Finnøy Municipality

Finnøy is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The 104.39-square-kilometre (40.31 sq mi) municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020. The area is now part of Stavanger Municipality in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative centre was the village of Judaberg.^[2]

CountryNorway

Established1 Jan 1838

AdministrativecentreJudaberg

Highestelevation

^[1]

513.9 m (1,686 ft)

Quick facts Country, County ...

Finnøy Municipality Finnøy kommune
Former municipality
Finnø herred (historic name)
View of the shorelines of Ombo in Finnøy
Flag Coat of arms
Rogaland within Norway
Finnøy within Rogaland
Coordinates: 59°09′53″N 05°49′46″E
Country	Norway
County	Rogaland
District	Ryfylke
Established	1 Jan 1838
• Created as	Formannskapsdistrikt
Disestablished	1 Jan 2020
• Succeeded by	Stavanger Municipality
Administrative centre	Judaberg
Government
• Mayor (2015-2019)	Henrik Halleland (KrF)
Area (upon dissolution)
• Total	104.39 km² (40.31 sq mi)
• Land	102.90 km² (39.73 sq mi)
• Water	1.49 km² (0.58 sq mi)
• Rank	#375 in Norway
Highest elevation ^[1]	513.9 m (1,686 ft)
Population (2019)
• Total	3,150
• Rank	#258 in Norway
• Density	30.2/km² (78/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	+12.9%
Demonym	Finnøybu
Official language
• Norwegian form	Nynorsk
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-1141

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The municipality consisted of a number of islands on the south side of the Boknafjorden, about 24 kilometres (15 mi) northeast of the city of Stavanger. The Finnøy Tunnel connects the two islands of Finnøy and Talgje to the mainland. The rest of the islands are accessible only by boat. Finnøy was an agricultural community dominated by dairy, meat, poultry, and fish farming products, with strong horticultural traditions, mainly greenhouse production of tomatoes, as well as some tourism.

Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the 104.39-square-kilometre (40.31 sq mi) municipality was the 375th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Finnøy Municipality was the 258th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 3,150. The municipality's population density was 30.2 inhabitants per square kilometre (78/sq mi) and its population had increased by 12.9% over the previous 10-year period.^[3]^[4]

General information

The parish of Finnø (later spelled Finnøy) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). It originally encompassed the islands of Finnøy, Talgje, and Fogn as well as the small surrounding islets and the southeasternmost corner of the island of Rennesøy. On 1 July 1918, the part of Finnøy Municipality located on the island of Rennesøy (population: 72) was transferred from Finnøy Municipality to the neighboring Rennesøy Municipality.^[5]

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee.^[6]^[7] On 1 January 1965, the following areas were merged to form a much larger Finnøy Municipality:^[5]

all of Finnøy Municipality (population: 1,716)
all of Sjernarøy Municipality (population: 819)
the northeastern part of Ombo island (population: 89) from Jelsa Municipality
the Fisterøyene islands (population: 246) from Fister Municipality

On 1 January 2020, Finnøy Municipality, Rennesøy Municipality, and Stavanger Municipality were merged into a much larger Stavanger Municipality.^[8]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the island of Finnøy (Old Norse: Finney) since the historic Hesby Church was built there. The meaning of the first element is uncertain. It is possibly from the word finna which is the local name for Nardus stricta. Another possibility is that it comes from the old male name finni. The last element is ey which means "island".^[9]

Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Finnø. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Finnøy. The letter y was added to the end of the word to "Norwegianize" the name (ø is the Danish word for "island" and øy is the Norwegian word).^[10]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 23 September 1983 and it was in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The official blazon is "Azure, a winged arrowhead argent in bend" (Norwegian: På blå grunn ei vengja sølv pil på skrå oppover). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a winged arrowhead. The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The arms were derived from the arms of the Hestbø family (which included Ogmund Finnsson), one of the mightiest families in the area in the 14th century. They had their stronghold on their Hesby estate on the island of Finnøy in Finnøy Municipality. The arms were designed by Harald Hallstensen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.^[11]^[12]^[13]

Churches

The Church of Norway had three parishes (sokn) within Finnøy Municipality. It was part of the Tungenes prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger.

More information Parish (sokn), Church name ...

**Churches in Finnøy Municipality**
Parish (sokn)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Hesby	Hesby Church	Hesby on Finnøy	c. 1100
Sjernarøy	Sjernarøy Church	Kyrkjøy in Sjernarøyane islands	1647
Sjernarøy	Jørstad Church	Jørstadvågen on Ombo	1929
Talgje	Fogn Church	Fogn	1991
Talgje	Talgje Church	Talgje	c. 1100

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History

The island of Finnøy was at the top of its power in the middle of the fourteenth century when the King's representative Ogmund Finnsson had his seat at Hesby on the west side of the island of Finnøy. The medieval, stone Hesby Church, dating back to at least the thirteenth century, still stands at Hesby.

It is often claimed that the Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802–1829) was born on Finnøy island since his father Søren Georg Abel acted as rector there. Recent studies indicates, however, that he was born in the Nedstrand Church parish located to the north of Finnøy. However, he was raised on the island of Finnøy.

Geography

The island municipality of Finnøy was located on the south side of the Boknafjorden. The main islands of Finnøy included Finnøy, Talgje, Fogn, Halsnøya, Sjernarøyane, and the north and west parts of the island of Ombo. The highest point in the municipality was the 513.9-metre (1,686 ft) tall mountain Bandåsen on the island of Ombo.^[1]

The islands of Talgje and Finnøy were connected to the mainland by the undersea Finnøy Tunnel. The rest of the islands were only accessible by boats. Tysvær Municipality was located to the north, Suldal Municipality was located to the northeast, Hjelmeland Municipality was located to the east, Strand Municipality was located to the south, Rennesøy Municipality was located to the southwest, and Bokn Municipality was located to the west (across the fjord).

Government

While it existed, Finnøy Municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.^[14] The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Ryfylke District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Finnøy Municipality was made up of 21 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.