Islands of Ireland: Full steam ahead on Beara

The Princess Beara steamer of the Bantry Bay Steamship Company called to Adrigole on the Beara Peninsula around 1910. Orthon’s Island is behind the steamship. Restored image by Robert Cross, courtesy of the National Library’s Lawrence Collection

To say that the Beara Peninsula is rich in prehistoric monuments is a bit like saying that there are lots of stars in the sky. They are simply everywhere.

The old road that winds under Sugar Loaf Mountain west of Glengarriff, Co Cork and through the townland of Lackavane has several monuments from antiquity to stagger the mind, if it is so disposed.

There are oodles of ringforts, cross-inscribed stones, souterrains and several standing stones — not least the impressive monolith at Leitrim Beg. If this was not a pilgrim’s way in early medieval times, then it certainly feels like it.

The road delivers you to the ruins of the 19th-century Catholic church of Massmount and then lays before you as magnificent a view as you can see in the entire country. Green fields run down to the edge of the sea and the spread-out village of Adrigole.

Above the village, Adrigole Mountain looms down from the Healy Pass, which provides sinuous access to the northern Beara peninsula. To the west, Hungry Hill, of Daphne du Maurier fame, looms even larger and meaner.

Dan MacCarthy: 'A significant population of Arctic tern frequent Orthan’s Island.'

The sea has carved out a U-shaped harbour from the seaboard and at its centre lies Orthon’s Island, which draws in the eye as if by magnetic power. There is a second, minute island in the harbour, close to the main road, but poor Illauncreagh will probably never see anyone write about it (ahem).

The island itself comprises just 1.5 acres and is as flat as a table. Dominated by furze and possessed of a nice sandy beach, it makes for a very pleasant camping spot — so pleasant that harbour seals avail of its tranquility when the urge takes them.

The island has no pier and or other structures whatsoever, either modern or ancient. One wonders why.

A significant population of Arctic tern frequent Orthan’s Island. As this magnificent bird breeds in the early months of the summer, it is recommended not to visit this island then.

Orthan derives from Iorthan, which is also the source for the townland of Urhan, near Eyeries. The Orthon, or Orthan, in question appears to be not a saint, as might have been presumed, but the place of a battle. The word, derived from Iorthan, appears in other variations including Irhea, Irhen, Ichen, Irheen and Oircheann.

In his history of the Beara, Liam O’Dwyer speculates that the word derives from the old Irish word for graveyard, ‘uir’, or the word for slaughter, ‘uar’. The battles in question involved the king of Ireland, Conmaol, and the leader of the Heremonians, Tighermas, and took place at Urhan. A second battle took place at Adrigole, hence Orthon’s Island, via anglicisation.

A more salubrious occasion for the island was as part of the vista enjoyed by passengers of the Princess Beara steamer, which used to berth at Adrigole Harbour in the early decades of the last century. The ship was the last vessel owned by the Bantry Bay Steamship Company. It was a single screw iron vessel (a steamboat with one propeller) and had a crew of 10: captain, mate, engineer, four able seamen, fireman, winchman and cabin boy.

The steamers brought a huge variety of cargo as they plied their trade between Bantry and Castletownbere, with stops at Glengarriff, Adrigole and Bere Island. The company ceased operations in the 1940s and the Princess was sold off as the roads improved.

One writer recalled: “It was a mixture of Guinness and Murphy’s stout, flour and meal, manures, oat seeds, boots and shoes, and baskets of Thompson’s bread.”

After fair days, the steamers loaded cattle, sheep and pigs for the return trip to Bantry. On regatta days, the Princess Beara ran special excursions and also for the big GAA games.

One passenger recalled a journey made with his sister. “If I should live for 1,000 years, the memory of the steamboat ride from Castletown to Bantry on a glorious morning in March will ever remain green. Memory would have to be completely obliterated to wipe out the impressions made that day.”

• How to get there: Inquire at Adrigole Pier.
• Other: maps.archaeology.ie/HistoricEnvironment; www.facebook.com/westcorksailing; www.logainm.ie; Liam O’Dwyer’s ‘Beara in Irish History’; patreon.com/RobCross247; Gerard Harrington in the ‘Southern Star’ 18/08/79