Islands of Ireland: Mayo, John Lennon, and Sid's commune

Dan MacCarthy waxes lyrical about Dorinish, Clew Bay, bought by musician and loaned to the King of the Hippies 

Dorinish, Clew Bay, Co Mayo. Once owned by the Beatles singer John Lennon. King of the Hippies Sid Rawle ran a commune there from 1970 to 1972.Picture: Dan MacCarthy; Inset: Sid Rawle

With a “carrot-red beard” and a “red pigtail dangling from his cropped head” the press description of painter and decorator Sid Rawle when he arrived in Ireland in 1970 made him sound like a representative of an exotic species.

Rawle arrived in Co Mayo to take possession of the 93-acre Dorinish island in Clew Bay which had been purchased by The Beatles singer John Lennon. Prior to the Famine the island had a population of 13 people but they had gradually dwindled away.