Dorinish Island: A little bit of heaven in Clew Bay

by Auld Stock

REMEMBER Sid Rawle, self-styled King of the Hippies back in the early 1970s?

He was an innocent enough chap who, along with a number of his followers, took up residence on Dorinish Island, off the Mayo coast.

Bag and baggage, they arrived in Westport and told Dan O’Brien, a local councillor, they were declaring Dorinish Island a republic.

They intended no harm to anyone and, like Gretta Garbo, the silent movie star, they wanted to be left alone.

Councillor Tommy Giblin was spot on when he told the Sunday Press: “I wouldn’t worry too much about Rawle and his gang. A good thunderstorm will bring them to their senses and they will leave Dorinish in a flash.”

However, some weren’t happy with the ‘invasion’.

A caravan parked at Carrawholly, the property of the hippies, was overturned under the cover of darkness.

In Kilmeena, the eye of the storm, locals threatened to attack the hippies’ colony and destroy their tents.

They hadn’t to lift a finger. One of the worst thunderstorms in history proved to much for the hippies and they fled Dorinish Island like the flight of the bumblebee.

Tommy Giblin was right in his forecast.

In an interview with the BBC, Sid Rawle described Dorinish Island as a ‘little bit of heaven’.

Mr. Rawle said the majority of people he met during his time in Mayo were welcoming and courteous. Some appeared to misunderstand their intentions.

“We were people of peace who just wanted to be left alone,” he added.

Sidney William Rawle was a British campaigner for peace and land rights.

He was a former leader of the Rights for Squatters movement. He died on August 31, 2010.

It might be an idea if Bord Fáilte promoted Dorinish Island as an area for get-away tourists who desire a peaceful break from the mad rush of our modern world.