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Rathlin

Episode 7 of 8

Series in which cook and artist Heather Dewar explores Hebridean communities. In this episode, Heather heads to Rathlin, off the Antrim coast of Northern Ireland.

Artist and cook Heather Dewar's tour of the islands takes her to Rathlin, off the Antrim coast in Northern Ireland. She's there to attend the Rathlin Sound Maritime Festival and to explore the island that shared strong links with her native Islay.

She travels by boat the few miles to Rathlin and arranged for local historian Gusty McCurdy to accompany her on tour round the island, taking in sights such as Bruce's Cave, where Robert the Bruce is said to have been inspired by a spider that tried again and again to weave its web.

They head for dry land where Heather joins the festivities in Church Bay. She samples some of Ireland's very own whisky to see how it compares to that distilled on Islay and gets a taste of Irish music with a set of jigs performed by a local Uileann piper. She brings her day to a close cheering on the competitors in the hotly contested currach race.

29 minutes