The unknown Kerry beauty of Church Island laying low to the surrounding Lough Kay

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.

It is a sort of romanticised notion for when nature wreaks her vengeance as, last month, via the breathtaking Ophelia, we know all about it. Yet still we dream.

Apart from living in a boat, proximity to the sea doesn’t get any closer than Church Island, Co Kerry. Here it is not measured in hundreds of metres, but mere metres. Four to be precise.