“At the Clachan of Mulranny, we struck into a pass in the mountains and turned our backs upon Clew Bay. William Maxwell’s account of the sea passage from Mulranny to Croy lodge via Bellacragher Bay in 1816
Jarlath Cunnane and Frank Guilfoyle might enlighten us. I’m sure everyone would enjoy the story about wharram’s catamaran being repaired in Achill. If you have something to share, please send it to us. the sea was the highway for thousands of years, long before the M4 and the M50. Sometimes it is hard to fathom the vast history of our land, in the 1700’s Barbary pirates raided our coast and our own gang was not shy about raiding other places. I had a solemn look around and realized that the boys were arguing the toss over whether or not we anchor our boat in a mass grave! I hopped up on deck and said that we were going to Fenit for the night, no buts!
We were once discussing anchoring in Blasket Sound and while the rest of the crew were stating the pro’s and con’s, I went back to reading my book about going around Ireland by De Courcy Ireland, I had just got to a page about Blasket Sound, 3 ships of the Spanish Armada anchored there on their desperate bid to return to Spain in 1588, a party was sent ashore but captured by locals and hung (before the birth of Irish Nationalism), a second party were sent ashore armed, they were also captured and handed over to the English who later hung them, later that night the anchors dragged and the ships collided and sank, causing the deaths of about 1500 men, any survivors were stripped, robbed and hung! by the locals or English soldiers It is quite possible to sail around Ireland and read a book about local history for each area. Anne Chambers book is a great read and very enjoyable, especially when anchored in the lee of Graunaile’s castle on Clare Island. Our first article is a brief profile of Graunaile by Aine Ryan, this appeared in the Mayo News on Feb 2010. They must relate to the sea, seafaring or the west coast of Ireland and its people. This page is dedicated to True, false and funny stories, they can be historic, factual or fiction.