PEOPLE OF BERE ISLAND

People of Bere Island

Mary Sullivan

Mary Sullivan is an award-winning West Cork artist who has been living on working on Bere Island for over 30 years. The artist graduated from TUD’s BA in Visual Art’s in 2018, where her studies took place between the islands of Sherkin and Bere, and has since set up her practice on Bere Island. The artists’ work is hugely inspired by her surroundings and Bere Island’s military history. Such inspiration led Mary to win the esteemed Taylor Art Award in 2018 at the RDS Visual Arts Awards. For more information about Mary, see www.maryksullivan.com

Joanna Riddell

Born and raised in London, I moved to Bere Island (my Mum’s birthplace) in 2007, embracing island life while continuing my professional career on the mainland. For the past eighteen years, I’ve commuted daily by Bere Island Ferries to Castletownbere, where I run a busy acupuncture and Chinese medicine clinic. With over twenty years of experience as a practitioner, I’m deeply committed to holistic health andwell-being. Outside of work, I have a strong passion for running and the outdoors. During the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns, I completed four virtual marathons and one virtual 50k all on Bere Island. I was the first person to complete a full marathon on the island, the first to run a marathon around the parkrun route, and the first to accomplish an ultramarathon circumnavigating the island under five hours. One of these virtual marathon events was the 2020 Virtual London Marathon, part of the largest virtual marathon ever held around the world, earning all finishers a place in the Guinness Book of Records. These days, I continue to enjoy walking and hiking the island’s scenic trails.

Paul Elphick

My name is Paul Elphick. I was born In 1976 , I grew up on Bere Island . I was the eight child of a very large family. I attended St. Michaels national school on the first year of its opening 1980. I left in 1989 to attend Scoil Phobail Beara and sat the leaving certificate in 1995 , I then went on to do 2 years in Coliste Stiofan Naofa studying carpentry. I spent 15 years on many building sites around Cork City and county. I spent the last 10 years farming and working on a community scheme doing a huge variety of different tasks which is overseen by the Projects Group.

Ann Marie Harrington

I was born and reared here on Bere Island, one of a family of 10, 5 girls and 5 boys. My Dad was an Islander through and through but my Mom was from Allihies on the mainland. They drowned in an accident in 1992.
I have 2 children myself, Cihan is 28, he just moved back here after an absence of 11 years living in Cork City for college and work. My daughter Dellannah is 21 and away at college at the moment.
I work as a home care assistant, and am very lucky to be able to work on the Island. I love what I do and feel it a privilege to be able to work here. You can learn so much about a place and those who came before, simply be listening.
I will admit I sometime struggle with Island life but only because I’m not a lover of the water that surrounds us, but I find if I plan around the weather I manage quite well. A trip away isn’t as easy as coming and going, you need to plan the return journey and ferry times before leaving. But we all do very well, and I most definitely wouldn’t swap living here for anywhere else in the world. There is a sense of security living on and island, and a wonderful communuty spirit

A THRIVING COMMUNITY. A PLACE APART.