Cathal O'Shannon visits the "heathery island" of Inishfree off the coast of Donegal.
With a dozen families still living on the island, comprising 50 men, women and children, the population is in decline. They make a living by farming the 200 acres that makes up Inishfree, and fishing in the seas.
The island has no shop or electricity, has one telephone and one school. The islanders are virtually self-sufficient, apart from occasional trips to mainland to trade cattle or to buy essential supplies.
When Inishfree National School was built in 1910, there were about fifty students. However, in July 1966 the one teacher school only had five students and when it closed for the summer holidays, it closed for the last time. Children will now need to travel to the mainland for school. Cathal O'Shannon speaks to some of the parents on the island who are refusing to send their children to mainland.
When they get over there if it happened that they left on a good morning and then a storm arose those children would be left over there on the mainland until maybe the next day and no one to look after them.
This 'Newsbeat' report was broadcast on 26 October 1966. The reporter is Cathal O'Shannon.
