New Mayo book: Wake of the Whale

A stunning publication about whaling and exploitation of natural resources in the county

It is a little-known fact that from 1908–1922, two Norwegian-owned whaling stations operated in Erris.

Upon discovering this, renowned writer Alice Kinsella was moved to discover more.

"I’ve lived in Mayo almost all of my life and I had no idea. I felt, and still feel, that Mayo is an underrated place. That there’s so much history in every corner.

“I was sure you could tell the history of Ireland just looking at Mayo. I couldn’t understand why something as unlikely as a whaling station was not in every national history book.

“Then, as I say in the book, it became a sort of obsession," she said.

Her journey has culminated in what has been critically acclaimed as an ‘utterly brilliant’ book.

Published by Mayo Books Press, Wake of the Whale is co-authored by Kinsella and her partner Daniel Wade. It is a genre bending book that blends history, poetry, and documentary.

Kinsella and Wade explore the history of the two whaling stations and ask the pivotal question – if the attitudes that brought whales to the brink of extinction are now threatening our own?

Kinsella and Wade are the two chief characters in the book.

Watcher has lived in Mayo most of her life. When she stumbles upon the history of the whaling stations she becomes, like many before her, obsessed with the whales. Reflecting on colonialism and the climate crisis, she asks what is it that makes the men hunt them?

Mariner tries to answer this question. Through poetry influenced by medieval sagas and sea shanties alike, he tells the story of not just of one whaling voyage, but of the history of commercial whaling itself.

He endeavours to give voice to the working Irish men of a community since dissolved.

Together the authors weave a conversation that challenges our deeply ingrained assumptions about human, and animal, nature.

The whaling stations were located at Rusheen, an islet of Inishkea South; and, on the mainland, at Ardelly Point, near Blacksod. Norwegian companies operated them with a mixture of local and Norwegian workers.

Reports state 894 whales were killed from the two stations.

Wake of the Whale is a book which has already garnered significant praise.

Renowned English author and broadcaster Philip Hoare described it thus:

“An utterly brilliant and visual-physical-poetical exploration of the fate and mortal beauty of the whale in Irish waters.

“All the pity and majesty of their existence, and ours, is laid bare in Alice Kinsella’s dreamlike work which, like Melville’s Moby-Dick before it, defies all description and arouses the deepest empathy.” Anja Murray, author of The Wild Embrace, describes Wake of the Whale as ‘a lucid and enthralling exploration of whales and whaling, while also a poetic, personal journey’.

“Wake of the Whale is like no other book. Unpredictable and exciting as the sea, the pages permeate every aspect of our culture, personal and political.

“Reading it is like being in an enchanted dream. This is an important, enthralling and genre bending book,” she said.

Alice Kinsella is a writer from Mayo. She is the author of poetry pamphlet Sexy Fruit (Broken Sleep, 2018), and Milk: on motherhood and madness (Picador, 2023).

She is an Arts Council of Ireland Next Generation Artist.

Daniel Wade is a writer from Dublin. In January 2020, his radio drama Crossing the Red Line was broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra.

He is the author of the poetry collections Iceberg Relief (Underground Voices, 2017), Rapids (Finishing Line Press, 2021), and the novel A Land Without Wolves (Temple Dark Books, 2021).

Plans are also advancing for a live show format for Wake of the Whale.

The book will have its launch at the Wild Atlantic Words Literary Festival Dome at the rear of Bridge St bar, Castlebar, on Wednesday, October 9, at 7 p.m.

Wake of the Whale is on sale in all good bookshops and online via mayobooks.ie where it can be shipped anywhere in the world.