Watching the sailboat leave South Harbor of Cape Clear one can't help but think of the thousands of vessels and souls who entered the waters of the North Atlantic from this harbor over the centuries. Only on the last few decades are the vessels coming from South Harbor are leisure craft. Only a few generations ago journeys into the sea were a question of life and death. Sailors and fisherman rarely knew how to swim. The size of the catches determined what families had to eat and what money they made. Today Cape Clear hosts a year round population of around 100 but a century and a half ago the population was a booming 2,000. It's amazing to think how the land and sea supported a population that large on a small 3 mile by 1 mile cluster of rocks protruding from the sea. #Ireland #CapeClear #OSheaFamily #Coinlin (at Cape Clear Island)