Islands of Ireland: Donegal's Inishkeel has murderous and murdered saints, blue seas, and ruined churches — but no bell

St Conall’s bell and bell shrine are kept in the British Museum but perhaps it is time to bring them 'home' to our National Museum in Dublin

Islands of Ireland: you can walk to Inishkeel Island, County Donegal, if you check the tide tables carefully

Visitors to this rugged part of western Donegal are presented with an astonishingly beautiful beach where the cerulean and azure hues of the sea mesmerise against a backdrop of the blue and black mountains to the north. That’s in good weather, of course. In the bad — of which there is no shortage — a hammering blast from the Atlantic is a regular occurrence.

When the sea parts, as in the Red Sea, a glorious walk across the beach allows access to this island. Moses does not await, but the remains of a sixth-century monastery, does. The 500m walk must be undertaken with extreme care as there is only a short window of a few hours before the tide turns.