Once part of the French colony of Île-Royale, it may have been named for Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon.

However, a group of 10 Acadian families from Port Toulouse fled to this Isle Madame where their descendants still live today.

It is separated from Cape Breton Island by the Lennox Passage, but connected by a causeway.

Since 1994, the island has been served by a community television station, CIMC-TV, also known as Telile.

Isle Madame is home to approximately 4,300 residents located mostly in the island's communities of Arichat, D'Escousse, and Petit de Grat.