A Voice, Tuilleadh & Tráigh

During the Summer of 2008, aboard the Tranquillity and the Jack B, the boats ferrying between the Aran Islands and Doolin, were installed mini speakers relaying the voice of an islander. She spoke of her life on Inis Oirr and its connection to the sea; telling of fishermen tales but also of the everyday exchanges that took place between the islanders and the sea. The sea is the great provider of fish of course, which her husband brought back in plenty and that were exchanged for turf for the winter – though not before they had been cleaned and gutted, washed and salted, stored and dried she wearily remembers. But, from the sea, also came the driftwood to make seats for the church or the football, she wished for and was granted, to play games. Thus interweaving in her recounting, the incommensurability of the sea and practical issues of everyday life.