Baltimore Island, Ireland
Surfing white horses toward a foaming gray cliff, double-reefed beneath a bright blue sky, yawing 15 degrees either side of course, a block and tackle on the tiller, position approximate, with an underpowered engine that hasn’t run since leaving the Azores. That is how I first encountered Baltimore, Ireland. As we pitched into troughs and balanced on crests, a white masonry structure known as “the beacon” came into view a hundred feet above the sea. It marked a gap in the cliffs. We staggered toward it and glided into the flat waters of the harbor, smoothed as if by a spell. To port are Sherkin Island and the ruins of an ancient abbey. To starboard, a hillside descends toward the harbor, crossstitched with rock walls that enclose paddocks so verdant they must be plugged into the national grid. Dead ahead is the village of Baltimore, dominated by a 500- year- old stone structure, Dún na Séad, the “fort of the jewels,” the Gaelic name for this place that was the seat of the O’Driscoll clan in centuries gone by. Baltimore is at the southwest corner of Ireland, near enough to Fastnet Light for its nightly revolu- tions to cast patterns of shadow on the surrounding hillsides. This coast bears the brunt of whatever the North Atlantic can conjure, with winter storms gusting at more than 100 knots.
Baltimore has a long history as a fishing village and all that comes with it in terms of making a living from the sea, and occasionally burying someone on account of it. Among its twists of fate was the 1631 attack by Algerian corsairs, who seized 107 villagers and took them back to Africa. Few ever saw Ireland again, and many never set foot ashore again, spending the rest of their lives in galleys. Locals don’t mind pointing out that almost all of those enslaved had English surnames.
In more recent decades, Baltimore has earned a well-deserved reputation as a destination for summer people and weekenders coming down from Dublin and Cork. Good pubs and restaurants, including the Algiers Inn, abound. The Baltimore Sailing (not “yacht”) Club fronts the inner harbor. Boardsailing competitions and the Baltimore Wooden Boat Festival are among the summer activities. Many quaint seaside villages are in this part of the world, but Baltimore possesses an exceptional blend of local authenticity and worldliness, attracting talented folk from far places who visit and then stay. For miles east and west of Baltimore are coves, inlets, islands and cruising grounds of the most spectacular order, each having a rich history, either written, spoken or simply felt.
Go. And bring a good anchor.