Rennesøy is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The 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 Vikevåg. Other villages in the municipality included Askje and Sørbø. The municipality encompassed a number of islands on the south side of the Boknafjorden, north of the city of Stavanger.

Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the municipality was the 404th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Rennesøy Municipality was the 207th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about . The municipality's population density was and its population had increased by 24.7% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The parish of Rennesø (later spelled Rennesøy) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 July 1884, Rennesøy Municipality was divided in two: the islands of Mosterøy, Klosterøy, Fjøløy, Kvitsøy, and the western part of Åmøy (population: 817) became the new Mosterøy Municipality the island of Brimse and most of the island of Rennesøy plus some smaller surrounding islets (population: 1,370) remained as a much smaller Rennesøy Municipality (the Hanasand area of the island of Rennesøy belonged to Finnøy Municipality)

The island of Kvitsøy in Mosterøy Municipality later became the independent Kvitsøy Municipality.

On 1 July 1918, the Hanasand area on the island of Rennesøy which belonged to Finnøy Municipality (population: 72) was transferred to Rennesøy Municipality.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, Mosterøy Municipality (population: 817) was merged (back) into Rennesøy Municipality. Prior to the merger, Rennesøy Municipality had 1,370 residents.

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

Name The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the main island of the municipality, Rennesøy (). The meaning of the first element is unknown. One possibility is that it comes from the word which means "snout", likely referring to the shape of the mountain Hodnafjellet on the southeast part of the island. The last element is which means "island".

Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Rennesø. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Rennesøy. The letter y was added to the end of the word to "Norwegianize" the name ( is the Danish word for "island" and is the Norwegian word).

Coat of arms The coat of arms was granted on 20 February 1981 and in use until the municipal dissolution on 1 January 2020. The official blazon is "Azure, two crosiers addorsed argent" (). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a set of two crosiers standing vertically and mirroring each other. 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 blue represents the ocean, an important feature for this island municipality. The crosiers represent the importance of Norway's oldest and best preserved monasteries, Utstein Abbey, located in the municipality. It was originally an Augustinian monastery, its abbot having a crozier as its symbol. Since Basel, Switzerland already had a crozier on its coat of arms, Rennesøy Municipality chose a design with two of them so that it would be different. The arms were designed by Svein Magnus Håvarstein. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches The Church of Norway had two parishes () within Rennesøy Municipality. It was part of the Tungenes prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger.

Churches in Rennesøy MunicipalityParish ()Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtMosterøyAskje ChurchAskje, Mosterøy island1846Utstein ChurchKlosterøy island1280Vestre Åmøy ChapelÅmøy island (western side)1953RennesøyHausken ChurchVikevåg, Rennesøy island1857Sørbø ChurchSørbø, Rennesøy island1130

Geography The island municipality sat on the south side of the large Boknafjorden. It consisted of about 80 islands, most of which were uninhabited. The main islands included Rennesøy, Mosterøy, Klosterøy, Fjøløy, Sokn, Bru, Brimse, and the western part of Åmøy (the eastern part is part of Stavanger Municipality). The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Hodnafjellet on the southeastern coast of the island of Rennesøy.

All of the main islands were connected together and to the mainland by a series of bridges and tunnels (except for Brimse which has a ferry connection). The Fjøløy Lighthouse is located in the northwestern part of the municipality, lighting a main shipping channel to Stavanger.

Tysvær Municipality was located to the north (across the fjord), Finnøy Municipality was located to the northeast, Strand Municipality was located to the east, Stavanger Municipality was located to the south, Randaberg Municipality was located to the southwest, and Kvitsøy Municipality was located to the west.

Population

Government While it existed, Rennesøy 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. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Stavanger District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council The municipal council () of Rennesøy 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.

Mayors The mayor () of Rennesøy Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:

1838–1839: Rev. Bernt Tobias Bessesen 1840–1841: Asbjørn Pedersen Mehuus 1842–1845: Rev. Fredrik William Rode 1846–1849: Daniel Nilsen Voufle 1850–1857: Willum Jakobsen Hodnefjeld 1858–1858: Christopher Johan Garmann 1859–1859: Anders Andersen Hægreberg 1860–1864: Lars Jakobsen Sørbø 1865–1867: Ingebrigt Ingebrigtsen Vold 1868–1869: Isak Isaksen Sokn 1870–1871: Bendix Eriksen Nordbø 1872–1877: Ole Svendsen Oftedahl 1878–1879: Bendix Eriksen Nordbø 1880–1882: Erik Christensen Oustbø 1883–1884: David Nikolaisen Edland 1884–1891: Jørgen Jakobsen Haaversteen 1892–1913: Jacob Kristensen Austbø 1914–1918: Simon Hauge 1919–1931: Lars Sørbø 1931–1942: Johannes Håverstein 1942–194: Johan Østbø, Jr. (NS) 1945–1945: Johannes Håverstein 1946–1951: Inge Austbø 1951–1955: Johannes Håverstein 1955–1963: Olav Bø 1963–1964: Jakob B. Hanasand 1965–1971: Olav Nesheim (Sp) 1971–1975: Henry Halvorsen (V) 1975–1979: Lars Sokn (Sp) 1979–1983: Ole Bø (Sp) 1983–1987: Lars Sokn (Sp) 1987–1995: Svein Helgesen (KrF) 1995–1999: Jan Mikal Hanasand (H) 1999–2007: Jostein Eiane (KrF) 2007–2011: Ommund Vareberg (H) 2011–2019: Dagny Sunnanå Hausken (Sp)

Transportation Since 1992, Rennesøy Municipality has been connected to the mainland by a series of bridges and undersea tunnels. The Byfjord Tunnel connects the mainland to the island of Sokn, and it is part of the European route E39 highway. The island of Sokn is connected to the three islands of Åmøy, Bru, and Mosterøy by bridges. Mosterøy is connected to Fjøløy and Klosterøy by short bridges and to Rennesøy by the undersea Mastrafjord Tunnel. Rennesøy island is also connected to the island of Vestre Bokn (across the Boknafjorden) by ferry. Furthermore, the island of Rennesøy is connected to the two islands of Finnøy and Talgje in the neighboring Finnøy Municipality to the northeast by the Finnøy Tunnel.

See also List of former municipalities of Norway

References