Gola Island
Off County Donegal
Gola Island off the Donegal coast was home to an Irish-speaking community of fishermen and farmers. By the late 1960s the last permanent residents had left for the mainland.
Read the full story, see it on the map, get directions and find what else is nearby in the free Hidden Britain Atlas map.
- When
- Abandoned 1960s
- Where
- 55.0800, -8.3600
- Group
- Lost & drowned villages
Visiting
Boats run from Bunbeg in summer.

The Ledger of Lost Britain
The Romans arrived in AD 43. For most people that is where the history of Britain begins. But by the time the legions landed, people had already been living on these islands for thousands of years. They had hunted, farmed, mined flint, dragged stones across the country, raised a hill by hand, and buried their dead in great tombs. They left no written words. What they left was the ground itself. Every place in this book can be visited, or has been dug up, or is in a museum.
Nearby mysteries
- Doon WellHoly well · Near Kilmacrennan, County Donegal · 20 miles away
- Fort DunreeSecret site · Lough Swilly, County Donegal · 33 miles away
- HMS SaldanhaShipwreck · Lough Swilly, County Donegal · 34 miles away
- The LaurenticShipwreck · Off Fanad Head, County Donegal · 36 miles away
- The Caoránach of Lough DergDragon or monster · Lough Derg, County Donegal · 38 miles away
- The Siege of DerryBattlefield · Derry/Londonderry · 42 miles away