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BreakingNews.ie
20-07-2025
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Wreck of the SS Stolwijk: 10 crew members lost off the Donegal coast in 1940
In December 1940, the SS Stolwijk, a Dutch cargo ship, was wrecked off the coast of Co Donegal in hurricane-force winds. The ship's rudder was damaged in the storm on its journey from the Dominion of Newfoundland to Liverpool, England. Advertisement Attempts to rescue the ship by its destroyer failed, and it went on the rocks off Tory Island, Co Donegal. 10 crew members were lost, but the remaining 18 were rescued by the crew of the Arranmore lifeboat. Monuments and plaques remembering the bravery of the lifeboat crew are scattered around Arranmore island. Shortly before it struck the rock, a large wave washed the ship's radio officer, Paulus Vierkant, from the deck. He was the first to die. Another nine died when they jumped into the water and swam to a ship's lifeboat that had been washed overboard. The lifeboat was swept away. Advertisement The other 18 stayed on board until they were rescued. The rescue of the survivors was conducted in terrible weather conditions and both the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands awarded medals to the lifeboat crew. A Gold Medal was awarded to coxswain John Boyle, a Silver Medal was awarded to motor mechanic Teague Ward and Bronze Medals were awarded to crew members Philip Boyle, Philip Byrne, Neil Byrne, Bryan Gallagher, Patrick O'Donnell, and Joseph Rogers. The RNLI said this was a rescue of great daring, gallantry and endurance carried out in weather of "exceptional severity". Advertisement Each medal was accompanied by a copy of the decree making the award, in which Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands said the medal had been awarded for 'exceptionally outstanding courage, unselfishness and devotion to duty'. The owners of the Stolwijk, the Netherlands Shipping and Trading Co, gave £20 to be divided among the crew. The three bodies recovered following the tragedy were originally buried in the Church of Ireland graveyard in Killult, Donegal. In October 2000, the bodies were exhumed and re-interred at the National Cemetery of Honours in Loenen, Netherlands. In 2015, Jerry Early, a native of Arranmore and the last eye witness on the island to remember the day, released a song called 'I'll Go' to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the wreck and rescue.
The Sun
10-07-2025
- Business
- The Sun
You could live on a tiny remote island off the UK coast and get paid a staggering £70K a YEAR… but it's not all easy
A SCHEME could see you live on a tiny remote island off the UK coast and get paid a whopping £70K a year - but it's not all that easy. The initiative falls under the "Our Living Islands" policy, designed to attract more residents and breathe new life into remote communities. 8 8 8 The Irish government is offering individuals up to £70,000 to purchase a home on one of the country's remote islands. Around 23 inhabited offshore islands are eligible for the scheme. As of 2016, the combined population of these remote isles was just 2,734. The Aran Islands are the most famous ones in the scheme and feature three picturesque rocky isles, Inishmaan, Inisheer and Inishmore. However, the most remote island is Tory (Toraigh), which had a population of just 141 people as of 2023. Each isle has its own unique landscapes and features that shape its character and the lives of those who live there. The scheme is open to everyone, even if you're not an Irish citizen — but there's a catch. The £70,000 grant provided by the government is intended to renovate vacant or derelict homes on the island. They are not paying people to move there directly. The scheme aims to improve infrastructure in the area, which in turn will help create more sustainable communities. The beautiful home on Irish market for €750k with incredible island views Successful applicants must use the money solely for restoring properties, as it is not a lump sum that can be used for general living expenses. Renovating properties can be expensive, and once complete, the scheme does not permit the home to be used as a holiday let or short-term rental. Despite not needing to be an Irish citizen, applicants must meet certain criteria to qualify. To receive the grant, applicants must either own or be in the process of buying a property that meets the age and vacancy requirements. Those looking to move to one of these remote islands can only choose a vacant or derelict property built before 2007 that has been unoccupied for a minimum period. Applicants must also plan to live there permanently or rent the property out for at least 10 years to avoid having to repay large portions of the grant. If someone sells the property, stops using it as their main home, or it's no longer rented out, they may have to repay all or part of the grant to the local authority. In the first five years, homeowners must repay the full grant. Between five and ten years, they must repay 75 per cent of the grant. After ten years, homeowners can keep the property without repaying any of the grant. 8 8 8 8 8
Daily Mail
10-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
How to move to a remote island and get paid up to £70,000 for it - but would YOU make one these properties your new home?
The Irish government is offering to pay individuals €84,000 (£70,000) to purchase a property in one of the country's remote offshore islands. This initiative, part of the 'Our Living Islands' policy, aims to boost the population and revitalise remote communities off the West Coast of Ireland. In total there are 23 inhabited offshore islands that qualify for the scheme. As of 2016, these islands had a combined population of just 2,734. One of the most famous islands included in the scheme is the Aran Islands, consisting of three picturesque rocky isles, Inishmaan, Inisheer and Inishmore, where parts of The Banshees of Inisherin were filmed. However, there are plenty of other obscure gems in need of more residents, such as Clare Island, Dursey, Inishturk, Inishbofin, Bere and, the most remote of them all, Tory (Toraigh) - which boasts a population of just 141 people as of 2023. Each island possesses unique characteristics and landscapes, contributing to its individual charm. From dramatic cliffs and ancient ruins, to stretches of lush green fields and dry stone walls, to pristine beaches and rugged coastline, these stunning surroundings offer prospective residents a breathtaking change from the hustle and bustle of urban life. Anyone can apply, even if they're not an Irish citizen. However, there are some important things to note. The Irish government is offering grants of up to £70,000 to renovate vacant or derelict properties on the islands, not directly paying people to move there. Though the 'Our Living Islands' scheme is aimed at encouraging population growth, it also sets out to improve housing and infrastructure, which in turn creates sustainable communities. Renovating older properties can be costly, and the grant money is not provided as a lump sum for general living expenses, but rather specifically for renovating and refurbishing existing properties. Successful applicants could receive as much as €84,000 (£69,650) to transform a property into a residential home. Short-term rentals or holiday homes are not eligible for the grant. While the standard Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant offers up to €50,000, or up to €70,000 in the case of homes deemed to be derelict, the government is offering more to those prepared to refurbish properties on the qualifying islands. This means that those willing to brave a refurb job on one of the islands can secure up to €60,000 for the refurbishment of a vacant property, or up to €84,000 where the property is also derelict. You don't need to be an Irish citizen to apply, but there are additional catches that come with the grant. Applicants need to meet specific criteria, including owning or being in the process of buying the property, and the property must meet the age and vacancy requirement. The property must be vacant or derelict, built before a certain date (2007) and unoccupied for a minimum period. Each property must also be situated on islands not connected to the mainland by a bridge or causeway, and are often cut off daily by the tide. Anyone can apply for the grant, as long as they plan to buy a property to do up and either live there permanently, or rent it out. For those planning to do up a property to let it out, that is also possible, as long as they are not doing so as a registered company or developer. The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant is handled by local authorities on behalf of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Each local authority therefore decides on applications for the grant. Path along the coast of the Irish island of Inishbofin in summer A person also needs to live in or rent the qualifying property for at least 10 years from the date of payment of the grant to avoid having to pay large sums back. If someone decides to sell the property, or it ceases to be their main home, or the property is no longer being rented they may need to reimburse the local authority all or part of the grant. In the first five years this amounts to repaying everything back. Between five and 10 years this equates to repaying 75 per cent of the grant back. After 10 years, home-owners can do as they wish without having to repay the grant.
Irish Times
14-06-2025
- Irish Times
Ireland's threatened corncrakes desperately need open, diverse and life-filled fields
One summer's day a few years ago, I boarded a boat on Magheraroarty pier, on the northwest coast of Donegal, and took off for Tory Island. But the vessel wasn't full of day trippers wanting to visit Ireland's most remote inhabited island; instead, my fellow passengers were of the shaggy, four-legged kind – a small herd of young, female black Galloway cattle, a hardy breed from Scotland accustomed to wind and salt-laden rain. It had been 25 years since cattle had set foot on Tory, and their return to the island came with one clear purpose: to graze through the thick layers of scutch grass that had taken over the fields. The beneficiary was the corncrake, a bird whose continued existence in Ireland is conservation-dependent and critically reliant on active intervention and management by ecologists, farmers and landowners. On Tory Island – often called Ireland's 'corncrake capital' – the return of this bird each spring is like the arrival of a headline act with a non-negotiable tour rider. In order for it to successfully breed on the ground, the corncrake's needs are precise: vegetation must reach at least 20 centimetres in height by mid-May, ideally of nettles, meadowsweet, or cow parsley; no mowing or machinery can disturb the field until August; the ground should be moist – but not flooded – and teem with insects; the area must be spacious enough to roam freely, but with a constant opportunity to hide from predators; and no fertiliser or reseeding during the summer is possible. When we arrived at the pier on Tory, a small group of islanders gathered while the local priest blessed the new bovine residents, before they were led to a nearby field to begin their work in the tangled scutch. These tough, impenetrable fields offer adult corncrakes no room to weave through and few insects on which to feed. For chicks, it's like being trapped in a room crammed wall-to-wall with old furniture – impossible to navigate. Cattle clear out the junk by grazing on the sweet, young shoots, gradually weakening the underground stems, and in doing so, they helps to create an open, diverse and life-filled field that corncrakes so desperately need. READ MORE That day on the island, I heard a corncrake's call. It's a bird of multiple talents: adept at soaring through the air for thousands of kilometres from central and southern Africa to reach here, the corncrake is also good at disappearing into the landscape. But after a bit of time, with almost comic effect, it popped its head above the grass, offering a quick but intense glimpse before vanishing into the ground once more. In Ralph Sheppard's thoroughly researched and illuminating new book, The Birds of County Donegal: Residents, Regulars and Rarities, he shares a memory from the 1960s when, from his home in east Donegal, he heard the sound of 10 corncrakes in a single night. 'The continuous rasping call of the corncrake may have prevented sleep, but it is sadly missed as an evocative sound of summer,' he writes. Like the nightjar, grey partridge and corn bunting before it, the corncrake would too have disappeared from Donegal were it not for the national conservation efforts to save it, he notes. Extinction is the certain fate of the ring ouzel, or 'mountain blackbird', which is now down to a single bird in the southern uplands of Donegal, and one breeding pair in the North, in what Sheppard says is the 'last gasp in Ireland of this once-familiar songbird'. It's not all about decline. Visitors such as reed warblers, garganey, little ringed plover and cattle egrets may soon become regular summer breeders in the county. Sheppard speculates that the vagrant ring-necked duck might become the first known colonisation by an American species, having first been spotted in Donegal back in 1984 on Dunfanaghy's New Lake. This lake is a relatively recent addition to Donegal's landscape, having formed just over a century ago. During the first World War, the demand for bedding and feed for horses led to harvesting marram grass from the sand dunes around Sheep Haven Bay and Dunfanaghy. This disturbed the dunes, causing sand to settle and eventually block off the sea, trapping water behind it and creating the lake. Since 1984, 97 sightings of this North American duck species have been recorded in Donegal, including at Lough Fern, Inch and Durnesh Lough and Tory Island. To stop the decline of vulnerable species and to 'lay out a welcome mat' for new arrivals, Sheppard advocates for changes in how land is managed. On the uplands, replace sheep with grazing cattle, ideally lightweight breeds such as Dexter, Kerry or Galloway. Native grasslands, such as lime-rich coastal machair, should be grazed in winter and managed using low-intensity farming methods. Native woodlands need to be restored; pollution of wetlands need to stop; and nature corridors should form a continuous network to allow species to thrive without becoming isolated. Sheppard emphasises the need to 'let nature decide how to proceed'. We're very far from yielding to ecological limits and allowing natural processes to shape how we manage land. As a result, the efforts to keep species such as the corncrake from extinction are resource-intensive in the face of pressures. Since 1993, millions of euro of public money has gone into corncrake conservation. On Tory Island, actions such as the grazing Galloways have helped lift numbers from nine calling males in 2020 to 21 last year. The species continues to cling on, just about. 'We just have to learn to recognise and reward benefits that are not yet part of the economy,' Sheppard writes. 'Re-thinking what we mean by 'the economy' will be to the benefit of birds and other wildlife, and also to ourselves. Preserving and encouraging biodiversity in our own small corner is an obligation that we share with every other small corner – if abundant life, human and other, is to remain sustainable'.
