There is something obsessive about wanting to go to such an island as Potato Island. Why would anyone want to go there? Then why would anyone not want to go there?

The jetty is a bit shaky and the timbers are rotted in places, but the wooden structure is sound enough to permit visitors to Illaunslea, Kenmare Bay, Co Kerry.

Many of us tend to idealise life beside the ocean and imagine balmy summer evenings with the sea gently lapping nearby and a glorious sunset emblazoned on the sky, writes Dan MacCarthy.