The Secret of Roan Inish

Set on the west coast of Ulster in northwestern Ireland, the 1994 independent fantasy-adventure film *The Secret of Roan Inish* was written and directed by John Sayles. It adapts Rosalie K. Fry’s 1957 novel *Secret of the Ron Mor Skerry*. The story draws on Irish and Orcadian folklore about selkies—seals that can remove their skins to become human. The protagonist, Fiona, is a young girl sent to live with her grandparents and cousin Eamon near the island of Roan Inish, where selkies are said to live. A family legend holds that her infant brother was swept away and raised by a selkie. Some scenes take place in Donegal Town.

The plot unfolds in 1946, told from Fiona’s perspective. After her mother’s death, her father’s illness, and her own poor health, she is sent to her grandparents’ home in a small Irish fishing village. In the evenings, her grandfather recounts family history, including the evacuation of their ancestral home on the tiny island of Roan Inish during World War II. Roan Inish—*Rón Inis* in Irish, meaning “Island of Seals”—is a real location near Narin, a village on the west coast of County Donegal in western Ulster. The community is close-knit, living in harmony with nature, and seals are especially revered for their human-like spirit; harming one is considered a grave wrong.

Fiona meets a distant cousin, Tadhg, who tells her about an ancestor who married a beautiful selkie. Though the marriage was happy and fruitful, the selkie’s bond to the sea remained. Tadhg explains that the selkie’s blood persists in the family, producing a “dark one” once per generation—like himself and Fiona’s baby brother, Jamie. Fiona learns that Jamie was lost during the family’s departure from Roan Inish, when his cradle boat bobbed out of sight and he was never seen again.

Fiona’s cousin Eamon, also living with the grandparents for his health, often accompanies the grandfather in his curragh (a fishing boat) on daily trips to nearby islands, including Roan Inish. Eamon, bright and older, becomes Fiona’s partner in her plans as their sea and shore adventures grow more intriguing. During a visit to Roan Inish, Fiona believes she spots Jamie playing on the beach and in the grass. She confides in Eamon, who advises her not to tell the grandparents yet. She notices that seals seem to care for Jamie, feeding and playing with him.

Fiona and Eamon reason that if the gr