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Horse Island

By John Barry

I was born on Horse Island as were all the rest of my family and I lived there until I was 22. Life on the island was very tough as there was no electricity, running water or any of the “mod cons” that are there now.

We grew all our own veg, Turnips, Carrots, Cabbage, Spuds etc. and of course there was always plenty of fish. In the summer months you had plenty fresh fish. There was no going to the butchers every day. For the winter we salted 2 barrels of Mackerel and then we lightly salted Cod, Ling, Connor (Wrasse) and we hung them from the beams in the kitchen so they would be smoked. Maybe we were ahead of our time as Smoked fish is very popular now.

We went to school in Ballinskelligs. We rowed into the pier and walked up the road with our books and 2 sods of turf for the fire under our arms. There were about 80 pupils and 3 teachers. John the master, Miss Fenton and Miss O.

There were 4 guards and a sergeant in the Garda barracks. They lived in the barracks and then you had 2 priests and a housekeeper in the presbytery. The guards biggest job was signing the dole on a Tuesday and then up to the post office to get the money. There were 3 other schools, Emlaghmore, Emlagh Dreenach and Kilreelig

I remember Patie King the teacher cycling to Cill Riallag. He used to go back every day cycling and that was a tough cycle. It wasn’t too bad coming to the Castle Cross but a lot of the time he had to walk from there because the wind and rain would always be against you. Cill Riallag School served Bolus, Duchalla and Boulakeel and there was always a great crowd there.

We kept 3 cows and believe it or not we went to the creamery our number was B26. Every morning the cows were milked and the tank was put on the boat as well as ourselves and we rowed into the pier. My four sisters were fantastic oars women and it was no bother to them to “feather” the oar. The tank of milk was taken off at the pier and either Mike Lyne or John Rahilly would take the milk to the Creamery in the donkey and car. Dick Kissane was manager of the creamery and there was a famous strike when the creamery was to close in Ballinskelligs and the milk had to be “lorried” to town. Everybody went to the creamery in those days as it was one of the only ways of making an extra few bob.

I rowed and fished in the Roving Swan she was built up in the village by Partner Galvin. Partner was from Caherdaniel and he used come to Ballinskelligs and he built a lot of other boats especially for Jim Fitz and the Mains.

The Mains had 3 motorboats in their time, “The Mary Angela”, “The Island Rover” and ?. Martin Golden bought the SS Rover afterwards. Jack Fitz and Mike Kirby got a motorboat built in Portmagee by Tagheen Bhat called “The Morning Star”

The Mahony’s Ardcost had built the “Rainbow and we raced against her in a November regatta, put up by the Keefes in Portmagee. There were two boats from Valentia, the “Rainbow” and the “Roving Swan”. Among the crew of the “Roving Swan were, my uncle Davey, Denny Lyne, Davey Barry, Dungeagan and there were 3 Fitz’s in her as well as myself.

1955. The Mahonys, Ardcost put an ad in the “Irish Press” inviting any boat interested in racing against their boat (The National Anthem) to a regatta in Portmagee that year. Jim Fitz and Sean Connor the Teacher saw this ad and decided to take up the challenge.

Myself and John Joe Goggin travelled all over Ballinskelligs and went as far as the Glen collecting money to fund the building of the boat. We could only go to some houses in the Glen as some of the Mahonys crew were from the Glen. The “Sidhe Gaoithe” was built in Jim Fitz’s yard by Partner Galvin and me. I was fishing with Jim that summer but he told me to stay with Partner to build the boat. I cut every bit of timber for her. There were no electric saws or planers then but Partner had great edge.

We built her in 3 weeks and when the day of the regatta came we were well ready. When the shot went she took off like a bullet and we won the race. She was cut and changed after but it spoiled her and we lost in ’56. The crew of the “Sidhe Gaoithe” included Jim Fitz ,Tadgh Driscoll on the 6th oar, myself and my uncle Dave Barry on 5th oar, further oarsmen included Jack Fitz and Mike Lyne on the 4th oar, Patie Dan Grady and Paddy Fitz on 3rd oar. Other Oarsmen included Mike Driscoll, John Kelly, and Jerry Lyne.

There were very few cars in Bally; Mains had a car, Willie Walsh, John Sullivan, Dungeagan and Jack Sullivan Coom.

We never missed a mass from the island. The priest would be around the door doing the collection and once a year the priest would read out from the altar how much each person gave.

During the war there were 8 soldiers in the lookout post in Bolus; among them were Joe Fitzgerald and Mikum Brennan. There post was manned around the clock and during the war many pieces of wreck came into the bay. I remember once “a mine came in and washed up near the Abbey, the army came the following day and blew it up. Often rafts used to come in and they would be full of stuff. One raft was full of coats and hats and trousers”. The boys in the lookout post would let us know and we would go out to meet any wreck. I remember one a big boat was bombed and she came into The Strand on Horse Island for repair. They beached her on the island and when she was repaired we refloated her on high water.

Also during the war we had ration books and you would get nothing without a leaf from the book.

There was no turf on the island. So we had a bog over in Curragh. We used to cut the turf, save it and put it out with a donkey. Then we brought it to the pier with a horse and made a reek at the pier. There were 2 reeks at the pier ours and Fitz’s and every time you came ashore you brought a few bags of turf in with you maybe as well.

The “Marie Louis” was the ship repairing the cables and she would often come into the bay and stay for a week or two.

Another big change was the lights. There were no lights in Ballinskelligs at that time and the only light that was on late at night was in the Jerry’s Kinnard but that always went off at 1.00am. We had a dog on the island and he was like a guide. He would start barking when he heard our boat coming and would guide us in; he only barked for our boat and ignored everyone else. He was very welcome especially when we were coming home after the dances. There were 2 halls in Dungeagan, Harty and later Pat Connell built a hall when he came home from America. Paddy Connor and Sonny Sullivan were the usual players but bands from Killorglin would come to Connells hall and they would have a drum, a fiddle and accordion. Great music!

Mains was the main shop we used, they had meal, Pollard, Bran all weighed by Peggy. They also had 2 cars, a lorry and a petrol pump it was a great asset to Ballinskelligs.

I brought my first car in 1954. It was a Ford Prefect. It was a lovely car with a bench seat in front. It cost £380 which was a lot of money at that time.

I fished with Mike Murt for 6 years on a motorboat and then a job came up in Sive driving the lorry. I remember I asked Mrs Driscoll for a job and she said “Can you drive?” When I said “yes” She said “Come in on Monday” and I was there for 40 years. I delivered lots of Porter around South Kerry and plenty to Ballinskelligs especially to the Reenroe hotel. The sales there were massive. At the time the guards didn’t bother with “Drink driving” if you could carry the car home at all you were safe enough.

These are amongst my memories of growing up in Ballinskelligs a great place to spend your youth.

Oileann na gCapaill – Horse Island

LYN’S STORY

In the ten years since we came to live permanently in Baile an Sceilg, the house on Oileann na gCapaill, Horse Island, has become our other home. From March to November we keep the house open, work on restoring it, and tend to the land and sheep, while our family and their friends come and go, enjoying their own unique relationship with this magical place. For us, the grandparents, the autumn is the quiet time. We spend our time there enjoying the various tasks we have set ourselves. This year Rory has made a stable door for the house porch, and we have converted the old donkey shed into a bedroom/studio/day room.

We have talent in the family resulting in a beautiful curved flight of rough stone steps linking the beach to the house, an improved hearth and chimney, a sealed roof ridge on the barn and a new stream and pool in the garden. There are always plans for next year and gradually with help from family and friends we are making changes that will add to the comfort and charm of our home. The house is warm and dry and comfortable, we cook great meals there and there is always a Guinness cake for visitors who turn up.

Music is important to us, indoors by the fire or sitting on the rock outside, and the Sneem guitar club gathers here every year. It is a good place for creative work, writing, drawing or just thinking.

In 2010 we brought 8 Soay sheep across in the boat, helped by Paddy Casey and the O'Sullivan brothers, Cornelius and Eugene, who carried them up the island to their new home and put up the fencing and built a shed for them. Soays are the last truly wild sheep and all are descended from the original flock left by the Vikings on St Kilda in the Hebrides. They are perfectly suited to island life being entirely self-sufficient and graze the bracken and fibrous roots, leaving the wild flowers and orchids to increase. After lambing in late April they shed their thick brown fleece, which we gather for spinning. Our first ram, Erik, disappeared in the January gales in 2014, probably swept off the cliff where he liked to sit. His body came up on Baile an Sceilg beach and is probably still there, buried under the shifting dunes that winter. We now have Ragnar--a stocky fellow with punk hair who has it all under control--hence the eight lambs that look exactly like him. Their favourite roosting rocks are high up on the cliffs at the top of the island where they sit and gaze at the Atlantic - watching for the return of the Viking boats maybe?

The Island is itself a garden, with over 100 native plants and the house garden is simple, enclosed by walls and sheltered by an old Olearis tree planted in 1965 by Rory's mother Olwen. The big fuchsia bush by the gate hums with wild bees and each plant we grow in the stone garden is free to seed and flourish - borage, amaryllis, evening primrose, parsley and hyssop as well as the pink Kerry rose that rampages with the honeysuckle on the wall. Next year I must get started on a vegetable bed - but I say that every year! To welcome us next spring I have planted daffodils and tulips and primroses under the trees and blue and yellow bulbs in an old wooden cradle outside the house. All the twenty trees that Michael Brennan helped us plant are now maturing and making a dense thicket, home to small birds and, I suspect, small rodents, although how they got there is a mystery. Can voles swim? There are more seabirds this year. Grey Plover share the spit of sand with Oystercatchers, gulls and curlews and the visiting Gannets from the Skelligs colony dive-bomb the bay.

Recently the seals that live in the lee of the island sang and called all day, establishing their breeding territory. Magically, last year on my birthday two dolphins accompanied me in the boat across from the pier, hung around all day playing in the shallows and, at dusk, headed away across the bay. So many neighbours and friends have made their contribution to the way the Island is now. Francie Driscoll and his son Damien not only brought the huge slate hearthstone across for us but carried it up to the house and carefully put it in place in the second fireplace, a lovely arching area first discovered by another visiting friend.

The O’Sullivan brothers have done all our fencing and shown us how to tend to the sheep. The Fitzgerald family visit, bringing the grandchildren who have heard about but never visited the old family home and I have learned so much from their stories. So many people have played a part in the development of the house, Stephen, Dessie, Christy, Con, Tom the blacksmith from Sneem, Tommy and Taidgh, the list goes on and on.

Laura and I found a dead rat when she was helping me set the house up. We buried it at sea on our way back to the mainland, but it floated back to the island. Aidan Barry encouraged me when I was learning to handle the boat and I have a distinct memory of him throwing a fish box (empty) at our old billy goat that had me cornered with his horns. Horse Island is a happy, healing place and we cherish it for future generations. In a couple of weeks we will close up the house for winter but for now it is warm and dry and so peaceful reading by the fire. Mist cuts us off from the mainland and it seems we float on a calm lilac sea.

RORY’S STORY

My parents first came to Baile an Sceilg with my younger brother on a driving tour of Ireland in the summer of 1963. In 1962 Shell published the first edition of its “Shell Guide to the British Isles”, and my parents were using it to guide their tour. The book named Baile an Sceilg as the “Heart of the Gaeltacht”, because at that time 85% of the population spoke Gaelic as their first, and often only language.

Going down to the pier one afternoon, my mother looked across at the abandoned stone farmhouse on Horse Island. She fell in love at that first sight. She said to my father that it would be wonderful to be able to go there and live in the house away from everything -a romantic dream. As it happened, she was standing within earshot of Paddy Fitzgerald, whose view of Horse Island, not unreasonably, was decidedly unromantic. Five years previously, in the dreadful hurricane of 1959, a storm driven wave broke over the back of the island so high that the water came rushing down the slope of the island and washed in through the front door of the house. It was the last straw. Paddy, his wife Bridgie and their children were the last to live the true life of the island. That night, with the storm raging outside, Paddy could see across the Bay the lights in his brothers’ houses as they sat and watched TV with the new electricity.

Never let it be forgotten it was a hard life raising a family on a small island, and no help from the sea except the mineral rich grazing that probably first earned the island its name, when, it is thought, the locals drove their horses out there for the winter. So as soon as he could, Paddy loaded his family in his seine boat and rowed them across to the mainland and they never went back except to tend the sheep or visit our family. Frankly, he was glad to have a buyer, if it included, as it did, an agreement to keep his grazing rights. The island is divided in half between my family now, and the Barry family, who have had their land there for as long as the Fitzgeralds, going on more than 250 years, though the houses were built in the mid-19th Century. These days it is we who keep sheep on our half of the island; Michael Barry has sheep there on his half. Paddy died some years ago, having taken his sheep off in the early 1980s after an accident on the trawler left him unable to tend them there. Bridgie died some ten years later. Their children still visit us.

The purchase was made in 1964, so we have just passed our 50th anniversary of being part of Baile an Sceilg. We have made the house habitable. There was a wave of restoration work in the first few years, walls restored, roofs replaced, except the slate roof of the main house, a new gaslight system, for lights, a cooker and a fridge. Brendan Walsh was one of the people who did that work. They did some repair work on the outhouses and barn, and generally put the place in shape for us to come over for holidays. It remained our holiday home and still is for our family, but Lyn and I live here now and that has moved things along. What changed things was when I came with two friends, Leo and Raggy, and we completely rebuilt the roof of the main house.

Over the 90s our visits had been less frequent. My mother died in 1980, and my father could never really face returning there to stay, though he continued to visit and stay at Main’s hotel (now Cable O’Leary’s), and I was in the middle of a busy career and family, so we didn’t holiday every year. But in 2001 I had a couple of months to spare and a couple of good friends to help. With the roof done, Lyn stripped all the old plaster in the house while I worked in Germany, a dreadful job but she did it perfectly, including sealing the walls with PVA bonding. By happenchance one summer, a friend saw where there had been the original open fireplace and we opened it up. Then Con came and plastered the whole house. Lyn has told you the rest.

The island has no gas, water or electricity supply from the mainland. We use gas for cooking and refrigeration, collect rain water and filter it for drinking. We have a generator for heavy tools and we plan an LED lighting system soon, meanwhile we use battery lights and candles. There is a long list of things to do but we seem to get them done if we don’t worry about time. We have a house on the mainland where we live most of the time, but the island is our home.