placenames.ie
Townland

Inch

Oileán Inse

The Kerry townland occupies the sand spit projecting into Dingle Bay, where dune grassland meets wet hollows and saltmarsh.

Watercolour and fine ink view across damp sand to a low wind-carved dune ridge covered with marram grass behind Inch Strand.
Illustration, the sand-dune ridge behind Inch Strand, County Kerry, as photographed in September 2015
Recorded locationInch52.12537° N · 9.95433° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Recorded place location · Logainm.ie

The name

inisisland; river meadowoileánisland

These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.

An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.

Recorded forms

  • Oileán Inse · Irish · main form · non-validated name
  • Inch · English · main form

Place & story

A changing coastal landscape

The National Parks and Wildlife Service’s 2011 conservation document describes Inch as an actively accumulating dune system. Its habitats range from the shore’s young dunes to established grassland and wet dune hollows, with transitions into saltmarsh. Wind has reshaped many of the high dunes into ridges. Areas of exposed sand within them form part of this continuing movement rather than necessarily indicating damage. [2]

Wildlife in the dune hollows

The report identifies the damp dune hollows as habitat for natterjack toads and the rare liverwort petalwort. Choughs also use the dune system. These records concern Inch’s coastal habitats; they do not imply that each species occurs throughout the townland. [2]

Geographic information

Place type
Townland
County
Kerry
Civil parish
Ballinvoher
Coordinates
52.12537, -9.95433
Mapped area
5.21 km²
Logainm ID
22664 ↗

People & family history

Census figures refer to the matched historical census area for each year. Boundaries and spellings can change over time.

Sources & further reading

  1. Logainm.ie — Inch. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  2. Castlemaine Harbour SAC: Conservation objectives supporting document — coastal habitats, Version2, April2011, pages4–5 · National Parks and Wildlife Service
  3. Boundary geometry retains its source attribution and licence in the downloadable geographic record. Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.
  4. Sand-dune ridge behind Inch Strand, County Kerry illustration: based on a Sand dunes at the back of Inch Strand by Oliver Dixon. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2021-07-16. How this page was prepared.