Sources for The Cursing Stone
Many individuals contributed information and ideas to The Cursing Stone. I would like to thank:
Patsy Dan Rodgers, King of Tory Island, R.I.P., for providing newspaper clippings, engravings, and other documents related to the Wasp, and for sharing his thoughts and speculations at length in several interviews.
Father John Boyce of Tory Island for his insights into the long-standing tensions between Celtic Christianity and Roman Catholic doctrine.
Frank Pelly and Captain Owen Deignan of the Baily Lighthouse Museum for their generosity in organising tours and discussing lighthouse systems and procedures.
Brian Leyden, author and Writer-in-Residence for the Sligo Library System, for reading excerpts of the work-in-progress and recommending changes to bring out the rougher side of Ruairí’s character.
Heather Corish, Andy McLaren, and Eugene Perry for reading and sharing their thoughts on early versions of the manuscript.
Above all, I would like to thank Monica Corish for her support, enthusiasm, and thoughtful critique of this novel. She is my Alleluia Chorus, as I am hers.
Published Sources
Stories from Tory Island by Dorothy Harrison Therman, 1989 (Country House, Dublin, ISBN 0-946172-14-5). Oral histories often lie flat and lifeless on the printed page, but Ms Therman transcribes and formats them into lively folk-poetry.
Donegal Shipwrecks by Ian Wilson, 1998 (self-published, ISBN No. 094815456 X).
The Waves of Tory: The Story of an Atlantic Community by Jim Hunter, 2006 (Colin-Smythe Ltd., Bucks UK, in conjunction with the University of Ulster, ISBN 0-861 40-456-4).
Memoir for the Wasp by Enda McLaughlin, 1989 (The Glendale Press Ltd, Sandycove, Co. Dublin, ISBN 0-907606-55-5).
Lighthouse by Tony Parker, 1975 (Eland Publishing Ltd., London, ISBN 0 907871 585).
The Royal Navy: An Illustrated Social History 1870-1982 by Captain John Wells, 1994 (Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd, in association with The Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth, ISBN 0-7509-0833-5).
The Royal Navy: An Illustrated History by Anthony J. Watts, 1994 (Arms and Armour Press, London, ISBN 1-85409-124-7).
For the Safety of All: Images and Inspections of Irish Lighthouses (National Library of Ireland, ISBN 0907328369).