A photographer’s depiction of the passage of time on an Irish offshore island is captured in a television documentary due to be broadcast on TG4 on Thursday (Dec 28)

Fifty years ago, photographer Chris Rodmell “captured the soul” of the Aran island of Inis Meáin, which was “a place poised at the edge of transformation” and “untouched by modernity”, according to the TG4 billing.

Rodmell recently returned to record a second chapter and found that certain traditions have remained steadfast in that intervening period - such as the “age-old practice of herding cattle to pasture, Saint John's Day bonfires piercing the night sky, mainland children flocking to local schools to learn Irish and the resurrection of the delicate art of knitting”.

"Inis Meáin: Idir Dhá Linn" is billed by TG4 as “a captivating television documentary that takes audiences on an emotional journey to a secluded island nestled on the western fringes of Europe”.

Cathal Ó Cuaig directed the documentary produced by Aniar TV for TG4; it will be broadcast on TG4 on Thursday, December 28th at 9.20 pm.

The island folklore of Oileáin Árann has been collated on a new website by residents of Inis Mór, working with a number of academic partners.

Bailiúchán Béaloidis Árann, the Árainn Folklore Project, has been “more than twenty years a-growing”, according to the project’s digital curator, Deirdre Ní Chonghaile.

The website includes hundreds of photographs and over 100 audio recordings, as well as some videos collected over the past two decades.

All of these are enriched with detailed information, identifying the individuals and places appearing in them, she says.

The website’s search capacity extends to a variety of elements, with transcriptions written by island women accompanying the sound recordings of interviews.

ailiúchán Béaloidis Árann, the Árainn Folklore Project

Bailiúchán Béaloidis Árann is the only major collection of island folklore to be created by Inis Mór islanders themselves, Ní Chonghaile says.

Over many years since 2000, Bailiúchán Béaloidis Árann has earned support from major figures of the Aran canon, including photographer Bill Doyle, writer and cartographer Tim Robinson, and linguist Dr James Duran, she says.

It has also produced “two fine books”, Árainn: Cosáin an tSaoil (2003) and Ár nOileán: Tuile is Trá (2004), she says.

Bailiúchán Béaloidis Árann had two primary objectives: to preserve island folklore for future generations of islanders; and to ensure that the islands’ folklore would be accessible. The new website “enables islanders to combine those two objectives”, Ní Chonghaile says.

Collaborators on the project are Gaois, Fiontar and Scoil na Gaeilge, Dublin City University, and the National Folklore Collection at University College Dublin, the co-creators of the website dúchas.ie.

Funders included the LEADER scheme, the Heritage Council of Ireland, and the local co-op Comharchumann Forbartha Árann.

“Though the entire collection awaits a permanent home at home in Árainn, we remain hopeful its day will come. In the meantime, people will savour and delight in this new resource, which demonstrates so well the faith and creativity of the women who created,” she says.

The website was formally initiated by Dr Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh, director of the National Folklore Collection, in Kilmurvey House on Árainn on Friday (Jan 6).

A European system of measuring the impact of tourism on communities is to be introduced on a number of islands off the west Irish coast this summer.

Three Aran islands and Inishbofin off Galway, along with Donegal’s Tory and Arranmore, will participate in the project led by researchers from the new Atlantic Technological University (ATU).

The European Tourism Indicator System (ETIS) was developed by the European Commission as an evidence-based model for collecting information and measuring impacts.

It involves collecting data on 43 specific areas, ranging from tourist spending patterns to gender equality, inclusion and accessibility, transport impact, climate change, energy consumption, waste generation and sewage treatment.

The system helps to measure trends over time, such as the rising percentage of women in management roles; changes in waste water quality; reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, and changing impacts of tourism in the community.

The researchers will work with communities, tourism stakeholders and destination managers on gathering the information which will better inform the sustainable management of island tourism, according to ATU president Dr Orla Flynn.

State agencies Fáilte Ireland and Údarás na Gaeltachta, along with local authorities, will also support the project.

Up until now, detailed tourism indicators have been limited, but the ETIS is a very accessible international model, Dr Diarmuid Ó Conghaíle, ATU’s head of department for heritage and tourism, explained.

“While we are starting with the four Galway islands - and Tory and Arranmore with the support of Údarás na Gaeltachta - the aim is to incorporate all offshore islands from about 2024,” he said.

“It will allow the islands to compare their performance on tourism, will inform planning and sustainable management, and may even create a bit of competition, “Ó Conghaíle said.

“We are hosting community briefings with the participating islands in May, and will be collecting data from the end of that month,” he said.

“The project will be developed through online surveys, with a particular set of questions for the community, for tourists and for tourism operators,” Ó Conghaíle said.

“The information may be gathered digitally or through paper surveys as we are keen to make sure everyone is involved, and everyone has access to the information, “he said.

Given that the data will be “evidence-based”, it will help to support funding applications at national and European level, he said. The information will be published on a dedicated website.

“This is the first year, and we hope this will be an annual ATU project,” he said.

The ATU involves the Galway-Mayo, Sligo and Letterkenny institutes of technology.

The west/north-west group was formally initiated earlier this month by the Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris after technological university status was granted last year to the three institutes.

The artists’ exhibition of 21 currachs used as canvases which ran over the summer on the Aran island of Inis Oírr transfers into NUI Galway for Culture Night.

Irish international sculptor John Behan RHA, Tuam-based visual artist Jennifer Cunningham, Mayo-based Ger Sweeney, and Sadia Shoaib, who has been living in direct provision for the past six years, are among those who were given currachs to use as canvases.

Inis Oírr arts centre artistic director Dara McGee painted his own interpretation - entitled Under A Mackerel Sky – which also forms part of the exhibition, hosted by Áras Éanna.

NUI Galway and Áras Éanna will open the exhibition on Friday morning (Sept 17th) in the university’s quadrangle in partnership with Galway Music Residency, ConTempo Quartet.

The quartet will perform a specially selected suite of classical and contemporary music connected to the ocean, composed by Alec Roth, Claude Debussy and Katharina Baker.

The work of Kathleen Furey

NUI Galway drama students will also take part in the event, reciting a selection of poetry by Máirtín Ó Direáin.

A new partnership between NUI Galway and Áras Éanna will also be announced, with the aim of working to promote the islands and the west as places of culture, learning and research.

The university says it has established a new fund to support staff and students who wish to travel to Inis Oírr and use the facilities at Áras Éanna as part of their studies.

Islanders with expertise in stone have completed a “jigsaw puzzle” of rock upon timber for an Irish language production of Beckett’s Happy Days on the Aran island of Inis Oírr.

As The Times Ireland reports, director Sarah Jane Scaife worked with designer Ger Clancy and a number of islanders to construct the outdoor set in preparation for the Galway International Arts Festival.

“We all have experience of building stone walls, but this was different,”Inis Oírr resident Matt Seoighe said.

“Tomás Noel Sharry was our stonemason, and five of us worked together in a field at Creig an Staic, and it was difficult enough,” Seoighe said.

Actors Bríd Ní Neachtain and Raymond Keane have been cast as Winnie and Willie for Laethanta Sona, which was translated by Michéal Ó Chonghaíle.

“I’ve been coming here for 28 years and have always been inspired by the place, which is both surreal and existential” Scaife explained.

“My husband, late sound engineer Tim Martin fished from here, my children have been coming since they were small - and after Tim died, so many islanders came for his funeral,”she said.

“So “Beckett sa Creig”, as we call it, has been 28 years a bubbling,” she explained.

Island photographer Cormac Coyne worked with Scaife for the production, which is a collaboration between Company SJ and the Abbey Theatre.

Costumes created by Sinead Cuthbert were inspired by flowers that grow between the cracks in the rock, as Winnie herself appears from the cracks in the rock.

An accompanying exhibition in the island’s arts centre, Áras Éanna documents the building of the set and interviews and photos with women on the island.

Curacha, the exhibition of currachs used as canvases by artists, is also continuing at Áras Éanna and on an outdoor trail until September 12th.

Tickets for the Inis Oírr production of Laethanta Sona from August 30th to September 5th have already been booked out.

However, the play will be performed with subtitles at the Dublin Theatre Festival from October 14th to 17th, with online booking from August 24th.

Read The Times Ireland here

Turbot Island's main claim to fame has been its sighting by trans-Atlantic aviators John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown before they crash-landed at Derrygimlagh bog in north Connemara on June 15th, 1919.

Turbot or “Inishturbot” is a few miles west of Clifden and south of Omey. One very sad and memorable event in its history was the loss of islanders Patrick O’Toole (58), Patrick Stuffle (48) and Michael Wallace (62) in September 1974.

The three men were on their way home to Turbot from watching the All Ireland football final in Clifden when their currach capsized.

Transatlantic aviators John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown say they sighted Turbot Island shortly before they crash-landed in Connemara over one hundred years ago

Four years later, the population of about 60 was relocated to the mainland.

The ruin of the old schoolhouse on Turbot Island

That event was remembered last year with the release of a video, accompanied by music by Peter Knox. It was based on a poem called Turbot Men which was written by a mainland resident Joseph O’Toole after the fishermen drowned.

Peter Knox (left) and Turbot islander John O'Toole

Dutch couple and Turbot “new islanders” Stefan and Hanneke Frenkel who financed the video weathered last year’s first pandemic wave out there. Brian Hughes of the Abbeyglen Hotel in Clifden, who hosted the video’s launch, also has a house there.

Hanneke Frenkel (above and below) collecting "sea rope" to make carpets last year on Turbot island

This week’s Wavelengths podcast also has an interview with John O’Toole, whose house the Frenkel's purchased all those years ago. O’Toole was reared on Turbot, left at the age of ten, but maintains a strong connection with the island.

The Irish Islands' Federation has described as a "very unsatisfactory situation" that on offshore islands where there are not resident medical facilities or dispensaries, islanders are being required to travel to the mainland for Covid 19 vaccine injections.

The Secretary of Comhdháil Oileán na hEireann (the Islands' Federation), Rhoda Twombly, said this showed a lack of foresight and consideration and particularly affected older islanders who had been isolating for a year.

The challenges for the economies of Ireland’s offshore islands in a “post-COVID world” will be discussed with a number of contributors at a “virtual summit” next Wednesday (Sept 2).

Comdháil Oileáín na hÉireann, the Irish Island Federation, is supporting the free “webinar”, hosted by Dr Noirín Burke of the Irish Ocean Literacy Network and Trish Hegarty of Inis Communications in Donegal.

As Afloat previously reported, The “webinar” is Ireland’s “virtual hub event” for the second global Virtual Island Summit, involving over 100 island communities, from September 7th to 13th.

“Islanders work hard to maintain their economies, stay connected and create a sustainable future, something that has been extra challenging this year with Covid-19,” Dr Burke says.

Ms Hegarty says the event will explore how islands connect “to each other, to the mainland and to other islands across Europe and the world”.

Islanders working in enterprise, economic and community development and other experts working with island communities in areas like energy, sustainability, technology and connectivity will participate.

Irish Island Federation secretary Rhoda Twombly noted that her members are “more than used to connecting online” because of their physical distance and separation from the mainland.

“But in this time of social distancing and such an uncertain future, it’s more important than ever to strengthen our national and global connections to learn from each other’s experiences,”she said.

Contributors to the event include Virtual Island Summit founder and “Forbes Top 30 under 30” innovator James Ellsmoor; Ms Twombly and John Walsh of Comhdháil Oileáin na hÉireann and the European Small Islands Federation; Cathy Ní Ghóill, manager of Comharchumann Forbartha Arann; and Máirtín Ó Méalóid, manager of Cape Clear Island Cooperative and Comhdháil Oileáin na hÉireann vice-chair.

Also contributing are award-winning Mayo-based journalist Áine Ryan, who is interested in issues affecting rural and peripheral communities; University College, Cork researcher Dr Sarah Robinson, who is working with island communities on Bere, Sherkin and Cape Clear to establish community radio; Irish Tech News chief editor Simon Cocking; and Brendan Smith, education and public engagement officer at the Insight Centre for Data Analytics in Galway.

Attendance is free but registration is essential to take part.

To register on Zoom, click here

Historial Castle Island in Roaringwater Bay off the coast of Schull, West Cork is on the market for offers in excess of €1m.

The island is located immediately east of the entrance to Schull Harbour and south-west of Horse Island. It is readily accessed from either Schull Harbour or Rossbrin Cove.

It is one of very few privately owned islands in the area.

The island, which extends to approximately 123.85 acres or c. 50.12 hectares, was home to a small community of approximately fifteen families who were last resident on the Island up to the year 1870.

A substantial Pier and Slipway that offers very considerable shelter and access to the island in most weather conditions at all tidal stages

According to the auctioneer Dominic Daly, the ruins of the original three clusters of houses which made up the community are situated in three distinct locations the first at the pier where the original O’Mahony Castle stands and the other two at each end of the island. Lazy beds can be detected near one of the clusters of houses which look out across Roaringwater Bay and onward to Fastnet lighthouse a naturally beautiful landscape. Currently, the island is in use for agricultural purposes. Tillage was undertaken there in the past. It is now used for grazing.

There is a substantial Pier and Slipway that offers very considerable shelter and access to the island in most weather conditions at all tidal stages. A number of adjoining islands in Roaringwater Bay are inhabited – some with small communities (Long Island, Heir Island, Sherkin Island, Cape Clear Island) and others by single families (West Skeam Island, Horse Island).

Castle Island, Roaringwater Bay

Castle Island is home to one of a number of ruined O’Mahony Castles – one of a string along the coastline, all within sight of each other and sited strategically to control the waters of Roaringwater Bay and their abundant resources. The O’Mahony’s became extremely wealthy in their day, charging for fishing and fish processing facilities and for supplies and fresh water. They also formed strong alliances with the Spanish and French fishing fleet and any visitors who worked these waters an alliance that came to the attention of the English crown, which lead to the O’Mahony’s demise in the area.

It is a great opportunity for anyone interested in all water sports particularly sailing and fishing. It also benefits from the warm Gulf Stream and mild south westerly winds. The island can offer total solitude with substantial scope to develop it’s considerable amenities. There are extensive amenities in the area with multiple Harbours in Schull and Baltimore and also good shelter in Rossbin & Crookhaven as well as Cape Clear. In the far distance, the Fastnet Rock Lighthouse can be seen.

West Cork is a predominantly tourist area. It has rugged peninsulas, sandy beaches and bustling market towns. Future use of the island could be for private occupancy or tourism-related development or outdoor pursuits and/or agricultural use.

More details from auctioneer Dominic Daly here

A documentary on how Tory island’s late king Patsy Dan Rodgers led his community’s efforts to secure their rights and a study of a “maverick islander” are scheduled for Galway Film Fleadh’s online programme this weekend.

French filmmaker Loic Jourdain is screening the world premiere of his latest feature on Tory island, entitled The Tribe of Gods.

The 92-minute documentary charts how the late Patsy Dan Rodgers, then the last King of Ireland, continued to represent his community of 150 Irish-speaking islanders after he was diagnosed with cancer.

Jourdain’s company Lugh Films, South-Wind Blows and Idée Originale previously made a documentary on Donegal islander John O’Brien, entitled A turning tide in the life of man, on his efforts to retain his right to fish for wild salmon.

The Tribe of Gods has a cast of Patsy Dan Mag Ruaidhri, Marjorie Uí Chearbhaill, Liam Gallagher, Laurene Boyle and Pádraig Gráinne Duggan, was shown on Saturday, July 11th and there is a trailer below.

Galway-based filmmaker Margaretta D’Arcy and producers Finn Arden and Laurie Allen has directed A Maverick Islander, which will screen on Sunday July 12th.

Her film is a study of Seán (John) Ó Loingsigh from south Connemara, described as “a philosopher, a dreamer, a self-appointed chieftain, a failed playwright, and a minority voice”.

The film charts his efforts to “rise above the elitism associated with the game of golf” and build a golf course in the bog which might also help to keep Connemara’s islands district, Ceantar na nOileán alive.

Activist, performer and film director Margaretta D’Arcy is now in her 87th year, and is a member of Aosdána. A Maverick Islander is available on Sunday July 12th at 1200 by booking here

A trailer for The Tribe of Gods is below