New book celebrates Atlantic seashore

 

IRELAND’S Atlantic Seashore, a new book by photographer Valerie O’Sullivan, charts in words and images the richness and diversity of people and places from Mizen Head to Malin Head and showcases a number of locations and people in Clare.

The book is a culmination of two years work, mainly negotiating the most precarious weather in living memory, in between Valerie’s job as a full-time photographer.

“County Clare has its own unique beauty. The lives of the people follow the same pattern – desperately trying to preserve their way of life, knowing and breathing the sea all their lives, eager to converse and trade stories about the weather and to discover mutual friends along the way,” Valerie said.

It was because of this that Valerie has featured many of its coastline scenes and people in her recent publication.
“Meeting well-known seaweed producers Michael and Evan Talty was fascinating. They love working the land and the seashore. Their knowledge of sea vegetables for use as old remedies is incredible. Carrageen is still Michael’s favourite – a great health supplement and down through the years it has been used for chest colds. Carrageen is hand-harvested, air and sun-dried in a traditional sustainable way.

“Also, meeting the Sullivan children, Ben (10), Robert (8) and Alex (6), from Ballybeg, Ennis was great. They love playing in the potholes at Kilkee. Watching them almost dancing on the rocks was a lovely vision of everyone’s childhood on the seashores.

“The iconic Cliffs of Moher had to be featured – much the same beauty and uniqueness as The Skellig Rock in County Kerry. It is always a wonder to look out onto, even when the mist and rain comes in. It’s still a beautiful creation of nature,” Valerie revealed.

Her book includes essays by long-time friends of hers, journalists, Breda Joy, Maria Moynihan and Lorna Siggins, who outline the lives of the people featured in this anthology.
“I suppose I’ve always had a fascination with the Atlantic seaboard, being from a county with three magnificent peninsulas and living at least 35 minutes from a variety of coastlines and beaches.
“With my job as a photographer, often driving from one end of a peninsula to another at any hour of the day or night, it is hard not to notice the force of nature, the different seasons, the colours and both the beauty and dangers of the sea.

“Looking out to the Great Blasket Island on the Dingle Peninsula or on top of Skellig Michael, you can get a sense how people were drawn to the sea and also the hardship these islanders and monks endured, making a living and etching out a way of life,” she said.

The people featured in the book are all part of the Atlantic way of life.
“They are truly inspirational by their way of life, whether it is collecting seaweed, waiting for the waves for the perfect surf, fishing, collecting mussels or cooking, they are all connected with the values of the sea. They understand its every ebb and flow,” she added.

“My connection with the coasts of Kerry and West Cork were very familiar and the people even more so. The seascape is immense and powerful.
“Calling in favours from Richard Foran, lighthouse keeper on Skellig Michael, the RNLI crews in Tralee and Valentia Island, Kathy Kirwin, Schull, local photographers Niall Duffy, Castletownbere, Henry Wills, Mayo and John Kelly, Clare, made introductions much easier,” she concluded.

Ireland’s Atlantic Shore ­– People  and Places from Mizen to Malin is available in bookshops and online from www.collinspress.ie.