Watch: The earth-shattering island of myth off the coast of Clare

From the shore at Quilty in Co Clare, Mutton Island looks a flat, unappealing line. Great as a place to land if your boat is in trouble, but to visit there looks uninspiring.

Well you’ve heard the one about appearances and deceptiveness. Mutton Island is in fact a lovely island with an astonishing history, or perhaps astonishing myth.

This 185-acre island was once home to a fishing village community — Kellehers, McInerneys, Kennys, and Griffins — the last of whom left for the mainland in 1956. The population had peaked in the 1920s.