Island 363 - Inisheer/Inis Oírr, Aran Islands, County Galway

Inisheer (Inis Oírr in Irish) is the smallest and most south easterly of the three Aran Islands.  It lies approximately 6 miles to the north west of the town of Doolin on the coast of County Clare.  The island is 2 miles from east to west and just over 1.5 miles from north to south.  The highest point on the island is 57 metres above sea level.  The island is featured on the opening sequence of the TV series Father Ted as Craggy Island, although the programme was not actually filmed there.

Inisheer can be accessed by passenger ferry from Doolin or from the village of Rossaveel in County Galway.  I stayed in Rossaveel and so travelled from there to Inisheer. The same ferry calls at Inishmaan first before travelling on to Inisheer.  When I visited in May 2017 the day return ferry fare for an adult was €25.  It is also possible to fly to Inisheer from Connemara Airport to the west of Galway City.  The airstrip is on the north coast of the island.

Inisheer is one of the Irish speaking Gaeltacht areas of Ireland.  This means that most signs and notices are only in Irish.  The Ordnance Survey maps are also all in Irish, which isn't very helpful, considering that most of the people using them aren't likely to be Irish speakers.  I spent quite a bit of my week's holiday in County Galway trying to guess what the road signs, labels on buildings and signposts meant.

Inisheer is very geared up for visitors.  We were greeted by a long line of very assertive horse and trap owners trying to sell rides to tourists.  I have to say it was a bit off putting.  I visited on a sunny Sunday, so there were lots of other visitors and unusually quite a few of them ventured away from the village where we landed, so it was difficult to be alone for any length of time.  It is also possible to hire bikes, although the island isn't flat and most of the roads run from the north coast towards the south coast but do not connect with each other.  There isn't a coastal footpath around the whole island either.  There are however a couple of waymarked looped (circular) walks. 

There is a pub and a hotel on Inisheer and I found a tea room (Teach an Tae), which was good and the lady who runs it was friendly and came out and had a chat with me.  Even though it was a hot sunny day everyone else was sitting inside for some reason.  If you want to stay on the island, in addition to the hotel, there are some guesthouses.

The two things that are most memorable about the island are the large areas of karst landscape or limestone pavements and the small size of all the fields.  I don't think I have ever been anywhere where the fields are as small as they are on the Aran Islands.  I'm not sure if the reason for the fields being so small is that they act as windbreaks or because there are so many rocks on the island that it was a way of getting them off the fields, so that grass or crops could be grown.  Maybe it is a combination of the two reasons.  Not many of the fields on Inisheer were in use when I visited.  A few fields had cattle in and I came across one horse (the others were all busy working pulling the traps).  The soil must be very shallow on this limestone island.  Some of the fields were 90% limestone pavement with a few blades of grass in between the cracks.  It must have been hard to live by farming on these islands.  Tourism isn't always a positive thing, but it must provide most of the islanders' incomes these days.

The main places of interest on the island are:

• The wreck of the MV Plassy, which was a steam trawler launched in 1940 and renamed HMT Juliet in 1941.  She was renamed Peterjon in 1947 when she was converted to a cargo ship.  She was renamed Plassy in 1951 when she was acquired by the Limerick Steamship Company. In 1960 she ran aground on rocks off the east coast of Inisheer in a storm while carrying a cargo of whiskey, stained glass and yarn.  The crew were all safely rescued by Inisheer islanders using a breeches buoy.  A few weeks later another storm swept her onto the beach on the east coast of Inisheer and there she remains, still largely intact but very rusty.  You can walk right up to and even into the wreck. 
• O'Brien's Castle - 15th century - ruined
• St Enda's Holy Well - this is on the west coast of the island and I didn't have time to visit it.
• Signal Tower built during the Napoleonic Wars c1804
• Teampall Chaomháin or St Caomhán's Church.  St Caomhán was a 6th century Irish saint but little is known about him.  He may have been the brother of Kevin of Glendalough.  The church, which may date from the 10th century is today below ground level because it was buried by shifting sand.  St Caomhán's grave lies in a separate building to the north east of the church.
• Lighthouse - this is situated on the south east corner of the island.
• Cnoc Raithni - this is a burial mound dating back to the Bronze Age, which is located behind the beach on the north coast.
• Cill na Seacht nIníon (Church of the Seven Daughters). This ruin is located about 50 metres to the west of the road to the lighthouse.  I walked along the road but didn't notice any signs to it.
• Cill Ghobnait (St Gobnait's Church).  This ruined church, which dates back to the 9th-11th centuries depending on which source you believe, is located near the harbour.

St Caomhán's Church

St Caomhán's Grave

One of the few traditionally built cottages on Inisheer

Wreck of the MV Plassy

Remains of the MV Plassy

Thrift and MV Plassy

MV Plassy

Lighthouse

CIL stands for Commissioners of Irish Lights (the equivalent of England's Trinity House)

 

Houses at the Lighthouse

Lighthouse

 

I'm not sure what the words on either of these stones say

O'Brien's Castle

Signal Tower with Alexanders

Memorial on the north coast

Traditional Currach

Limestone Pavement

Fishing boats on the north coast

 

Passenger Ferries in the harbour

Horse and carriage at the harbour

 

 The little fields of Inisheer

 

Beach on the north coast

 

Cnoc Raithni

Island 362 - Aughinish, County Clare

Aughinish is a small island located off the north coast of County Clare about 6 miles to the west of the town of Kinvarra.  However the only land access to the island is by a road causeway from County Galway.  It is thought that the island was joined to County Clare  at New Quay until 1st November 1755 when a tsunami caused by the Lisbon Earthquake separated it from the mainland.  The earthquake measured up to 9 on the Richter Scale and lasted for between 3 and 6 minutes, which is a very long time for an earthquake (they usually last seconds not minutes)

Aughinish was a true island for 50 years and then a causeway was built by the British c1804-10 to give them access to the Martello Tower, which they built on the north east coast of Aughinish to protect against a possible invasion of Ireland by the French.

Aughinish is 2 km from east to west and about 1.2km from north to south at its widest point.  There are about 20 houses on the island.  There is a ruined church and graveyard in the south west corner of the island.  I didn't have time to walk to these but could see them in the distance from the end of the road at the southern tip of the island.  I did walk out to the Martello Tower to find a geocache.  When I got out of my car to take a photo of one of the more attractive cottages on the island, a neighbour came out to ask if I was lost.  That wasn't such an odd question to ask, as signposting in Ireland is a bit hit and miss and I did not pass any signposts at all to Aughinish.

The parts of Aughinish which aren't farmed had plenty of thrift and birds foot trefoil in flower when I visited in early May 2017.  Skylarks were singing overhead.

 Looking south from the coast of Aughinish towards the village of Cartron in County Clare

 

Looking west along the south coast of Aughinish towards the ruined church

 

Cottage in the centre of Aughinish

 

Curious cows

 

This cow was definitely asking to be photographed while her calf was suckling her

 

Martello Tower

 

Martello Tower

 

Aughinish Causeway looking east towards County Galway

Island 361 - Scanlan's Island, County Clare

Scanlan's Island is a small tidal island joined on its north east corner to the coast of County Clare at the village of Finvarra at low tide.  It is also permanently to the mainland by a rough causeway, described on the Ordnance Survey Discovery Map as a breakwater.  I'm not sure of the purpose of this breakwater, as it is too rough to drive over or for cattle to walk over.  I walked across it in my ordinary shoes but wished I had put my walking boots on, as it was very uneven.  I visited just after high tide and the breakwater was all above the water level.   At the side of it I could see both ends of what looked to be a track used by vehicles at low water to cross to the island.  There were cow pats on the low tide track, which looks to run around the edge of at least part of the island, but I didn't see any cows. While I was on the island I heard my first cuckoo of 2017.

The remains of two other breakwaters can be seen, one a few metres to the west of the current one and another (which looks a bit like the Loch Ness Monster) on the north west corner of the island.  These two breakwaters are marked on the 1990s OS map but not on the 2015 edition. 

Scanlan's Island is diamond shaped and is approximately 1km from north to south and 700 metres from east to west at its widest point.  It is low lying, with the highest point being only 8 metres above sea level.  The whole island is farmed.  When I visited in mid May 2017 the northern third had been ploughed, the middle section was pasture, although I couldn't see any livestock grazing it and the southern part was growing some kind of crop.

Half a mile to the west of Finvarra there is a shop selling delicious Linnalla homemade ice cream.  Just outside the shop and overlooking Scanlan's Island there is a curious monument/memorial wall.  I'm not sure what the purpose of it was but I quite liked it.

 Looking south down the east coast

 

Finvarra from Scanlan's Island

 

Track from Scanlan's Island to Finvarra at high tide

 

Gate onto Scanlan's Island

 

Scanlan's Island

 

Breakwater to Scanlan's Island from Finvarra

 

Older breakwater, looking towards Scanlan's Island from Finvarra

 

 Loch Ness Monster broken breakwater at the north west end of Scanlan's Island

 

Unusual Monument at Rine

 

Monument at Rine

 

Scanlan's Island from the unusual monument

Steep Holm during the Second World War - see also Island 66

The refortification of Steep Holm and neighbouring Flat Holm began in July 1941 to protect convoy ships lying at anchor in the Bristol Channel waiting for high tide to enable them to unload their cargoes at the various ports along the Severn Estuary.

 On Steep Holm two jetties were constructed, an iron one at the Landing Beach on the east coast and a smaller stone one at South Landing. 

Remains of the wartime jetty at South Landing

Two batteries were built on the top of the island.  Steep Holm North was on the site of the Victorian Summit Battery in the north west of the island and had clear views across to Flat Holm and Lavernock Point on the Welsh coast. Steep Holm South was on the site of Garden Battery in the south east of the island, which had views over the whole of Bridgwater Bay. Each battery had two separate emplacements for 6 inch ex-Navy guns.  The batteries were roofed with “plastic armour”, which was a bituminous cement mixed with flint and granite chippings.

A rocket launcher was constructed at Split Rock Battery.  Observation posts were built at Rudder Rock and Steep Holm South Batteries.

Steep Holm South Battery

Flatholm from the Rudder Rock Observation Post

Remains of the plastic armour on Steep Holm South

Two instrument pillars were built, one at each battery.  Royal Artillery spotters mounted their Depression Range-Finders on them, which enabled them to observe targets and correct the fall of fire.  They were surrounded by blast walls.

Instrument Pill at Steep Holm North Battery

The remains of the inn and Cliff Cottage were demolished to make way for a narrow gauge railway, which was used for winching wagons of sand, cement, supplies and equipment up the Zigzag Path from the Landing Beach to the summit and across the plateau to Steep Holm North Battery.  A separate track was also laid from the South Landing up to the summit. The railway track used had been captured from the Germans on the Western Front during the First World War.  Three winch houses were built at the top of the three sections of the zigzag path.  An open winch was constructed at the top of the path down to the South Landing.  Indian soldiers with mules transported stores from ships to the summit of the island until the narrow gauge railway was completed.   The mules were later used to pull the wagons along the level sections of the narrow gauge railway.

Railway Line up the Zigzag Path

Railway Track to South Landing looking down on the Searchlight Post

Remains of the winch at the top of the path leading to South Landing

Up to 300 men were stationed on Steep Holm during the construction phase. Officers were housed in the Victorian barracks but lower ranks had to live in tents until Nissen huts were constructed. 

Four searchlight posts were built around the island: at South Landing; above Calf Rock; above Rudder Rock and on the north coast to the north east of Steep Holm North Battery. The purpose of these was to look out for German E-boats sailing up the Bristol Channel.  The top of the island was too high to allow the searchlights to pan across the sea, so the searchlight posts were built low on the cliffs.  Long flights of concrete steps had to be built to reach two of them.  There were 120 steps leading down the Rudder Rock searchlight post and 208 steps down to the post on the north coast. The posts and the steps to them were painted with zebra camouflage to disguise them.  Two Generator houses were built to power the searchlights.

Steps down to 208 Steps Searchlight Post

South Landing Searchlight Post

Rudder Rock Searchlight Post

Generator House

Two 3,200 gallon water tanks were erected on the top of the island, one for fresh water and one for salt water.  Water was pumped up to the summit from a supply ship.
The refortification of Steep Holm was completed by October 1942.  However the ex-Navy guns were never needed against enemy ships and they were useless against air attacks.

By the end of 1943 the threat to ships in the Bristol Channel had reduced significantly, so the island was relegated to “care and maintenance” status and most of the troops were moved off the island.

After the end of the Second World War German prisoners of war dismantled and removed most of the railway winches and trolleys and demolished the wartime piers.

Further reading:

Steep Holm at war: Rodney Legg.  Wincanton Press, 1991

The Steep Holm Guide and Trail.  Published by the Kenneth Allsop Memorial Trust, 2014

Steep Holm’s Pioneers: Stan and Joan Rendall. Published by the authors, 2003

Steep Holm’s Inn - see also Island 66

In June 1830 Steep Holm was sold by William Willes to John Baker, a Somerset solicitor.  On the east coast of Steep Holm he built a small harbour around the Landing Beach, an inn just above the high tide level and a cliff side cottage higher up to house boatmen, fisherman and labourers.  Cliff Cottage and the inn were nearing completion by July 1832.  The inn was built of island stone and rendered.  It was three storeys high with a castellated roof balustrade and a small walled garden.  The lower storey was built directly against the rock face.  On the north side a large water catchment tank was built.  In October 1833 John Baker sold the island to Colonel Charles Kemeys Kemeys-Tynte.

Inn and Landing Beach

In the early 1840s John and Betty Harse leased Steep Holm for a few years.  Betty ran the inn while John farmed.

The tenancy of Steep Holm was acquired by Frederick and Mary Harris c1846.  They moved to the island with their children Emily, Mary, Frederick Henry and Rosa.  Fred Harris was an accomplished sailor and he ferried visitors to and from the island in his own boat.  Sailors waiting in the Bristol Channel for high tide to enable them to sail into Bristol or the Welsh ports also frequented the inn.  In 1851 Rosa Harris drowned off Steep Holm, aged 4½ .

In 1854, while on a trip to the Newport area, Fred exchanged his Newfoundland dog for a young Russian bear.  In 1857 the bear severely injured a young Italian governess called Ann Caroline Besozzi, who was visiting the island.  In 1858 a civil action was held at Bristol Assizes to obtain compensation for the governess.  Fred Harris was ordered to pay her £50 in addition to court costs for both sides.  He failed to pay and the following year he was called to Taunton County Court where he pleaded insolvency and the judge believed him, although in reality he had transferred all his assets to other people.
 
In 1859 there was a great storm in the Bristol Channel.  Fred Harris’s boat Mystery was badly damaged and Steep Holm’s harbour wall collapsed, which made it much harder for people to land on the island.  The wall was never rebuilt.
 
In 1866 the inn was enlarged by the building of an adjacent three storey annexe to house workers building the forts on the island.  The inn prospered from 1866-8 with all the extra resident customers.

By 1871 Fred and Mary Harris were managing the Royal Claremont Pier Hotel in Weston-super-Mare, which was renamed Harris’s.  The Steep Holm Inn was being run by Frederick Henry’s wife Ann.  In 1872 their daughter was born on the island.  She was named Beatrice Steep Holmes Anne Cooper Harris.
 
In May 1884 Frederick Henry Harris was summoned to Axbridge Petty Session Court to answer charges of selling alcohol without a licence.  He argued that Steep Holm was not part of Somerset and that in the 38 years his family had run the inn they had never been asked to obtain a licence.  The case was dismissed but the Inland Revenue appealed to the High Court and in 1885 they won.  The Harris family gave up their tenancy of the island the same year but soon after they leased Flat Holm and ran an inn there.
 
Mrs Caroline Davies and her two adult sons Harold and Wallace/Wallis rented Steep Holm in 1885. They ran day excursions and fishing and rabbit shooting trips to the island and also grew crops and raised farm livestock.  However their business was not a success and they sold their stock and equipment to Thomas Henry Waite-Hall from Glastonbury the following year.  The annexe to the inn was probably damaged by a lightning strike on its chimney during his tenancy.  The annexe was patched up but Mr Waite-Hall had left the island by 1891 and the inn was closed for the last time.

By the 1930s the inn was derelict and during the refortification of the island in 1941 the walls of the inn and annexe were demolished to make way for a narrow gauge railway.  The walls were rebuilt and the inn reroofed in the early 1980s by the Kenneth Allsop Trust for use as a wardens’ depot and store but it proved to be too damp to be of much use.

 Annexe ruins at high tide

Annexe Ruins at low tide

 Inn and Annexe ruins at low tide

Inn from the shingle spit at low tide