I pitched my tent by the white sands of Dumhach beach at the eastern end of the island and spent my days exploring the the lanes, the land and the coves, camera always in my hand. Talking to the islanders I gained some insight into their way of life . I was offered shelter in a small stone built outhouse with onions hanging from the ceiling to dry and given milk fresh from the cow. I saw entire fields sythed by hand and hay stacks created for the winter, dried peat being carried home in baskets on the back of a donkey. Small fishing boats hauled up on the pebbled shore covered in pitch as they were a hundred years ago.

I have always remembered Inishbofin with great fondness - the beauty of the landscape and the kindness and generosity of the people I met there. But it wasn’t until June 2019 that I visited the island again on a short holiday and that visit prompted me to go back to Manchester and sift through the hundreds of negatives that have sat in boxes on shelves for four decades.

The photographs here are the result of that search. I have tried to pick out those which show the islanders of Inishbofin and how they lived 40 years ago. They show a way of life which has gone now - a rural life , a simple life, a hard life.

I hope you enjoy the photographs as much as I have enjoyed revisiting them.  

Mike Swift
September 2019