When the island was inhabited, it didn’t have a church or public house and then the school closed. There was no electricity until 2003 to serve the population, which the census recorded was at one time as high as 128.
Some of the islanders who left return from time to time to attend to farming chores, and several of their houses have been purchased as holiday homes by people from Ireland and other European countries. The author, Bernadette Conroy, who quit once but returned later to her post as Inishturk shed the last members of its indigenous population, deserves great praise for her work and for the skilful way she has drawn together the fascinating material for this new book. The Clifden Festival’s Artistic Director, Dr Brendan Flynn, is to be congratulated for having the commendable good sense to promote this book.
• Waves on the Shore is available from The Clifden Bookshop, other good bookshops such as Kenny’s Bookshop and Charlie O’Beirne’s in Galway, and on-line from the usual outlets.
END
