Ireland's Atlantic shore - Valerie O'Sullivan

'Did sea define the land or land the sea?' asks Seamus Heaney in his poem Lovers on Aran. Ireland's glorious Atlantic shores stretch across seven counties. This intriguing convergence of land and sea and the diversity of its people are celebrated in this anthology of words and images, from the lighthouse keeper and kayaker on Fastnet Rock off County Cork to the seaweed collector and Sea Rovers Soccer Club on the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal. These people live their lives by the sound and feel and colour of the sea, by the light and shadows of hills and bays, and by dramatic rocks and beaches. In the past hermit monks and fortress dwellers lived on many of the Atlantic's forbidding rocky islands and headlands. Today life is celebrated at regattas, festivals, pilgrimages and fair days. Basking sharks, dolphins, fishermen and farmers, natives and newcomers, windsurfers and buses home after diving and Irish dancing colour land and sea. Journalists Lorna Siggins, Breda Joy and Maria Moynihan describe the beauty and diversity of this rich landscape and its inhabitants, while the Abbot of Glenstal reflects on the unforgettable Skellig Islands.Despite the elusive weather, which often left her empty-handed, Valerie O'Sullivan enriches their words with her striking images to capture the essence of the embracing and unpredictable Atlantic. This book will delight all who are enchanted with Ireland's wonderful Atlantic coastline.