Dan McCarthy: Wild horses couldn't stop me from visiting Trummer

Wild horses on Trummer Island, Fergus Estuary, Co Clare. Picture: Dan MacCarthy

The comparatively vast Fergus Estuary in Co Clare encompasses in and around 20 islands, some of which once boasted sizeable populations. All are deserted now, putting them
in the same bracket as the never-lived-on Trummer.

This delightful island, which is shaped like a mini Loop Head — a long toe stretching outwards — lies in among some very large neighbours in Deer Island and Coney Island. Though sheep are sometimes grazed there, another function this flat island could serve might be as a sanctuary for the stranded. The Fergus sweeps past here to join the glorious Shannon a little further on. That storied river and its mysteries are the subject of a fascinating new account by travel writer Paul Clements
in Shannon Country: A River Journey Through Time. The River Fergus deserves a similar devotion.