WHERE HARES SHINE GOLD

Ireland’s Rathlin Island is famous for its expansive views and puffin colony. But there’s another secretive, almost mythical creature found on this emerald isle.

-  ANDREW MILLHAM

Sailing north from the small port of Ballycastle soon brings you to the sheltered crook of Rathlin Island. Shaped like an ‘L’ and part of County Antrim, this is a land of rocky causeways and grassy glens, rich in Northern Irish mythology that tells of fierce battles and legendary creatures. Even the famous Giant’s Causeway, which stretches under the Sea of Moyle to Rathlin, is said to have been formed by an angry ogre hurling rocks into the sea.

How could such tales fail to capture the imagination of an eight-year-old from deepest Essex? That’s how old I was when I first visited Rathlin on a family holiday. Little did I know when embarking upon that trip that I would stumble across a real-life animal that would rival any fairytale being.

As you approach Rathlin, the skeletons of abandoned stone buildings contrast with the inviting harbour of Church Bay, serving as a tangible reminder of the island’s centuries-old history. Neatly stacked drystone walls dissect the greenery and are adorned with a layer of scaly, yellow-green lichen – a sure sign of the clear air.

On this remote isle, where the population numbers just 150, wildlife is a wonderful source of entertainment. If you love nature, you’ll never be bored here. Open fields and wildflower meadows hum with insects and nod with delicate blooms; common and grey seals inquisitively pop up their wet, shiny heads offshore. Seabirds including common guillemots, kittiwakes and razorbills patrol the cliff stacks; Irish hares – dark-coloured descendants of the mountain hare – dance across the meadows.