Bishop’s Island is an example of a sea stack, which is a geological landform consisting of a steep, often vertical column of rock in the sea near the coast. Sometime in the last thousand years Bishop’s Island was connected to the mainland. Over the years, the force of the water has weakened cracks in the headland, causing them to collapse forming this free-standing seastack, 215 feet high. What makes this site unique is that there are the remains of a church, a clochaun (beehive hut) and the ruins of 3-4 other buildings on the sea stack. This monastic settlement is possible connected to St. Senan or his followers who founded a prominent monastery at Scattery on the opposite side of Loop Head in the 6th century. The monastic remains give the seastack its name, Bishop’s Island.
