How
many people live on the island?
It
depends when you count them!
About 130 people have
Clare Island as their main residence, but this includes secondary
school children who are only here at the weekend during the school
year. A number of people have holiday homes on the island.
What do people do on the island?
A
number of people are employed
by the salmon farm located on the East side of the island. Agriculture,
mostly sheep farming, but some cattle and horses (the island is home to
a few Connemara ponies) and tourism are also important to the local
economy. Fishing (mostly lobster), is only a summer activity. Tourism
provides a few summer jobs. There are also a few self
employed builders on the island, as well as the usual services (post
office, school, etc).
Is there a school on
the
island?
Yes,
there is a primary school
on the island, with about 20 students and 2 teachers. The island
however does not have a secondary school. Secondary school students
board in Louisburgh during the week and come back to the island for the
weekend.
Is there a pub on the island?
Yes,
of course!
Is there a shop on the island?
Yes,
O'Malley foodstore
(098.26987), located near the church on the South side of the island.
It is also the post office.
Is there a restaurant on the
island?
There's
a number of them actually. See
the list here.
Is there a doctor on the island?
No,
but there are two public
health nurses (phone 098.25407) and a doctor visits from Achill every
Wednesday morning
Is there broadband on the
island?
Yes,
there is a community run Wifi network, administrated by a coop also
involving Inishboffin and Inishturk as well.
Clare Island was actually the first of the Irish offshore islands to
have Broadband Internet access.
Click to enlarge.
