the Irish patron saint is reputed to have landed and begun his mission to convert the country to Christianity. It is also known locally as Church Island. |
