Oileáin

Oileáin is an evolving guide to the Irish islands written by David Walsh.

Latest News. Oileáin has continued to grow since its publication as a book in June 2004, and now as of 1^st January 2011 includes 519 islands. The most recent inclusion is Inishturkbeg (Clew Bay ).

Oileáin also deals with parts of 10 of the 15 mainland coastal counties.

This version of Oileain will continue to grow and expand on this webpage but this version dated December 2010 will form the basis for a second edition of Oileáin which all going well will hit the bookshelves in late 2011. Apart from the additional 200 islands (mostly in bays and close enough to the shore, the big wild stuff is mostly already there), there is a lot of additional local flavour, anecdotes, historical stuff as well as more flora and fauna than you could shake a stick at. Oileáin has grown to 140,000 words from the 90,000 of Oileáin as published in 2004. It seems it may be too big for commercial viability and the hard copy version to be published 2011 will have to be pared back to maybe 120,000 words, but not at the expense of quality!

"Oileáin" as it used to appear on your local bookshop, but now sold out, appears only on your bookshelf at home.

Browse and/or download (cut and paste) the text version (always right up to date, the current version having been uploaded as of 1^st January 2011 but no maps, no colour, no photos - "Oileáin"

Link for Irish Sea Kayaking Association Irish Sea Kayaking Association

Recommended kayak excursions on the Irish coast Recommended Excursions by kayak

Other useful links and contacts Links

Photographs from some 2004 trips by ISKA members Scattery Island Roancarrigbeg Wreck Inishkea Islands

Irish Marine Weather Forecasts from Met Eireann Sea Area Forecast Sea Area Forecast

Irish Tide Times (add 1 hour in summertime) Tidal Information Tidal Information

I have compiled a list of many remoter, harder Irish offshore islands and rocks,
and on which, which kayakers are thought at present to have landed there "first".
This hopes to reflect in an obscure way an interesting insight into a small part of
what Irish sea kayakers were at in the late 20th century. First Known Kayak Landings

Books and Further Reading on Irish islands and Irish sea kayaking. These include source material for Oileáin. Source Material

"Oileáin" deals with landings on islands, camping spots, availability of drinking water, tidal streams, history or natural history where known or researched, birds and wildlife as available, and general information. It is intended to be similar in purpose to a nautical Pilot or Sailing Directions, but dedicated to sea kayaks and other very small craft, with a lot of extras.

"Oileáin" is an Irish word meaning "islands", and is pronounced roughly "ill-aw-in".

As of December 2005, there were 335 islands touched on (the most recent of which are the Sovereign Islands, for which thanks to the Pirate Queen, a.k.a. our own Eileen Murphy who took time out on her recent circumnavigation of Ireland to present this info to Oileáin. Also dealt with are the mainland coasts (to some degree) of 9 of the 15 coastal counties (Derry, Antrim, Down, Louth, Dublin, Wicklow, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Clare, Galway, Mayo, Sligo, and Donegal).

This site formerly hosted the Irish Sea Kayaking Association www.irishseakayakingassociation.com, a voluntary association which independently represents Sea Kayaking / Sea Canoeing in Ireland. ISKA is my home. I was its Chair from 1995 to 2003. On its website you will find additional information to do with current activity inside modern Irish sea kayaking. Here you will find "What's On", a hyper-active Bulletin Board, a photo gallery, details of our extensive library (members, in Ireland, only), and of course our newsletters going back to 1996.

Oileáin - ISBN 0-9531956-9-4 Pesda Press
Oileáin is distributed in Ireland by Easons and/or Argosy (Cordee in UK and worldwide)
Tell your local bookshop !