Islands of Ireland: If the Inishturk walls could talk

Inishturk, Co Galway, near Omey Island. Not to be confused with the very large Inishturk, Co Mayo. Picture: Dan MacCarthy

There have been dozens of magnificent islands featured on this page where you could happily hang your hat. Inishturk, Co Galway would be right up there with them in an ideal world.

Its vastly larger namesake around Aughrus Point, and well out to sea, is also very appealing.

This one is closer to shore and has a relatively low profile nationally but still attracts a lively population in the summer. It is sometimes distinguished by its more expansive name of Inishturk South but generally loses the locus for the Island of the Wild Boar.

Barley half a kilometre across, and just over that lengthways, it is a really lovely place where a swimmer may have to share its golden beaches with some bathing bovines should they fancy a dip. This outer part of Clifden Bay has two other similar-sized islands in Turbot and Omey which had a lot of interaction with Inishturk over the centuries. It is a devastatingly beautiful part of Connemara.

The spirit of this island was captured in a 2019 book by Bernadette Conroy entitled Waves on the Shore which evoked the deep generational links attached to this island with its descendants, some of whom now own holiday houses there. Electricity arrived to the island only in 2003 but long before, the island had a thriving life. Some of the names that appeared on the 1911 census were: McDonagh, Pryce, Walsh, Stuffle, Hannon, Toole, Murray, Conroy, and Burke.

Dan McCarthy: 'The standout feature on Inishturk South is the intricate pattern of stone walls which crisscross each other.'

The population peaked at 128 people in 1861 which is hard to fathom given the island’s size. It must have been a hive of activity with currachs constantly pulling into shore unloading the day’s catch. Over time the population dwindled to its last year-round occupant recorded in in the 1980s but even in the 1950s it still had a thriving community of 86. Bernadette writes that in the years after the Great Famine island populations were often swollen by dispossessed tenants seeking a place to live. “This increase in population could be attributed to evictions from the mainland. While the rest of the country struggled with emigration and starvation the miracle of the ‘loaves and fishes’ and shore collecting sustained life for the people of the island.”

All the houses were self-sufficient in vegetables and most had a cow or hens, chickens and geese, she writes. Rye and oats were also sown. At this time, island life often revolved around a small shop run by the Wallace brothers.

Bernadette was a teacher at the school and writes movingly about her final departure in 1973: “On that historic day, I locked the school door for the last time. A light was dimmed that would never again shine on the island… I gathered my belongings and made my way down to the strand. Joe Burke rowed me across to the mainland for the last time… I watched as Joe pulled the currach away from the shore and began to row at a steady pace back to Inishturk. I raised my hand and bid farewell.”

The standout feature on Inishturk South is the intricate pattern of stone walls which crisscross each other, delineating roads, farms, and even villages. The island could once boast a pair of villages: Baile Thoir (East Village) where the school was located, and Baile Theas (South Village). However, it is the indomitable walls, sometimes limestone and sometimes granite, that are most impressive. They rise and fall like animated figures, diving across fields and marshes and tempting the visitor over the next rise where they form a road.

“In many cases these single stone walls have a story to tell. They are silent witnesses to hundreds of years of the island’s history, settlement patterns and land use, and the skill and craftsmanship of the islanders as well as reminders of bygone days,” writes Bernadette.

If you can’t find a way to land there at least try and drive the Sky Road from Clifden and gaze down at Inishturk and its neighbours Turbot and Omey and marvel at the hardy souls who once lived there.

How to get there: Kayak from Eyrephort Beach to the east of Inishturk or inquire at tourist office in Clifden.

• Other: Bernadette Conroy; Waves on the Shore: The Life And Times of a Connemara Island — Inishturk South; Connemara Island Publications