By Gerry McLaughlin
Sligo Weekender,
Did you know that the famous Metal Man in
Almost 25,000 emigrants left our shores in those dark days as Bishop Thomas A Finnegan, the former Bishop of Killala, recounts in his updated version of
The new book is a revised version of Sinbad’s
The former Summerhill college principal traces the history of the famous island which has given its name to an even more celebrated one off
Thomas A Finnegan’s lavishly illustrated work chronicles the history of
And he has an interesting interview with Michael McGowan who tells of being brought to school by boat in the 1970s to the 1990s.
We also hear the story of the C19 king of the island Bryan Ward who welcomed Parnell and guaranteed the ‘Uncrowned King of Ireland’ 25 votes in 1891 at the height of the Kitty O”Shea affair.
Mr Ward was later evicted from the island at the age of 91!
The hardy islanders survived the ravages of An Gorta Mor the Great Famine and nobody died on the island in that time for they had the fruits of the sea.
One of the most famous surviving islanders, Michael Leydon, has a poignant account of life on the island from 1927-1940.
And his story easily ranks with sections of Muiris O’Suilleabhain’s epic Fiche Blian ag Fas…Twenty Years A-Growing, a lyrical autobiograpky of life in the
In May 2004 Sligo Weekender published an interview with a family from
Charles Kavanagh and his daughters Daphne (23), Charlene (17) were the descendants of Patrick Kavanagh and Sarah McDonnell who sailed away from
The author met with these voyagers and was able to help them in the initial stages of their search for their roots.
There are also accounts of neighbouring Lisadell, a story of heroism on
Ni bheidh a leitheid ann arist…their like may not be seen again.
And the Metal Man continues to cast a cold eye on ships that pass in the night near Sinbad’s
