Inishturk to feature in TV3 documentary

STARS OF THE SHOW?Brid Heanue and her sons Chris and Nathan, and her partner Joe will all be on ‘Islanders’ on TV3

Inishturk to feature in TV3 documentary series


Anton McNulty

A TV3 documentary series focusing on the lives of islanders throughout Ireland will focus on the fortunes of residents of one of Mayo’s off-shore islands, Inishturk.
The new series called Islanders is a four-part series which follows the lives of native islanders as they go about their everyday life across the entire year. From Arranmore, County Donegal via Inishturk in County Mayo to Whiddy in County Cork, this four-part series captures a way of life that is rapidly disappearing.
Located 14km off the coast of Mayo, Inishturk has a population of roughly 55 residents and episode one of the series will focus on the island and its residents Bríd Heanue (33) and her son Nathan (12). Bríd’s eldest son Chris (16) lives and schools on the mainland. With no secondary school on Inishturk, Nathan will be leaving the island in September to join his brother at Rice College in Westport. It is a day Bríd dreads.
“In September, Nathan is leaving to go to school,” she said in the series. “That’s a very emotional subject with me. It’s going to be heart-breaking for me as he’s been my little baby here at home. I’m going to find that very hard. All of our family are going to find that hard.”
Bríd has raised her two boys with the help of her mother Mary Catherine (mid-60s) who is the island’s Development Officer. Bríd’s little house is just one minute down the hill from her mother and father’s B&B. Bríd and her mother are closer-than-close, they are best friends and will phone each other first thing in the morning and last thing at night.
Speaking about her close-knit family, Brid says: “I never felt myself as a single mum of two kids because I had such a fantastic family. I might not have had a partner living on the island but I was never alone. I had my Mum, my Dad, my brothers and sisters and the community as a whole, they were so good to me and the kids growing up.”
“Nathan’s leaving in September is going to affect the whole family, his mother will be losing her son, whilst the island will be losing another islander.”
Funded by TV3 and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, ‘Islanders’ is a four-part series produced by 3Studios. The series premiere of ‘Islanders’ airs on Wednesday, April 15 at 9pm on TV3.