West of Ireland holidays are always weather-dictated; so when there is too little rain to bring up fish for the angler, and too little sun to warm the water for the bather, a neighbour suggests some island-hopping. (This from our westbound young couple of the other day.) It's overcast but mild, writes the feminine partner, with a slight swell on the sea. Strapped tightly into orange life-jackets, the family party sets forth. First stop is St Mac Dara's Island. Visited by hundreds on the pattern day, July 16th, the island boasts a small oratory or chapel, reputed to date back to the 6th century. A small, perfectly-built stone structure with a steeply-vaulted roof, a door and two small windows, the oratory underwent some repairs to the roof in recent years, but has otherwise withstood the elements. Between it and the shore are the remains of an old burial site - partially washed away, partially pilfered. A tour of the island reveals vibrant bird life - small terns, black-backed gulls, oystercatchers and green plover. And on exposed ground, flattened grassy nests containing the pale tobacco-coloured, speckled eggs of the gulls. And scattered around are oyster shells, not natives, but gigas (the foreigners) and too widely dispersed to suggest a picnic. How did they get here?
Departing from the island, the party is reminded that passing boats dip their sails three times out of respect for the saint. (All this is off Carna.) Next visit is to Mason Island, which was bought by the Congested Districts Board as part of the Leonard estate. The board left a legacy of straight roads and sturdy stone houses, though the last families left the island in 1952, and it is now deserted except for cattle and a couple of holiday homes. Here, too, are Christian relics - a little burial ground with the ruins of a chapel and an early Christian incised cross slab. Our party is told, she writes, that the fresh water springs on the island fell into disuse and were lost, and the small lake by the National School was known to the children as Loch na Taibhsi - the lake of the ghosts. Y