Sjernarøy

Sjernarøy is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The island municipality existed from 1868 until its dissolution in 1965. The municipality was located in the Boknafjorden in the present-day municipality of Stavanger. The administrative centre of the municipality was located on the island of Kyrkjøy, where the Sjernarøy Church is located.

Sjernarøy consisted of several small and larger islands for a total of 37.44 km2 of land. The inhabited islands included Kyrkjøy, Bjergøy, Eriksholmen, Tjul, Nord-Hidle, Aubø, Helgøy, Nord-Talgje, and the western part of Ombo. The uninhabited islands included Hestholmen, Finnborg, Lundarøynå, Norheimsøynå, Norheimslamholmen, Staup, Fiskholmane, as well as many other smaller islands.

History
The municipality of Sjernarø (the spelling was later changed to Sjernarøy) was established on 1 January 1868 when the old municipality of Nærstrand was divided into two: Hinderaa (located north of the Boknafjorden) and Sjærnarø (the islands located in the fjord). Initially, Sjernarøy had 922 inhabitants.

On 1 January 1965, the municipality ceased to exist due to major municipal mergers that took place throughout Norway as a result of the work by the Schei Committee. The municipalities of Sjernarøy and Finnøy were merged with part of the island of Ombo from Jelsa municipality and the "Fisterøyene" islands from the municipality of Fister. Together, these areas formed the new municipality known as Finnøy. Prior to its dissolution, Sjernarøy had 819 inhabitants. In 2020, Finnøy Municipality became a part of Stavanger Municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Sjernarøyane islands (Sjarnarøyjar). The meaning of the first element is uncertain. It may come from the genitive case of the word sjǫrn which might be connected with the word sjau, which is an old spelling for the number seven (there are 7 inhabited islands in the archipelago). Another meaning could be based on the word which is a vulgar term for "intercourse" (many phallus-shaped stones have been found in the island group). The last element is the plural form of the word which means "island". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Sjernarø. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Sjernarøy. The letter y was added to the end of the word to "Norwegianize" the name (ø is the Danish word for "island" and øy is the Norwegian word).

Government
While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Sjernarøy was made up of 15 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Sjernarøy (incomplete list):


 * 1868-1885: Mikkel Eik Olson Aubø
 * 1886-1897: Johannes Martin Furre
 * 1902-1904: Nils Andreas Mikkelson Hidle
 * 1905-1916: Rasmus Jakobson Hidle (V)
 * 1917-1919: Nils Andreas Mikkelson Hidle
 * 1920-1922: Nils Joneson Hidle
 * 1923-1925: Nils Andreas Mikkelson Hidle
 * 1926-1928: Nils Joneson Hidle
 * 1929-1931: Konrad Norheim
 * 1932-1937: Jakob Rasmusson Hidle
 * 1938-1940: Konrad Norheim