Skelligs Calling

This second volume of memoir extends and completes the cycle begun with Skelligside (1990), recording the life of a remarkable nonagenarian fisherman-poet and painter from the south Iveragh Peninsula in Kerry. Part One deals with fish, fishing and the life of the fisherman. Part Two describes the marine habitat, the kelp, rock pools beaches and strands of the Skelligs. Part Three gives a detailed account of the bird life, species by species, from the gannet, cormorant and puffin, to the fulmar petrel, loon and kittiwake; evoking their lore and taxonomy, in Irish and English. Part Four concludes with life on shore, the coastguards, shipwrecks, beachcombers and history of the Ballinskelligs Cable Station.