The Clare County Council Arts Office has announced that the gallery at Scariff Library will showcase an exhibition of unique photographs of The Skellig Islands from a collection by Catherine Merrigan, OPW Caretaker/Guide on The Skellig Island.
This exhibition is free and runs from the 20 June to 8 July.
Born in Wexford, Catherine Merrigan took many trips to the Saltee Islands as a child and was fascinated by the wildlife there. For the past 22 years she has lived in Dingle, Co Kerry , each summer working on Skellig Island as a OPW guide to the hundreds of visitors who flock to this unique island and as a caretaker to the islands wildlife.
The magnificent Skellig Islands lie 12 km off the coast of Portmagee in South West Kerry. Rising majestically from the sea, Skellig Michael towers 714ft above sea level. There is a fantastic wealth of bird life on and around the Skelligs, especially puffins in late spring and gannets on the small Skellig where 23,000 pairs nest on every available ledge making it the second largest gannet colony in the world.
Catherine Merrigan is well known nationally as a singer, photographer and dancer. Her music is a mixture of traditional Irish and contemporary folk and she has recorded two CD’s, the first being ‘The Water Is Wide ‘and more recently, she joined voices with Marion Camastral and a host of highly talented musicians, to produce’ Wings O’er The Wind’.
Over the past 17 years she has developed a substantial collection of stunning photographic images that depict her longstanding connection to the Island.