Talk:Valentia Island

Europe's most westward inhabited place
Reykjavík and much of populated Iceland lies farther west than Valentia.

The coordinates seem to be slightly off, I recommend 51 deg, 54 min, 16.86 seconds N, 10 deg, 21 min, 23.96 seconds W. hth 128.102.107.89 20:33, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

The name
Shouldn't you mention why an Irish island has the same name as a Spanish city?! Even if its just phonetic translation 157.190.228.23 (talk) 15:24, 4 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Agreed. Where did the name come from? Peter Clarke (talk) 15:27, 4 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Well, it's nothing to do with Spanish city, just a coincidence. And note that it's normally Valentia with a T, not Valencia with a C. It comes from the Irish An Bhaile Inse = settlement on the island, pronounced (roughly) Val-in-sha. Probably should be explained in the article, yes. Snalwibma (talk) 15:35, 4 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Oops, sorry - I think it may actually be Beal Inse, i.e. mouth of the island (or island in the mouth of the sound?). I have a feeling I need to do more research... Snalwibma (talk) 15:39, 4 February 2008 (UTC)

Local signs and upright stone slabs print the Irish name of the island as Dairbhre (pronounced something like 'der-vrah'. Locally, 'Oilean Dairbhre' is understood to mean 'Oak Island' or 'Isle of Oaks', etc., and it is said that until the 19th century oaks were abundant on the island. Giving an interview on Kerry Radio, one local historian related the transition from Dairbhre to Valentia as follows: Knightstown harbour was an important point of trade in the 19th century, especially in connection to the stone quarry north-east of Folger Cliffs, and also as a port of call for the fisheries. There were many Spanish sailors visiting the island (there is a grave marker to Spanish sailors lost at sea in the Catholic cemetery at Kylemore), and they were inclined to pronounce the Irish Dairbhre like the famous Spanish city with which they were familiar. Thus, Valentia entered widespread usage internationally in Spanish and English.

Additionally, the there are early 20th century spellings of the island as Valencia, especially the UK Ordinance Survey. Some say, from that standpoint, that the official spelling is Valencia, although all local English signs spell it Valentia. ErinPilgrim (talk) 01:33, 5 January 2011 (UTC)

The current Name section looks like a summary of the above chat, is a little confusing to read and doesn't cite any sources. Is it reliable? CupawnTae (talk) 22:32, 17 February 2018 (UTC)

External links modified (January 2018)
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 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.proni.gov.uk/records/private/fitzger.htm
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20060727200305/http://www.theroseoftralee.ie/locations/ringofkerry/valentiaisland.htm to http://www.theroseoftralee.ie/locations/ringofkerry/valentiaisland.htm
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20060912114341/http://beck.library.emory.edu/iln/browse.php?id=iln47.1327.008 to http://beck.library.emory.edu/iln/browse.php?id=iln47.1327.008
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20051109024047/http://indigo.ie/~cguiney/valentia.html to http://indigo.ie/~cguiney/valentia.html

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