Lambay Island

Despite being 10,000 miles from their native land of Australia, a group of wallabies has made Lambay Island home for the last 25 years.

In the 1980s, Dublin Zoo had a sudden and uncontrollable rise in wallaby reproduction. As the kangaroo-like creatures filled their area to capacity, zoo officials were grasping at straws as to where to relocate the growing family of wallabies. Armed with a plan to move them to the wild, the zoo took a group to Lambay Island just off the coast of Ireland, and a little less than an hour from Dublin.

Since their big move, the wallaby population has thrived on the small island and has grown in size since first introduced. Given their breeding habits, it is likely that the island will host a sizable population in the near future.

British architect Edwin Lutyens built here a neo-romantic Castle and designed its garden surrounded by a massive stone enceinte.