Lambay Island
Private island off the Dublin coast, Ireland
Lambay Island, often simply Lambay, is an island in the Irish Sea off the coast of north County Dublin, Ireland. The largest island off the east coast of Ireland, it is four kilometres offshore from the headland at Portrane, and is the easternmost point of the province of Leinster. Of volcanic origin, it has been inhabited since the prehistoric period and has been the subject of multiple archaeological studies. Lambay has notable populations of seabirds, a range of local fauna, some not found elsewhere in Ireland, and a colony of wallabies, as well as more than 300 plant varieties, and was the subject of major studies of flora and birds, and a major multidisciplinary study of flora and fauna between 1905 and 1907. The island is privately owned by a trust for members of certain branches of the Baring family and managed by the current Baron Revelstoke. It has a very small permanent population and few buildings but hosts some day visitors and short-stay guests, and there is a working farm.
“Lambay Island” enters the record as private island off the Dublin coast, Ireland. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Lambay, Island and Private can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Lambay Island” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Lambay, Island and Private provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 10, 2026. The first chronological checks are 1905 and 1907.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Lambay Island”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Lambay Island primary sources, Lambay Island archive and Lambay research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Lambay Island”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Lambay Island” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.