"Michael Cusack of Westport has climbed the Reek more than 100 times, so his Croagh Patrick and the Islands of Clew Bay: A Guide to the Edge of Europe is informed by lifelong footfall and curiosity. For that amazing view of the drumlin swarm of Clew Bay, he offers not only a name for every island but often a human history of occupancy stretching back before the Famine."
Michael Viney, The Irish Times
"Croagh Patrick and the Islands of Clew Bay" is a treasure of a publication - part social history of the bay's myriad islands, part historical record, part geographic research, with the additional bonus of up to twenty pages of stunning photographs of the islands and the Reek."
The Mayo News
"This is the first time that every island in Clew Bay, its history and other details has been explored for the armchair traveller, along with tales of the great mountain, shipwrecks, the magical Brackloon Wood, and other remarkable aspects of this area."
The Connaught Telegraph
Local legend has it that Yoko Ono had a difficult experience when she first stepped on the isolated Clew Bay island of Dorinish in the late 1960's. She was swooped upon by nesting terns and swore never to return.
John Lennon had earlier arranged for a wooden “gypsy caravan” painted in psychedelic colours to be brought from London and floated out to the island on a purpose built raft as a temporary home. He later agreed to allow Sid Rawle, the "King of the Hippies" to establish a commune on the island.
Dorinish (pronounced 'Dorinch' locally) is just one of 142 named islands and large rocks in Clew Bay, and many more anonymous patches of land above the Atlantic waves, as well as countless 'drowned' drumlins.
The largest of the islands is Clare Island, former home of the "Pirate Queen" Grace O'Malley. This 16th century legend imposed her will on countless ships in the area. As a result, she was famously invited to meet a curious Queen Elizabeth. Their discussion was carried out in Latin, as O'Malley spoke no English and Elizabeth spoke no Irish.
The most striking icon around this jewel of the Wild Atlantic Way is Croagh Patrick, known locally as "The Reek". This beautiful mountain dominates the landscape as seen from the vibrant town of Westport.
Such stories are a part of "Croagh Patrick and the Islands of Clew Bay - A Guide to the Edge of Europe", the new book by Michael Cusack. This is the first time that every island in Clew Bay, their history and other details, have been explored for the armchair traveler, along with tales of the great mountain, shipwrecks, the magical Brackloon Wood, and other remarkable aspects of this area.
From the Foreword by Gerardine Cusack, author of 'A Nightingale Sang':
Fortunately, as one of the last of the Westport pilots, my father Peter Hopkins kept us in touch with heavenly Clew Bay and its memorable inhabitants. My father had every reason to remember the hospitality of the islanders – when it was too stormy for him to return to Westport, he was readily made welcome to stay the night on whichever island he happened to be near at the time.
Almost all the islands are uninhabited now, but we who are left will remember other days and other ways, the left-over echoes of people who came and went and always left something of themselves behind. We’ll remember other music makers. Maybe we’ll hear the lilt of an islander’s voice on the wind. We won’t forget those we knew in the buried past.
I hope that you enjoy reading this book as much as I have. It brings to light many little-known facts about the islands that will be revealing even to those who have lived in this wonderful area all of their lives.
Michael Cusack first climbed Croagh Patrick at the age of six. His family have lived in the Westport area for generations and his grandfather Peter Hopkins was one of the last Clew Bay pilots.
