Wild Atlantic Women

At a crossroads in her life, Gráinne Lyons set out to travel Ireland’s west coast on foot. She set a simple intention: to walk in the footsteps of eleven pioneering Irish women deeply rooted in this coastal landscape and explore their lives and work along the way. As a Londoner born to Irish parents, she also sought answers in her own identity.

As Gráinne heads north from Cape Clear Island where her great-grandmother was a lacemaker, she considers Ellen Hutchins, Maude Delap, Edna O’Brien, Granuaile and Queen Maeve among others from her unique perspective. Their homes – in places that are famously wild and remote – are transformed into sites of hope, purpose, opportunity and inspiration. Walking through this history, her journey reveals unexpected insight into emigrant identity, travelling alone, femininity and the trappings of an ‘ideal’ life.

Against the backdrop and power of this great ocean, Wild Atlantic Women will inspire the twenty-first-century reader and walker to keep going, regardless of the path.

Table of Contents

Prologue: Banba’s Crown

Malin Head, County Donegal

1. South Harbour

Ellen Cotter: Cape Clear Island, County Cork

2. A Remote Country

Ellen Hutchins: Bantry Bay, County Cork

3. Miss Delap

Maude Delap: Valentia Island, County Kerry

4. Big Peig

Peig Sayers: The Great Blasket Island, County Kerry

5. The Ships

Charlotte Grace O’Brien: Foynes, County Limerick

6. The Cliff Edge

Edna O’Brien: The Cliffs of Moher, County Clare

7. On Aran

Úna McDonagh: Inisheer, County Galway

8. Glassala

Kate O’Brien: Roundstone, Connemara, County Galway

9. Queen of Clew Bay

Granuaile: Clare Island, County Mayo

10. Maeve’s Cairn

Queen Maeve of Connacht: Knocknarea, County Sligo

11. Cold Water Mountains

Easkey Britton: Rossnowlagh, County Donegal

Epilogue: Due North

Malin Head, County Donegal

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

About the author