Travel

Chasing ghosts in Connemara

Deserted islands, stunning landscapes and Atlantic swells bring the past to life off the south Galway coast, writes Gary Quinn

Gary Quinn paddling around Puffin Island with the Kerry mainland in the distance. Photograph: David Quinn

The Sea Road: Puffin Island, Co Kerry

Go Sea Road: Puffin Island, near Valentia in Co Kerry, is owned by Birdwatch Ireland and is an important sea bird colony, home to thousands of puffin, Manx shearwater and storm petrels

Ethiopia, risen from the ashes

A safe country for tourists, well managed with a young educated workforce and a culture that runs much deeper than old headlines suggest

Denis DK Kane and Andrew Jacob prepare to take to the sea while filming the documentary The Crest at the Blaskets in Co Kerry. Photograph: Valerie O’Sullivan

Islandmen reborn – capturing a Blasket gathering

A film about two American cousins who’d previously never met, on an island they’ve never been to – why does the story of ‘The Crest’ speak so vividly to us all?

A walk on the wild side: meet the first woman to YoYo the Pacific Crest Trail

Dubliner Olive McGloin was the first woman to walk the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada – and back

Gary Quinn’s big regret? Throwing a kind man’s shoes in the bin

A hitchhiking trip across Europe takes a dangerous turn when a thief drugs his victims – but that’s not what sticks in the mind