Valentia Island is known as “Oileán Dairbhre” in Irish which translates to “The Island of the Oaks”, as it is said that the island used to be covered in oak trees. The English “Valentia” derives from the Irish words “Béal Inse”, meaning the mouth or the estuary of the island. Sitting at the south-east of the island is the village of Knightstown, where we begin our walk in the footsteps of Maude Delap.

In 1876, having travelled all the way from their home in Templecrone, Co. Donegal, Maude Delap and her family arrived in Knightstown. Maude’s father, The Reverend Alexander Delap had been appointed to the parishes of Valentia and Cahersiveen.

Her father, who was a keen sailor, sailed down the coast to Valentia Island with two of her brothers. A separate boat carried their possessions, which arrived rather battered. John Barlee, a grand-nephew of Maude Delap, recalled being told by Maude and her sisters in the 1930s and 1940s not to sit on certain chairs - because ‘their legs were a bit loose from the journey’. Maude, the rest of her siblings, and her mother travelled to Cahersiveen by train, which is no longer possible since many of the railways closed in the mid-20th century.

Between April and October, the seasonal Valentia Island Car Ferry crosses between Reenard Point near Cahersiveen and Valentia. In his plan for Knightstown, Scottish engineer and geologist Alexander Nimmo envisioned a bridge connecting Knightstown to the mainland but until the Maurice O'Neill Memorial bridge that connects Valentia to Portmagee was constructed in 1970, all transport to and from the island was by boat.

Luckily, the harbour in Knightstown is very sheltered, allowing access for fishing boats and ferries in any sea state or tide. By necessity, the people of Valentia have a close connection to the sea. Not only were most small farmers also fishermen, but catch was processed on the island too. In 1825, it is said there were 252 sailing boats and 271 row-boats fishing.

Although very few rowing boats are used for fishing today, the tradition of coastal rowing remains in Iveragh. Regular regattas that take place around the peninsula in the summer always feature seine boats, which were traditionally used for net fishing.

The constant influx of fishermen and boats was beneficial to Maude’s research. Often these fishermen would bring her interesting reports and species they had caught while out at sea. Sometimes, Maude and her sister Constance would come aboard fishing or research vessels which had come into Valentia harbour to view their catches for any interesting finds and for jellyfish worth recording.

The Delaps, like others on Valentia, spent much of their time fishing, sailing, and exploring the locality on boats. With this background, Maude and her sister were confident enough to row out alone into caves and along the coast taking samples and making observations of the local marine life. Maude and Constance were also granted by the Fisheries Board part-time use of a steamboat to aid in their research.

Here, in Valentia Harbour, is where Maude carried out much of her marine observations and all of her research on plankton and jellyfish. Delap’s work on plankton began in the spring of 1895 when a group of English scientists came to study Valentia Harbour. They chose the location due to its environmental suitability, but also due to hearing about the presence of a family of naturalists living on the island who had expressed interest in assisting in research.

The team of scientists were led by Edward T. Browne, who specialized in jellyfish and plankton. To study these species, most of which are very small, you must collect them by towing a very fine net from your boat. Maude and Constance were very eager to row out and assist Browne in tow-netting the harbour. Once plankton was collected, it was taken back to the lab to identify and sketch.

After the team departed in 1896, the Misses Delap continued to survey the water. They recorded the sea temperature and noted how marine species changed throughout the year. The invaluable assistance of both Delap sisters was acknowledged in Browne’s scientific publications. Maude spent 28 years surveying the plankton of Valentia harbour. Her research was published in three separate papers which carried both her and Constance’s names, which at the time would have been very unusual for women.

One hundred years on, this location is a popular swimming spot with people queuing for their turn to jump off the pier. During the summer season, you are likely to be greeted with a flurry of neoprene clad children laughing, playing, and splashing about at summer camp at Valentia Island Seasports. Follow in the footsteps of Maude and her sister Connie by taking a sea cruise, kayaking, or even learning to sail.

The Watch House on the pier is a wonderful place to get coffee, lunch, or dinner. The building is 200 years old. A large telescope sat on top of the building and those awaiting a shipment could stand atop and look out for any signs of approaching vessels. It's quite possible that people would have been able to see Maude rowing out in her small brown punt, a tow net out behind her. If you move around the right of the building, you can still see the indentation where the telescope used to be perched.

The Valentia Lighthouse at Cromwell Point was built on the site of a 17th century Cromwellian Fort and began operation on the 1st of February 1841. The Lighthouse has its own rich history which you can learn more about here.

If you take a tour of the Valentia Lighthouse and stand atop the tower you will have a bird’s eye view of the harbour in which Maude Delap carried out her plankton sampling. Imagine hearing the creak of the oar locks as she rowed past.

In 1920 locals alerted Maude to the stranding of a 16-foot-long whale thrown up on the rocks beyond the lighthouse. Maude was not just the local contact for interesting wildlife observations - she was appointed as the official whale stranding officer for the South-West of Ireland by the British Museum.

She set out with her handyman Mike to visit it. She correctly identified the 16-foot whale as True’s Beaked whale, which had only previously been known from one incomplete specimen. Letters were sent from Maude to the curator of Natural History Museum and upon their request the head and the flippers were removed from the body and the rest of the body carted back to Reenellen house to be buried.

Once most of the whale was tucked away in her garden beneath her asparagus bed, she sent the head and flippers to the museum. Of course, it wasn’t long before the museum wrote to her again – they needed more bones. She upturned her asparagus bed and sent off the rest of the specimen. When an additional letter came questioning the location of two small bones (vestigial pelvic bones), Maude returned to asparagus bed once more to search for the missing pieces. She dug and sieved until finally a telegram arrived and was delivered to her promptly with the message “Stop! New York Museum informs us that True’s beaked whale does not possess vestigial pelvic bones”. The full skeleton of True’s beaked whale identified by Maude Delap stands today in the Natural History Museum in Dublin.

Back in the early 1800s, St John the Baptist Church was located at Kilmore. The Georgian Hall and tower were constructed in 1815. It held a congregation of 60 people. When the population of Protestants grew, there was talk of developing an extension to the church. Instead, however, it was demolished. Materials from the church were re-used in the new Protestant Church in Knightstown, where Rev. Delap served. The ruins of the original church still lie within the old graveyard, which is the final resting place of the Delap family. There is a memorial plaque for Maude Delap at the entrance to the graveyard. Though Maude's name is mentioned on her father's gravestone, she is actually buried beneath the plaque to her memory.