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A Journey North
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Folks,
I’m looking for some feedback on a monthly article that I will be publishing to my webpage in July.
It is a story about a small project I have been working on to photograph some of the northern extremities of Ireland.
I hope that it flows and you get a feeling of “a journey”, each time pushing northwards to the very tip of Irish landfall.
Your honest opinions on how this flows and on how interesting you find it would be most appreciated.
“A Journey North”
http://www.andymcinroy.com/0807note.htmAndy
Andy, that reads very well to my eyes. The only suggestion I’d have from a flow perspective is to remove the mention of Inishtrahull from the opening paragraph – it’s a wee bit like saying “the butler did it” on page 1 of your crime novel.
John
JMcL wrote:
Andy, that reads very well to my eyes. The only suggestion I’d have from a flow perspective is to remove the mention of Inishtrahull from the opening paragraph – it’s a wee bit like saying “the butler did it” on page 1 of your crime novel.
John
Hehe, thanks John. You might be right, it gives too much of the game away. I kept the Tor Rocks and Rockall for a wee bit of a surprise at the end. I didn’t want people scanning the first paragraph and thinking, “what an eejit, Benbane head is miles away”.
I’ll have a think about that bit. Cheers for the suggestion.
I think it reads very well and certainly kept my interest. May I suggest a small map showing the locations…
Looks very good; but are there really deer on Inishtrahull…seems a bit improbable, somehow.
And typically Irish that the most northerly part is actually southern!Why did the population leave? Voluntarily, like St Kilda, or enforced, or famine?
Very good Andy the map is a good job and adds to the article
I will have to get a chat with a man called Eddie Mc Daid (Eddie cruaigh knowen locally)
He used to take supplies out to inishstrahull and was the stand in lighthouse keeper and i’m sure he will have a story or two to tellCathal
Bertie,
There are indeed sika deer on Inishtratull, but only 4 females. The stag actually drowned while trying to swim to Malin Head. The whole herd was scared by a visiting party of 200 and jumped into the sea. The does were saved but the stag drowned. The herd actually made it 3 miles towards Malin Head before the were picked up and rescued .
I did see all 4 of the female deer on my visit. Obviously, if no stag is introduced, this will be the last of them. There were once more than 40 on the island but many of them starved.
I’m not sure what happened to the population I must track down a book on the history. Cathal, perhaps your friend could shed some light on this.
Andy
andy mcinroy wrote:
I’m not sure what happened to the population I must track down a book on the history. Cathal, perhaps your friend could shed some light on this.
Andy
Andy, I have a book called “Our Inis Eoghain Heritage” by a guy called Brian Bonner, and it has a few pages on Inistrahull. I’ll scan them for you later. I had a glance through, and it looks like the population abandoned the place in the 30s, primarily because it was about as crap a place to live as you can imagine (paraphrasing here!) There’s, wait for it, a tale about eloping, “a secret cave, known only to the islanders, location now unknown”, and a whiskey assisted ambush on raiding highlanders. I smell a project :)
John
Andy, you’re an inspiration. Your research and storytelling are fascinating. Keep it up. I enjoyed the article thoroughly.
As regards Rockall, we’ll wait to see how you get on in SS Caveman and then maybe we’ll invade!
Wow, this is lovely piece of writing along with stunning images. Thank you for such a treat :)
Very well put together Andy, and very informative. Was only 4 miles from Rockall last week as we were fishing there. Have taken some pics of the rock which stands 60 feet high. Will put them up for you .
I heard that there was a man staying on the rock at the moment, dont know the exact date, but was told he was trying to break the record for staying on it.
Mind you last week, we had a day of must have been 80 mile per hour gusts, with a big sea to boot. i hope he was not on it then. :lol: :lol: :wink:
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