Three years in the making, Ireland’s Wild Islands is a spectacular three-part TV series that features the marine wildlife wonders of Ireland’s Atlantic islands.
Shot in cinema-quality 4K, the series is hosted by Corkman Eoin Warner who sails a 140-year-old Galway hooker out into the Atlantic to showcase the extraordinary wild magic of Ireland’s western islands.
In the first episode, broadcast this past Sunday (23 April), Eoin starts his island voyage on Rathlin where he witnesses one of the most extraordinary leaps of faith undertaken by any animal on the planet — flightless chicks jumping 300 feet from their cliff ledges down to the ocean.
Eoin then heads west for Malin Head and Inishtrahull, meeting basking sharks and dolphins en route before witnessing a remarkable breeding display of endangered corncrakes on Tory island, filmed for the first time in Ireland.
Then it’s south to Achill Island and the story of the Irish stoat — one of the few predators found on Ireland’s western isles. This first stage of his island odyssey ends at Achill’s beautiful Keem Bay, recently discovered by Hollywood and the site of the most successful basking shark fishery on the planet.
In the next episode, Eoin explores the woodland of Clare Island, finds Ireland’s only native reptile on the Arans and witnesses basking sharks engaged in an extraordinary breeding display.
The series also promises white tailed eagles fighting gales off the Cork coast to raise their young on Garnish Island; humpback whales bubble netting off the Blasket Islands; and the clash of grey seal bulls fighting for supremacy on Mayo’s Inishkea Islands.
Ireland’s Wild Islands is broadcast Sundays at 6.30pm on RTÉ One. Viewers in the Republic of Ireland can catch up on Eoin’s adventures on RTÉ Player.
