When I was young, I often sat alone by the beacon at Wood Point, looked out across Courtmacsherry Bay, and day-dreamed. The sea then seemed infinite and clean, unspoiled by Man. One day, I would sail away, over the horizon; (I never did). But now, if I can even find […]

In his ‘Special Report on Surnames in Ireland’, Robert E. Matheson published a list of the 27 commonest surnames in Co. Cork, based on their incidence in the index of births for 1890. This is a great source of genealogy, as is Diarmuid Ó Murchadha’s authoritative ‘Family Names of County […]

In the eighties and nineties word spread in rural West Cork about a friendly Dutch doctor who gave time to his patients and even served up apple tart in the waiting room. Not only that, the tiny white pills he prescribed at the end of a session seemed to cure […]

Categories