Island life campaigner dies as car enters lake on Co Mayo island

Gardaí have appealed for information in relation to a fatal crash that took place on Inishbiggle Island, Achill, County Mayo, on Friday evening.

A car veered off the road and entered a lake at about 8.30pm. The driver, Christy Henry, a man aged in his 60s, was recovered from the vehicle and pronounced deceased a short time later.

The man’s body was taken to the mortuary at Mayo University Hospital where a postmortem is expected to take place.

The scene of the collision is preserved for a technical examination by Garda forensic collision investigators.

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Inishbiggle, a small, populated island off the Mayo coast accessible only by ferry, had 12 residents at the time of the 2022 Census.

It is accessible from Achill and from Ballycroy on the mainland.

[ Life on Inishbiggle: ‘We are just waiting for the island to die. There is only one resident under 60’ ]

Mr Henry and his family before him were known as campaigners for more services for the island, whose population was 162 in 1926 before its sharp decline.

He was interviewed by The Irish Times in August as part of a series of articles on Ireland’s islands.

“We are just waiting for the island to die,” he said then. “The profile of the population tells its own story: there is only one resident now who is under 60.”

“The death knell was when the school closed back in 1989. Unless we get new blood and the school is reopened, it is just a matter of time.”

Gardaí have asked that who may have information in relation to this incident to contact them at Westport Garda station on 098 50230, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.