Islands of Ireland: Living history at West Cork's Owen’s Island

Family names thrive and the regatta is still popular near Ahakista and Sheep's Head Peninsula

Ahakista, County Cork, seen from Owen's Island on the Sheep's Head Peninsula. Picture: Dan MacCarthy

Not to be confused with Inishowen (Peninsula) in County Donegal, or Owen’s Island/ Meadow, this County Cork Owen’s Island is a mere fraction of the size of its behemoth Donegal namesake.

It lies just off the wonderfully named Ahakista on the south side of the mesmerising — but unimaginatively named — Sheep’s Head Peninsula. There is a large island tethered to the mainland by a rocky isthmus called Illaunnacusha. And just near to that island is a memorial to the tragedy of the Air India disaster of 1985 when 329 mainly Indian Canadians were killed when their plane was blown from the sky in a terrorist attack.