During the Williamite wars, the island
was used as a prison. About 800 of James’s soldiers and 300 Rapparees were
kept there for the duration of the war. Some escaped by swimming to Portrane and
Rush. Thomas Challoner was granted Lambay by Archbishop Browne in 1541. He built
a fortress and a village on the island, and he imported a “colony of honest
men” to fight the pirates and smugglers who attacked the island. Archbishop
Ussher’s family rented the island to Lord Talbot of Malahide and the Talbot
family was in charge of the island until the end of the 19th Century. Lord
Revelstoke took it over at this stage, and his heirs are the present owners.
During the Williamite wars, the island
was used as a prison. About 800 of James’s soldiers and 300 Rapparees were
kept there for the duration of the war. Some escaped by swimming to Portrane and
Rush. Thomas Challoner was granted Lambay by Archbishop Browne in 1541. He built
a fortress and a village on the island, and he imported a “colony of honest
men” to fight the pirates and smugglers who attacked the island. Archbishop
Ussher’s family rented the island to Lord Talbot of Malahide and the Talbot
family was in charge of the island until the end of the 19th Century. Lord
Revelstoke took it over at this stage, and his heirs are the present owners.