Rotten by name but certainly not by nature. A former lighthouse keeper on this island, Michael Moore, described this island as “a lovely place”. Rotten Island is a mere sliver of an island at the mouth of Killybegs Harbour in Co Donegal. Were it not for the lighthouse established there by the doyen of lighthouse construction, George Halpin Sr, in 1832, it would probably have been disregarded as being an island in the first place. Over time the 150m by 50m rock came to be known as Rotten Island, a corruption of Naomh Rotain, who is thought to have had a hermitage on the barren granite. A miniature Skellig. In Irish it is an tOileán Bréan or Foul Island which probably followed the naming after the saint.

Its a bit difficult to get to this spot. Either you need to walk down on the beach only on low tide or you can ask the owner of the last house if they are ok with you stepping through their garden. From there you can walk all the way down to this beautiful lighthouse island.