Skip to main content

Rambling On Rathlin

Image
By

 

 
A view from Rathlin
 


 
Rathlin Island, off the coast of County Antrim, is our most northern off shore island. I was there at the weekend. The journey over in the ferry from Ballycastle was sublime. It teed up our expectation and anticipation of a wonderful day to come on one of Ireland’s last inhabited islands. The sky was clear, the sea was relatively calm, though still a bit bumpy in parts for those with shaky sea-legs, and the view was breath-taking. 

We were greeted as we stepped ashore by the friendly faces and good natured banter of islanders and visitors alike. We were all there to take part in the Rise Foundations Rathlin Ramble to help raise money for a wonderful charity. The Foundation was established in 2009 by the singer and activist, Frances Black. The Black family have deep roots on Rathlin. Their father was an islander. 

 
Santana, Frances agus Mise
Rise stands for ‘Recovery In a Safe Environment’ and its mission is to support families who are impacted by a loved one's addictive behaviour through awareness, education and therapy.  They are dedicated to working towards helping family members to free themselves from the stress, anxiety and worry of having a loved one with addictive behaviour.

Rise helps family members understand the nature of addiction and how it impacts on relationships. In this way it hopes to aid families as they work to recover from the effects of the addiction and to support and strengthen families through a very difficult period in their lives. 

Two years before the charity was established Frances contacted me and outlined her hopes of establishing an organisation that would help families faced with addiction. Part of her vision for what became ‘Rise’ was the opening of an addiction, education and awareness centre for families on Rathlin Island. 

I thought it was a great idea and asked Conor Murphy, who was then the Minister for Regional Development to see what help and advice he could provide for the project. Conor quickly moved to ensure that part of this engagement with Rathlin would explore opportunities to reverse the years of underinvestment and neglect endured by the islanders.

Eventually out of this emerged a new government policy toward Rathlin. But equally importantly for the Rise Foundation the Commissioner of Irish Lights agreed to let the Foundation lease two houses at Rathlin’s remote East Lighthouse. Both are in need of work and Saturday’s ramble around Rathlin is one of the fundraising efforts created by Frances Black and her dedicated team at Rise.

The ramble covered 7 miles (11.2 km). Rathlin has spectacular scenery and a long history that takes it back to the Neolithic period. It currently has a population of 120 hardy souls. Locals claim that Rathlin was probably the first of our islands to become inhabited. Standing on the north cliffs you get an amazing view of the islands of Scotland and the Mull of Kintyre. 

Rathlin has a long association with mythical and historical figures from the Tuatha de Danaan to St. Columba. It is also said in the Annals of Ulster that Rathlin experienced the first Viking raid on the island of Ireland. However, one of the best stories told is of the Scottish King Robert the Bruce who hid in a cave – imaginatively named Bruce’s cave - on Rathlin after his defeat by English forces in 1306. Bruce was deeply depressed at his defeat but in his despondency he watched a spider valiantly try seven times before succeeding to bridge a gap between rocks.

English soldiers searching for Robert did not search the cave. When they saw the spider's web they concluded that he could not be in the cave without breaking the web. For his part Robert concluded that If the spider did not give up then he should persevere also and off he went and retook his throne.

The Saturday of the Rise Ramble was a beautiful day but in bad weather the treacherous tides and the high cliffs of the island have seen their share of boating tragedies. There have been many Ship wrecks. As a consequence Rathlin had three lighthouses, one of which is the East Lighthouse where the Rise Foundation is hoping to establish their centre.

 
Our task on Saturday was less formidable than that of Robert the Bruce but nonetheless very challenging. Our walk along Rathlin’s narrow roads and the stunning views gave us plenty of time to look at the local fauna and admire the many varieties of wildlife that inhabit Rathlin. There is an amazing diversity of birds, from peregrines, and skylarks to lapwings. Along the cliff faces battered by the wild Atlantic there is a huge seabird colony of puffins and others, like guillemots and razorbills birds. They gather in their thousands in the summer months to breed. The uniqueness of this small island is reflected in its recognition as a Special Area of Conservation and the existence of a RSPB nature reserve.

 Rathlin also has a great song and music tradition, influenced by the Scots Gaelic heritage. It is a special place. When we arrived back to Bruce's Kitchen for soup and sandwiches a music session was in full swing. Four fiddlers and a box player jigged and reeled us all into The Drawing Of The Raffle organised by the formidable Cathy Farrelly, I didn't win anything. But RISE raised over 7000 euros. Well done to everyone involved. 

Later that night there was a ceili. And a sing song. Unfortunately I had to leave before this.  But the voyage back to the mainland was shortened by more lively ceol as some of the musicians travelled back with us. 

 So, well done Frances Black and the Rise Foundation. Thanks for all your work and thanks for a great day out. For more information on Rise check out www.therisefoundation.ie.

 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

There can be no preconditions

By
Blog January 21st 10 Apparently the DUP were sitting up at Stormont Castle on Thursday waiting for the Shinners to come and talk to them. Strange. This Blog had told Peter Robinson late the evening before that that phase of our discussions was over. I told him there would be a Sinn Féin national officer board meeting on Thursday and a report from Martin McGuinness on the negotiations would be discussed. The failure of the DUP thus far to come up to the plate during the current round of negotiations shouldn’t come as any great surprise. The DUP are looking over their shoulder at Jim Allister and then there are the ‘secret’ talks between the UUs and the DUP and talk of electoral pacts. That’s their own business and nothing to get too excited about. Except to note they told us they couldn’t do any business on the Sabbath – the very day they were busy on unionist unity business. But lest we forget the DUP was born out of the anti civil rights politics of the late 60s and the firebrand unio...
57 comments
Read more

Remembering Bobby Sands.

By
In 1973 just before midnight on Christmas Eve, I was caught along with three other comrades attempting to escape from Long Kesh. We were among a large group of men and women interned without charge or trial. My first bout of internment was on the Maidstone Prison Ship in 1972. Internees-the British later called us detainees as part of their fiction that internment was ended – were held in Armagh Women’s Gaol, Belfast Prison, Magilligan, and Long Kesh. In July 1974 I was caught again in another escape bid. Steve McQueen I was not. The following March 1975 I was taken out to court where I was convicted on the first escape attempt and received an 18 month sentence. A month later I was convicted of the second escape attempt and got another three years. Then as the rest of the internees were being released a small group of us nearly got-aways were moved out of the internee end of Long Kesh to the top end of the camp where the sentenced POWs were held. We were incarcerated in Cage...
Post a Comment
Read more

Remembering Bobby and his comrades

By
Today marks the anniversary of the death of my friend and comrade Bobby Sands on the sixty sixth day of hunger strike. I don’t remember the first time I met Bobby. I had been interned in Long Kesh and was sentenced for trying to escape and found myself in Cage 11, in another part of the camp which held sentenced political prisoners. Bobby was already one of those in the Cage. The cages were literally that - a large space surrounded by a high wire fence in which there were four Nissan huts, a study hut and a toilet shower hut. In the sentenced end of Long Kesh these each held around 80 prisoners. In Cage 11 one of the Nissan huts was also a Gaeltacht for those wanting to learn the Irish language and that’s were Bobby was. I remember him as a keen sportsman who played soccer or gaelic football whenever he got the chance. He had long hair, a good sense of humour and liked music. He was very good on the guitar. I remember sitting in the study hut writing while he would be practic...
Post a Comment
Read more