Island 353 - Dinish Island, Castletownbere, County Cork

Dinish Island is located to the south east of the town of Castletownbere on the Beara Peninsula in County Cork.  It is linked to the mainland by a road bridge.  The island is roughly oval in shape and is about 700 metres from east to west by 400 metres from north to south. There are no houses on the island: all the buildings are industrial, many of them with links to the sea e.g. the coastguard, seafood processing and sail making.  A circular road runs round the island and it looks as though there are some empty sites for future development.

The coastal strips on the east and south sides of the island are grassy areas.  Oddly there are notices in several places telling visitors to keep off the grass but no indication of why.  Normally these notices are only found in formal gardens with neatly manicured lawns.  They seem a bit unnecessary on Dinish Island, which I don't imagine is overrun with visitors.  The grass looked to be lush but very ordinary. 

At the western end of the island overlooking Bantry Bay there is a large and striking memorial to people who have died at sea in the middle of an area of grass.  I presumed it was okay to tread on this grass, which looked just the same as the grass you aren't allowed to tread on!  The bronze memorial was designed by Barry Linnane and is called "Twilight Haul".  It depicts two fisherman holding a boat aloft.   One of them is looking out to sea, while the other one looks inland.  The memorial was commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and was unveiled by the Minister of State Mr Tony Killeen on 29th June 2009.  The memorial is dedicated especially to those people whose bodies were never recovered.  There are two seats and visitors are invited to ‘Please sit, remember and acknowledge those who lost their lives at sea. Quiet and contemplative, a stilled moment, a form of salute, as if time has stood still’

 Please Keep off the Grass
 

 Bridge linking the island to Castletownbere
I had to tread on the forbidden grass to take the photo
 

Coastguard Building

 

Sail maker and repairer

 

 Footpath sign - I can't imagine many walkers include the island in their itineraries!
 

Twilight Haul Memorial looking out into Bantry Bay
It was a very foggy day

 

Twilight Haul Memorial looking inland

 

 Memorial Plaque with names of those who have died

 

Western end of the island

 - I don't know what the contents of all the white bags was