Dan MacCarthy: Island full of watchful eyes

Decrees against several of Deer Island's residents were issued at Kildysart Court, but they proved impossible to execute

Deer Island, Fergus Estuary, Co Clare. Picture: Dan MacCarthy

Deer Island, which is tantalisingly close to the mainland, is now uninhabited. However, this Co Clare island, resplendent in its estuarine environment, was up to relatively recently (1901) a thriving home to 50 people. The last resident of all the Fergus islands, Brigid Anne Tuohy, had lived on Deer Island and died in 2004.

Today, the island is farmed, with livestock moved back and forth to the mainland on purpose-built lighters. Back in the day, butter was churned in the farms and sold on the mainland.