The Tide is Coming – a book of Coney Island in Sligo Bay by Maura Gilligan –
is a beautiful limited-edition publication containing prose, poetry, interviews, photographs
and artwork.
As the title of this book suggests, the rhythm of the tides has, for centuries, dictated the
rhythm of life on Coney Island. During his lifetime, Islander John McGowan called out the
warning “the tide is coming” countless times, ensuring that visitors would cross the causeway
safely before channels at either side closed the strand passage and made an island of his
shores.
This little island is said to have given its name to Coney Island in New York! Its ancient
name, Inismulclohy, can be found in maps, records and annals.

Contents
Insightful poetry and prose reflect the author’s thoughts as she moves across the Island in
space and time.
Author-transcribed interviews with Island elder John McGowan form an integral part of this
book, illuminating eight decades of life in a place inhabited by John’s ancestors since 1789.
There are echoes here of life on other offshore Irish islands, now uninhabited.
Photographer James Fraher’s haunting black and white images, together with Catherine
Fanning’s remarkable paintings, prints and line drawings, add visual depth and magic.

Special Features
The book itself is a work of art; a striking hardback cover collage is enhanced by timeless
quarter binding, head and tail bands, marker ribbon and rich-coloured endpapers.  Sumptuous
Munken paper provides the perfect backdrop for superb illustrations and exceptional writing.
Folded within the pages of this book is a surprise – an A3 loose-leaf ‘Map of Coney Island in
Sligo Bay’, which can be framed. Created from an old and fragile line-drawn original, the
current version of this map illustrates locations on and around the Island, some of which still
carry their original Irish names.
The Tide is Coming is a wonderful history of an Irish island and a perfect gift.