Francoise Henry in Co. Mayo: The Inishkea Journals

French art historian Francoise Henry was one of the most important 20th-century historians of Irish art. In 1937, she visited the island of Inishkea North in advance of excavations in search of early medieval remains. She found cross-slabs and enough evidence to return the following year and again in 1946 and 1950. She kept technical notes on the archaeological material, but also personal journals recording her observations on the natural world, native culture around the area of Blacksod Bay, and the exigencies of working on a remote island where supplies and communication were primarily conveyed by currach. In this edited translation of Henry’s journals, readers will delight in her evocative descriptions of the environment while being entertained by her awkward attempts to understand the former islanders she employed.