Island 289 - Rough Island, Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland

Rough Island is linked to the north western shore of Strangford Lough a couple of miles east of the town of Comber by a concrete causeway, which is covered for an hour or so at high tide.  It is owned and managed by Ards Borough Council and is accessible to the public.  There is a large car park and a public toilet at the end of the road at Island Hill.  There is a well surfaced path around the perimeter of the island.  There are a few other paths criss-crossing the island but when I visited in early September 2015 they were very overgrown.  The island is a favourite dog walking place, so you need to watch where you are treading.  

Rough Island is situated at the mouth of the Comber Estuary where the Comber River enters Strangford Lough. There are salt marshes in the estuary, which are important wildlife habitats.  In October 30,000 pale bellied brent geese arrive to feed on the seagrass or eelgrass, which grows abundantly in Strangford Lough.  They then spread out across other estuaries across the British Isles.  Many other kinds of wildfowl and waders feed on the inter-tidal mudflats.

In 1936 a group of American archaeologists from Harvard carried out excavations on Rough Island and found evidence of occupation during the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods e.g. a shell midden and worked flints.  Further surveys were carried out on the island or nearby Island Hill in by Queens University in Belfast in 1997 and 2003.

Rough Island was apparently inhabited up until the early 1900s and farmed up until the 1950s.  One source said that the remains of the farmhouse and its orchard could still be seen but I didn't find them.  Most of the island is covered with brambles, nettles, thistles and scrubby trees e.g. sycamore, pines, hawthorn, elder, ash, alder and willow.  I thought I spotted some Japanese knotweed as well.  Purple vetch, sea mayweed and rosebay willowherb were all in flower when I visited.

 Causeway to Rough Island

 Approaching Rough Island

 The coast of Rough Island

 A solitary tree on Rough Island

There are several seats around the perimeter path