August 1979, force 8 to 10
The Fastnet Race
The Fastnet Race runs 600 nautical miles from the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes to the Fastnet Rock and back. It starts from Schull — boats come through the harbour on their way out. In August 1979, 303 yachts started in light weather. By evening the forecast came true: force 8 to 10, confused seas, 50-knot gusts. Nineteen boats sank or were abandoned. Fifteen sailors died. 136 crew and spectators were rescued. The race changed after that — safety regulations, storm procedures, the thing became more careful. The rock is still there, thirteen miles from the harbour, and the race still runs.
Fingal Ferguson, smoked cheese
Gubbeen Farm
Fingal Ferguson bought Gubbeen Farm in the 1970s and started making cheese — not for money, for the thing itself. He smokes the cheese over beech, which is odd and works. The cheese is famous now. Food writers use it as their adjective. The farmhouse is closed to casual visitors but the cheese is sold through the village. The farm is six kilometres out the Goleen road, and if you ask in a shop someone will know if Fingal is selling from the gate today.
The quiet brought them
The artist colony
Schull has attracted artists, photographers, writers, cheesemakers, and people running restaurants without the London overheads. They came for the sailing — which draws money and attention — and stayed for the quiet, which the sailing people also value. The village has a community college with a planetarium, workshops, a summer school of art that brings people down each year. It is small enough that you notice the strangers and big enough that strangers feel welcome for a while.