Qualla: Inishbiggle https://qualla.com/inishbiggle en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:12 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/8/g/inishbiggle-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Inishbiggle https://qualla.com/inishbiggle Inishbiggle: Introduction https://qualla.com/inishbiggle/ Photo credit Boholaman at English Wikipedia, Public domain. In 2023 there were eight people living on Inishbiggle. The island is two and a half kilometres long, a kilometre and a half wide, and 650 acres in area - which means that the population density of Inishbiggle, expressed in modern terms, is roughly one person per 80 acres. The school is closed. The post office is closed. The boat across the Bullsmouth Channel from Achill Island takes about ten minutes in good weather and is impossible in bad. The cable car proposed to fix the connection problem has been argued about since 1996 and has been definitively refused. Emergency access is by helicopter. And yet, eight people still call the island home. They are not leaving easily.

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Image: Boholaman at English Wikipedia | Public domain

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/8/g/inishbiggle-wp/gc8g-inishbiggle-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Inishbiggle: Vigil Island https://qualla.com/inishbiggle/ Photo credit edited by M.Minderhoud, Public domain. The name Inishbiggle is anglicised from the Irish Inis Bigil - 'Vigil Island.' The reference is religious; the early Christian monks who once kept a presence here may have used the island as a place of retreat and prayerful watch. Inishbiggle is unusual in one respect that few pe...

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Image: edited by M.Minderhoud | Public domain

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/8/g/inishbiggle-wp/gc8g-inishbiggle-vigil-island.mp3 0:06 2 full Inishbiggle: The Bullsmouth Channel https://qualla.com/inishbiggle/ Photo credit Jamip29, CC BY-SA 4.0. The channel separating Inishbiggle from the eastern shore of Achill is called Bullsmouth, and it is one of the strongest tidal currents in Europe. When the tide is running, water boils through the narrow gap at speeds that make small-boat crossings dangerous. The traditional cros...

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Image: Jamip29 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/8/g/inishbiggle-wp/gc8g-inishbiggle-the-bullsmouth-channel.mp3 0:06 3 full Inishbiggle: The Cable Car That Never Was https://qualla.com/inishbiggle/ Photo credit ArséniureDeGallium, CC BY-SA 3.0. Plans for a cable-car link across Bullsmouth were first formally proposed in 1996. Supporters argued that the island could not survive without permanent access; opponents - including, ultimately, Mayo County Council - worried about the visual impact on the coastal landscape, traf...

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Image: ArséniureDeGallium | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/8/g/inishbiggle-wp/gc8g-inishbiggle-the-cable-car-that-never-was.mp3 0:06 4 full Inishbiggle: Sheep, Cattle, Periwinkles https://qualla.com/inishbiggle/ Photo credit Munifico, CC BY-SA 3.0. The main economic activities on Inishbiggle remain what they have always been: sheep and cattle farming on the small pastures that ring the island; sea fishing in season; and winkle picking - the painstaking collection of common periwinkles from the rocky intertidal zone, sold in...

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Image: Munifico | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/8/g/inishbiggle-wp/gc8g-inishbiggle-sheep-cattle-periwinkles.mp3 0:06 5 full