On the eve of Connemara’s Omey island races, relatives of islanders have initiated a petition seeking the urgent return of bones removed during an archaeological excavation.

A musician in Co Donegal lived on Inishfree for around 20 years up to recently.

It is hard to imagine now when strolling around Omey Island's sand-dunes and marshes that the island was once home to 397 people, writes Dan MacCarthy

There was a time when Pascal Whelan’s car got stuck in the sand halfway across the drive to Omey Island from the mainland. Another local drove to his aid and his car was also embedded, only to finally pull clear after burning out the clutch.

AT THE western fringes of Co Galway at the hamlet of Claddaghduff an old road leads down to a beach.