Aughinish, County Limerick
Industrial peninsula in the Shannon Estuary, Ireland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aughinish is a former island (now peninsula) in the Shannon estuary, in County Limerick, Ireland, near Foynes.
As seen from Kildysart. | |
 Interactive map of Aughinish | |
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Although most of the island is occupied by industry, it is also the site of Ireland's first butterfly sanctuary, located in an abandoned quarry.[1]
Industry
Aughinish Alumina, Europe's largest bauxite refinery, is located on the island.[2] Completed in October 1971,[3] the plant is owned by Rusal.[4] The site has a deep-water jetty in the Shannon[5] through which the refinery imports bauxite from Guinea and Brazil and exports alumina to be refined into aluminium metal.[2]
Adjacent to the refinery is a 450-acre disposal area for bauxite residue, also called "red mud".[3] While the High Court quashed planning permission awarded to expand the bauxite waste dump in 2022, and despite continued objections from local farmers and environment groups, a revised application to expand the disposal area was approved in 2025.[6]
In March 2026, an investigation carried out by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and its partners found that the refinery indirectly supplies materials to sanctioned Russian arms manufacturers.[7][8][9]