A Feather in the West documents a 2019 climbing expedition to Owey, a wild and rocky island off the Atlantic coast of Ireland. Though just off mainland Donegal, Owey’s towering granite sea cliffs are largely unclimbed. A small team of Irish trad climbers aims to make new discoveries and further Owey’s climbing potential.
The film opens with shots of the island, as we’re introduced to climbers Chloe Condron, Kevin Kilroy, Michelle O’Loughlin, and Conor McGovern.
The granite cliffs of Owey. Photo: Screenshot
In the 1990s, David Walsh of Ireland climbed the first routes in Owey. It wasn’t rediscovered as a climbing destination until the 2010s. In 2014, John McCune brought international attention to the small island when he published several first ascents on the Holy Jesus Wall, a massive shield of orange granite. Since then, more new routes have sprung up on Owey.
This brings us back to the expedition, as Donegal resident, climbing guide, and sea stack enthusiast Iain Miller takes us around the island’s most promising areas. The team breaks up to work on specific projects across the many expanses of rock.
Trial and error
Chloe Condron has selected an unnamed crag, exposed to the violence of the Atlantic, hoping to clean her first-ever new route. But despite her persistence in the face of flying sea foam and lashing waves below, the rock is too sandy and unstable. More to the north, Kevin Kilroy investigates an overhanging lip on the An Sron wall. It’s an old project he and John McCune devised years ago, and he thinks it still has potential.
Meanwhile, Miller is after another sea stack. Called simply The Blade, it’s a 20m granite spire carved out by the sea. Michelle O’Loughlin is working on her own line, in the Black Spink area (who names these things?), as well as helping Miller on The Blade.
Miller and O’Loughlin on ‘The Blade.’ Photo: Screenshot
Aside from the roaring wind and crashing waves, they work their routes in relative quiet. At its peak, Owey was home to 30 families. Now, it’s almost completely abandoned. We take a break from the climbing to meet Karen and Sid Edwards, two of the last Owey islanders. They reside in the former post office, living the simple, laid-back life that Owey offers.
The climbing team does not seem to embrace a laid-back lifestyle. Instead, they continue taking on new, difficult routes, exposed to the elements, with lashing sea and hard, jutting rocks below. Conor McGovern decides to “just go for” the An Sron project, at the time O’Loughlin takes on Black Spink.
McGovern on the An Sron line, continuing to place gear after a near-miss. Photo: Screenshot
McGovern pushes through a near-miss, endeavoring to “not think about” the fatal fall he just avoided. After seeing O’Loughlin’s success on nearby Black Spink, Kilroy finally attempts the Lippy Traverse that’s been haunting him since 2013. In the end, all of them, including Condron on a second new route project, manage to send their lines, with a chorus of encouragement from their teammates.
