Spike Island
— — a star fort sitting low in a wide harbour.
Not only on a wall.
“An island of about 100 acres in the middle of Cork Harbour, with a six-pointed star fort lying flat across most of it. A monastic settlement in the seventh century, a British fortress through the nineteenth, the largest prison in the world in 1850 with 2,300 convicts inside its walls. Ferries run from Kennedy Pier in Cobh. Gulls over the ramparts, container ships sliding past on the channel, and the grass on the glacis kept short. — from the studio
Spike Island, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Spike Island lies in the middle of Cork Harbour, the second-largest natural harbour in the world, about a kilometre offshore from the town of Cobh in County Cork. The island covers around 100 acres and is dominated by Fort Mitchel, a six-pointed bastion fort begun by the British in 1804 on the lines of a Vauban-style trace. A monastic settlement attributed to Saint Mó Chutu of Lismore stood on the island in the seventh century, and traces of that early Christian foundation underlie the later military works. The site is now managed by Cork County Council as a heritage attraction.
Fort Mitchel is a textbook six-pointed star fort, with masonry bastions, a wide dry ditch, and a glacis sloped down toward the harbour to absorb cannon fire. The walls enclose roughly 24 acres at the centre of the island. From 1847 the British Admiralty converted the works into a convict depot, and by 1850 Spike held more than 2,300 prisoners, making it briefly the largest prison in the world. After Irish independence the site continued in service as a naval base and then as a civil prison until its final closure in 2004.
Access is by ferry from Kennedy Pier in Cobh, about a fifteen-minute crossing. Sailings run several times a day from spring through autumn and on a reduced winter schedule, weather permitting. Adult tickets are around 25 euros and include the boat and full island access. A guided tour of the fort, the punishment block, and the gun park usually takes about an hour, after which visitors can wander the ramparts and the perimeter walk on their own. The last return ferry typically leaves Spike in the late afternoon.