18 islands off the Irish coast that lost their year-round people in the twentieth century or before, in order of leaving. The Great Blasket went in 1953; Inishark's last 23 islanders left on 20 October 1960. Several now have summer people again.
Inishtrahull · Donegal · last permanently lived on: 1929 Source says: the evacuation of the community took place en bloc in 1929. Peak: 80 people at the 1911 census; last census with anyone counted 1986 (6), none in 1991 Why: Disputed at the time. In the Dáil in November 1929 the local TD, Frank Carney, blamed illegal fishing by foreign trawlers; the Minister for Fisheries, Fionán Lynch, said he did not agree that this was why the people left. Now: Uninhabited and protected for its wildlife. The lighthouse was automated in 1987 and the last three keepers left on 30 April 1987. Note: The census counts of 3 to 6 people from 1936 to 1986 fall in the years the article says lighthouse keepers were stationed there.
Inishmurray · Sligo · last permanently lived on: 1948 Source says: the last residents left on 12 November 1948. Peak: just over 100 in the 1880s (the article; no census year given) Why: In the 1940s the 60 remaining islanders, with the 'King of Inishmurray' Michael Waters, petitioned the government for new land and were moved to the Sligo mainland. Now: Uninhabited. Some of the houses and the school still stand. In 2018 the Marine Survey Office stopped commercial boats landing visitors over safety concerns; as of March 2023 landing facilities had not been built. Note: Not in the CSO island table, so no census series is shown.
Great Blasket · Kerry · last permanently lived on: 1953 Source says: evacuated in 1953. Peak: 160 people at the 1911 census; last census with anyone counted 1951 (27), none in 1956 Why: The article says the Irish government decided in 1953 that it could no longer guarantee the safety of the remaining, rapidly declining population; the islanders had been petitioning to be moved after the death of a young resident, Seánín Ó Cearnaigh. In April 1947 the island was cut off for weeks by bad weather. Now: The Office of Public Works bought most of the island in 2009. A summer ferry runs from near Dunquin; guided tours began in 2010, and since 2014 the old Congested Districts Board houses have been let as summer accommodation.
Mason Island · Galway · last permanently lived on: 1957 Source says: uninhabited since 1957. Peak: 127 people at the 1881 census; last census with anyone counted 1951 (10), none in 1956 Why: The source gives no reason. Now: Some abandoned houses and some refurbished holiday homes for rent. Note: The census already counted no one in 1956, a year before the article's date. The article's 'home to 114 people' does not match any CSO count (the peak was 127, in 1881).
Inishark · Galway · last permanently lived on: 1960 Source says: the last 23 inhabitants were evacuated on 20 October 1960. Peak: 208 people at the 1841 census; last census with anyone counted 1956 (33), none in 1961 Why: The article names the drowning of three young islanders on their way to Mass on Inishbofin on Easter Sunday 1949, other such incidents, and emigration, which had left few young people on the island. Now: Uninhabited.
Achillbeg · Mayo · last permanently lived on: 1965 Source says: evacuated in 1965. Peak: 178 people at the 1841 census; last census with anyone counted 1961 (38), none in 1966 Why: The source gives no reason. Now: A small number of holiday homes, usually empty for most of the year. The islanders were resettled on Achill and the nearby mainland.
Scattery Island (Inis Cathaigh) · Clare · last permanently lived on: 1969 Source says: the last residents left in 1969. Peak: 141 people at the 1881 census; last census with anyone counted 1971 (2), none in 1979 Why: The source gives no reason. Now: Most of the island is owned by the Office of Public Works (bought by Dúchas in 1991), which runs a small visitor centre. Note: The census still counted 2 people on the island in 1971, two years after the article's date.
Inishmacowney (Horse Island) · Clare · last permanently lived on: 1976 Source says: uninhabited since 1976. Peak: 142 people at the 1841 census; last census with anyone counted 1979 (2), none in 1981 Why: The source gives no reason. Now: Uninhabited. Note: The census counted 2 people in 1979. The article's 44 in 1911 is from the 1911 census returns; the CSO table's highest figure is 142, in 1841.
Inishloe (Low Island) · Clare · last permanently lived on: 1976 Source says: uninhabited since 1976. Peak: 114 people at the 1841 census; last census with anyone counted 1971 (3), none in 1979 Why: The source gives no reason. Now: Uninhabited. Note: The CSO table already shows 0 in 1979 but 3 in 1971, consistent with the article's date.
Turbot · Galway · last permanently lived on: 1978 Source says: evacuated in 1978. Peak: 191 people at the 1861 census; last census with anyone counted 1981 (1), none in 1986 Why: The source gives no reason. Now: Some of the old buildings have been turned into holiday homes. Note: The census counted 7 people in 1979 and 1 in 1981, after the article's evacuation date.
Coney Island · Clare · last permanently lived on: 1986 Source says: uninhabited since 1986. Peak: 145 people at the 1841 census; last census with anyone counted 1981 (2), none in 1986 Why: The source gives no reason. Now: Uninhabited.
Inishkea Islands · Mayo · last permanently lived on: 1930s Source says: eventual abandonment of the islands in the 1930s. Peak: more than 300 in the early 1900s (the article; no census year given) Why: The article ties the decline to the storm of 28 October 1927, in which ten Inishkea fishermen drowned. Now: The article says two people live on the island now, rising to about fifteen from May to September. Note: Not in the CSO island table. The article's own statement that two people live there now sits uneasily with its account of abandonment; we report both.
Gola · Donegal · last permanently lived on: mid-1960s Source says: populated up until the mid-1960s; unpopulated from the 1960s until 2002. Peak: 169 people at the 1911 census; last census with anyone counted 1966 (43), none in 1971 Why: The source gives no reason. Now: Most buildings are derelict but some are holiday homes. A ferry runs in the summer season and on request otherwise. The census counted 5 people in 2002 and 4 in 2006. Note: The article contradicts itself: it says the island 'has been inhabited for most of the year since 2002' and also that 'during the winter the only inhabitants on Gola are animals'.
Owey · Donegal · last permanently lived on: mid-1970s Source says: full-time inhabited up to the mid-1970s. Peak: 152 people at the 1911 census; last census with anyone counted 1971 (51), none in 1979 Why: The source gives no reason. Now: Part-time residents, mainly in summer. The school closed in 1971; its remains are still there. Note: The census counted 51 in 1971 and none in 1979, but 27 in 2006, presumably part-time residents present on census night; the source does not say.
Inishmeane · Donegal · last permanently lived on: 1960s Source says: inhabited up until the 1960s. Peak: 82 people at the 1911 census; last census with anyone counted 1966 (2), none in 1971 Why: The source gives no reason. Now: Most buildings are derelict; about eight have been renovated as holiday homes or for permanent living.
Inishsirrer · Donegal · last permanently lived on: 1950s Source says: still inhabited until the 1950s. Peak: 48 people at the 1926 census; last census with anyone counted 1951 (5), none in 1956 Why: The article says the last islanders moved to the mainland mainly because their children had emigrated and because of the harsh weather. Now: Uninhabited.
Island Eddy · Galway · last permanently lived on: early 1980s Source says: the last residents having left in the early 1980s. Peak: 125 people at the 1841 census; last census with anyone counted 1979 (2), none in 1981 Why: The source gives no reason. Now: No longer populated; descendants of former islanders keep in touch online. Note: A published guide (David Walsh, Oileáin, 2004) says it was 'abandoned in 1947'; the article notes the census contradicts this. The CSO table counts 2 people in 1979 and none from 1981.
Duvillaun · Mayo · last permanently lived on: end of the 19th century Source says: inhabited until the end of the 19th century, when the inhabitants left to live on the mainland. Peak: Why: The source gives no reason. Now: Uninhabited; storm and Leach's petrels nest in the abandoned buildings. Note: Not in the CSO island table.
Left off: Inishbofin, Co. Donegal — Still has people. The CSO table counts 36 in 2006 and Wikipedia gives 16 in 2022; the population has fallen hard (166 in 1911) but never to zero in any census.
Quick answersWhen was the Great Blasket abandoned?
In 1953, when the government decided it could no longer guarantee the islanders' safety. The census counted 160 people there in 1911 and 27 in 1951. Today the island is mostly state-owned and visited by summer ferry.
Why were Irish islands abandoned?
The articles give different reasons island by island: drownings and isolation (Inishark, the Inishkeas), the state judging it unsafe (the Great Blasket), petitions for land on the mainland (Inishmurray), emigration of the young (Inishsirrer). For many islands the sources do not give a reason, and we leave it blank.
Do people still live on abandoned Irish islands?
On several, part of the year. Gola, Inishmeane, Turbot, Achillbeg and Mason Island have holiday homes, Owey has part-time residents in summer, and the census found people again on Gola in 2002 and 2006 and on Owey in 2006.
Sources and gaps
The year each island was abandoned, the reason and its present state are from the island's own Wikipedia article, linked above, as the article words it. Peak and last-inhabited census figures are the Central Statistics Office's, from table CNA17, Population by Off Shore Island ↗ (1841–2006); the peak is the highest count in that table, which begins in 1841, so earlier and higher populations are not captured. Where the article and the census disagree on dates, both are shown. Inishmurray, the Inishkeas and Duvillaun are not in the CSO table. This is not a complete list: the CSO table records many smaller islands that also emptied, and islands in Northern Ireland are not covered.