Original subtitles

[narrator] A beautiful chateau with an ugly past.

This castles glory was born out of deceit

and treachery.

[narrator] A gloomy structure that administered hope.

It was a remedy to the racial injustices

that were going on.

[narrator] And an out-of-this-world site

[narrator] And an out-of-this-world site

built by sheer ingenuity.

A lot of resources were spent

to create these beautiful spaces

hundreds of feet above ground.

[narrator] Decaying relics.

Ruins of lost worlds.

Sites haunted by the past.

Their secrets waiting to be revealed.

In the heart of France's Loire Valley

to the southwest of Paris

is a fairy tale structure with a dramatic story to tell.

I feel like I've been set down

in the middle of the Magic Kingdom.

[Rob] It's beautiful and utterly captivating.

It's like this mix between Angkor Wat and Disneyland.

It's like this mix between Angkor Wat and Disneyland.

[narrator] This region is known

for its sprawling chateaus,

but none looked like this...

It's not the standard version.

Most of them are very, very symmetrical.

This one is fun.

It sits in the middle of a lake, a deliberate lake,

and it makes the castle look like it's floating.

It's a really clever architectural trick.

[narrator] Yet this once lavish sights,

[narrator] Yet this once lavish sights,

days of grandeur are now a distant memory.

The reefs gone and there's vegetation crawling

its way through all the windows

and along all the walls.

[Claire] But behind this glorious chateau

is a tale of treachery and deceit.

[Rob] Its owner was labeled a traitor

by France's most notorious king.

[narrator] But his fall from grace

would be the making of this fantastical place.

would be the making of this fantastical place.

The Loire Valley is famed for its extravagant castles.

Centuries of aristocratic wealth

mean that opulence is the norm here.

We're in the heart of the French countryside

at the very tip of the Loire Valley.

All the Great Kings of France enjoyed coming here

to relax in the fresh river air.

[narrator] When Romain Delaume first came here in 2017,

he was instantly struck

by the majestic charm of the rundown ruin.

[Romain] I fell in love with the castle straight away.

What with the water, the castle and nature?

We're experiencing something special here.

You can really sense some very strong emotions.

[narrator] Chateau de la Mothe-Chandeniers

[narrator] Chateau de la Mothe-Chandeniers

dates back to the 13th century,

a time when powerful kings and queens ruled the land,

long before bloody revolution

would sever their heads.

Here we are in the oldest part of the estate.

You can see this big wall, which was once a moat.

In fact, the main moat

which wrapped around the castle of La Mothe

and in front of us,

you can see the oldest section of the castle,

which were the old medieval kitchens.

which were the old medieval kitchens.

[narrator] Over the years,

the chateau has changed hands many times

and so has its appearance,

and its most notorious owner

was Francois de Rochechouart.

He's one of the great nobles of the 17th century in France,

quite close to King Louis, XIII,

the father of Louis XIV,

and thick as thieves with the ruling elite in France at the time.

and thick as thieves with the ruling elite in France at the time.

Francois is captain of the king's bodyguards,

so he's responsible for the royal family's safety and protection.

[narrator] But at the start of 1643,

the sudden death of the king sent shockwaves across France.

[Claire] The death of Louis XIII

brings about great political unrest.

They're in the middle of the Franco-Spanish war,

and a change in leadership at this moment

is absolutely catastrophic.

is absolutely catastrophic.

It turns politics into turmoil.

[narrator] The new king, Louis XIV

was just four years old,

so his mother and her advisers took control.

They soon raised taxes to cover

the escalating cost of the ongoing war with Spain.

This provokes an uprising in France

of the leading noble families,

the merchant class

and even just ordinary people

in the big cities like Paris against the regime

in the big cities like Paris against the regime

rebelling against these tax demands.

1648 marks the start of a series

of small civil wars

collectively known as the Fronde.

[Geoff] And during The Fronde,

Rochechouart falls under suspicion

of agitating against Louis XIV,

and so he's imprisoned

by order of the king for two years.

[narrator] On his release, Francois,

now exiled from Louis Royal Court in Paris,

now exiled from Louis Royal Court in Paris,

retreats to his family's dilapidated castle

here in the Loire Valley.

[Claire] Originally built as a hunting lodge,

the fortress has been pretty much disused for centuries,

but he sets about transforming it

into a renaissance palace.

And to make up for his dramatic fall from grace,

he creates his own court to overshadow the king's.

We're in the main courtyard of La Mothe-Chandeniers.

You can imagine Francois de Rochechouart

receiving his guests here.

It was the place to be in France back then,

that is for those who were against the monarchy.

It was truly the venue of choice

for those coming from Paris.

[narrator] Extravagance and indulgence

were the order of the day.

This is pretty much the beating heart

of La Mothe-Chandeniers.

of La Mothe-Chandeniers.

When I say beating heart,

it's because Francois loved to receive guests,

picture 30 servants and up to 80 guests here.

That explains why he needed such a big space

to entertain all the people who chose to vacation here.

[Claire] Everything here is designed for hosting.

Come, come experience this place.

Here is your room.

Here's the ballroom.

Join us this evening for this amazing party.

It's all about building alliances

It's all about building alliances

through hosting and fun.

[Rob] This was a very decadent period for the nobility.

At the time, they'd certainly never heard of the saying,

less is more.

[narrator] This life of luxury had a high price,

one the out-of-favor nobleman could ill afford.

The remains of the Chateaude la Mothe-Chandeniers

sit floating atop an overgrown lake

in France's Loire Valley.

In the 17th century, its exiled owner,

Francois de Rochechouart,

threw everything he had into creating a palace

that would rival the French court in Paris.

that would rival the French court in Paris.

He completely remodeled the castle

and lived a lifestyle that was actually way beyond his means.

In fact, he was declared bankrupt

towards the end of his life,

and so eventually he had to abandon the castle

because he couldn't afford to live there anymore.

[Claire] Sadly, after its initial moment of glory,

the castle moves through different sets of hands

and gradually falls into disrepair.

[narrator] And the chateau was left to fester

for a further 140 years.

[Romain] During the 19th century,

three great families came

one after the other to live here at La Mothe-Chandeniers.

[narrator] Inspired by the romanticism

of the most beautiful castles of the Loire,

they transformed the chateau once again.

In the end, a tragic event led

to its ultimate destruction

from which it would never recover.

[Claire] A devastating fire in 1932 broke out

from a new boiler,

destroying huge parts of the chateau.

[Romain] Obviously, in 1932,

firefighter resources were not as developed as they are now,

and sadly, the castle burned down.

[narrator] The next chapter of the fairy tale castle

[narrator] The next chapter of the fairy tale castle

is only just beginning.

When Roman first came here,

the ruin was scheduled for demolition.

He had 80 days to save it.

[Romain] I'm the co-founder

of a startup called Dartagnans,

which allows people from all over the world

to collectively buy the castle of La Mothe-Chandeniers.

[narrator] Forty thousand people

from all over the world

invested in the rescue project.

Now, the chateau doors are open once again.

Now, the chateau doors are open once again.

[Romain] Since our first season opened to tourists,

we've been lucky to have more than 45,000 visitors.

[Rob] You can imagine Francois will be pretty pleased

to know there's that level of interest

in his pet project.

[narrator] In central Turkey is a cliffside

with unnatural holes on its face.

This place looks almost like an alien landscape.

You have these towers of rock.

You have areas that look almost like sand dunes

with holes in them.

It's a really bizarre, otherworldly landscape.

[Sascha] When you get closer, you realize

you can actually get inside these caves.

They were put there deliberately

and there's little signs of civilization.

So, these caves were intentionally built

So, these caves were intentionally built

hundreds of feet off the ground.

[narrator] Some caves carry few clues to their purpose,

but others have their story painted on the walls.

[Dominic] People clearly put a vast amount

of time and skill

into beautifying and decorating these places,

even though they really are in the middle of nowhere.

[Michele] We're in modern-day Turkey,

which has an incredibly long history

but also a major impact on the world.

[Sascha] This is a parched land.

Very dry, very hot.

You have to be really determined if you want to live here.

[Mehmet] I was in middle school,

about 11 or 12-years-old

when I first found out about this place.

[narrator] Mehmet Ekiz has been documenting

the history of this place for more than 20 years.

the history of this place for more than 20 years.

There used to be gigantic rocks

like millstones behind these carved spaces.

In times of danger,

they would roll these large stones

in front of the cave entrances

to form a lock.

It was impossible to enter from the outside

when these rocks were in place.

Dwellings like these were dug into the rock out of fear.

Dwellings like these were dug into the rock out of fear.

[narrator] These caves are simple.

Small shelves provide places to sleep,

but the people who dug these holes

built another room.

One dedicated to a new religion.

[Mehmet] This is where Christian believers worshiped.

It's a temple and was used as a sanctuary.

[Michele] When these structures were built,

they were part of the enormous Roman Empire.

they were part of the enormous Roman Empire.

[narrator] In the second century,

the Roman Empire stretched from Britain

to the Persian Gulf,

but the new religion of Christianity

was outlawed.

If you were caught by a Roman soldier

speaking about your God and his son, Jesus,

you could be forced upon pain of death

to renounce your religion.

You could be arrested.

We've all heard stories

about Christians being fed to the lions.

about Christians being fed to the lions.

[narrator] This brutal treatment

chased the Christians to the farthest reaches

of the Roman Empire,

but even there, they wouldn't be safe.

[narrator] This is Cappadocia,

now in Turkey.

It was once a region on the edge of the Roman Empire

and a place where Christians came to escape execution.

Pagan belief was still chasing after them

and Romans were oppressing Christians.

and Romans were oppressing Christians.

They tortured and even killed them.

That's why this church

was built on higher ground.

[Sascha] If the Romans had found a Christian church

like this in the second century,

they would have razed it to the ground

and they would have had all the Christians inside executed.

[narrator] But this particular church

was built by none other

than the Romans themselves.

[Sascha] Christianity became more and more mainstream.

By the fourth century, for the first time,

a Roman emperor, Constantine

converted to Christianity.

[narrator] The legend says that Constantine

was baptized from his deathbed.

Soon after, Christianity was legal

in the Roman Empire.

[Mehmet] This change was great news

for the Christians

because up until that time,

Christians were still being harassed.

[Sascha] Suddenly, the Christians in Cappadocia

could come out of hiding.

They didn't have to worry

about the Roman soldiers anymore.

They could rejoin the rest of Roman society.

[narrator] But, Cappadocia wasn't abandoned.

Instead, Roman Christians dug further into the rock.

[Mehmet] This chapel is actually the original part of the church.

[Mehmet] This chapel is actually the original part of the church.

[narrator] Much of Cappadocia has been damaged or looted,

but one church has been preserved.

[Mehmet] These carved rocks,

we can also call them caves,

were covered with bird feces or guano.

The layers of guano that covered this place

provided great protection.

provided great protection.

[narrator] Guano formed a hard armor

over elaborate frescoes,

preserving them

almost as they were more than a thousand years ago.

[Sascha] You can see that they spent

a lot of resources on the church.

They used expensive blue pigment in the painting and even real gold.

After a couple of centuries of oppression,

this was a golden age for Christianity.

[narrator] But 300 years

after Rome made peace with Christianity,

Cappadocia was under attack again,

this time from the other direction.

[Dominic] The new force was the conquering Muslim empire,

which had expanded out of Arabia in all directions.

[narrator] For three centuries,

Cappadocia was caught in a battle

between east and west.

[Sascha] During the invasion, the Christians went back underground.

[Sascha] During the invasion, the Christians went back underground.

Some of them literally dug an underground city,

but that's another story.

[narrator] In the 11th century,

an army from a Muslim people called The Seljuks

marched into Cappadocia.

[Dominic] When the Muslim armies arrived,

there was tension and conflict initially,

but the Christians weren't wiped out,

and over time,

the two peoples grew and live together in this region.

Every Muslim army converts Christian structures

in the countries they conquer.

Instead of doing the same here,

they decided to build a small mosque

next to this church.

This underlines the Turks goodwill towards Christians.

[narrator] For the next 800 years,

Christians and Muslims lived here peacefully.

Christians and Muslims lived here peacefully.

But in 1915,

Cappadocia and Christians faced persecution once more.

In the early 20th century,

the Turkish government

undertook a murderous campaign

of eradication against Christians.

Today, we call it the Armenian Genocide.

It targeted Greeks and Armenians,

both of which were largely Christian groups.

Many, many thousands of Greeks and Armenians

Many, many thousands of Greeks and Armenians

were forcibly deported from the area,

and most of them were Christians.

There are also accounts of up to three quarters of a million people

being massacred,

but that has always been denied by the Turkish government.

[narrator] The Armenian Genocide marked the end

of a 1600 year old story.

No Christians have lived in the caves

of Cappadocia ever since.

Following the tragedy, the caves gained new residents.

[Sascha] These dwellings were still in use

[Sascha] These dwellings were still in use

several decades into the 20th century.

But in the 1960s, two people were killed by falling rocks

and the rest of the residents were moved.

[narrator] Today, Cappadocia is a UNESCO heritage site.

600 churches have now been documented,

with many more still waiting to be discovered.

with many more still waiting to be discovered.

In Kansas City, Missouri,

a stone building stands apart from the metropolis.

[Alicia] This place sits just on the outskirts of the city,

and you wouldn't necessarily

tell that something important happened here.

[Michele] Most of the windows are boarded up.

If you happen to be able to look inside, you see these stripped rooms.

If you happen to be able to look inside, you see these stripped rooms.

It's clearly been abandoned for some time.

[narrator] Inside, the building

has been scraped bare.

But there are some hints

at the history of this place.

[Alicia] Everything's been emptied out.

There are places

where equipment used to be.

[Rob] The architecture is very basic.

There are no frills here,

and usually that might suggest a government building

or a place that was built in a hurry for a desperate need.

or a place that was built in a hurry for a desperate need.

[narrator] Without this building, many of the city's residents

would die unnecessarily.

Historian Gerry Sanders

has spent more than five years

piecing together the puzzle of this place,

but hasn't been able to enter it until now.

[Geraldyn] It's been closed for 30 years.

I, I can't even express to you

how emotional I feel

about being inside this building for the first time.

about being inside this building for the first time.

But it just pains me that there's just so much,

you know, negativity on the walls.

It just says light it up,

like, somebody wanted to burn down this place.

[birds chirping]

[narrator] This structure was once

at the center of a community called 18th & Vine.

It was known as the black mecca.

[Michele] 18th and Vine is this historic district

in Kansas City, Missouri.

in Kansas City, Missouri.

And... it's formed out of black migration

from places in the South, places in the Midwest

and by the early 1900s,

it has this amazing music scene.

[Rob] It's a place where jazz thrived

and drew more African-Americans into the community.

Then black culture thrived and expanded there.

[Michele] In many cases, places like 18th & Vine,

places like the black section of

Kansas City really are

Kansas City really are

places where black people can organize

and feel a little bit safer.

[narrator] By the 1920s, more than 30,000

African-Americans lived around 18th & Vine.

But even Kansas City's black mecca

suffered under the laws of Jim Crow.

It comes from an English

um, actor who used to play to a song called Jump Jim Crow,

and he would act in blackface.

and he would act in blackface.

And eventually, that became

the moniker for segregation.

African-Americans were not allowed to integrate anything,

schools, churches and my favorite, cemeteries.

I mean, like, what would a dead black person

be able to do to a dead white person?

[narrator] Another segregated institution was healthcare.

Kansas City had only one hospital

for its entire population of black people.

for its entire population of black people.

It was called General Hospital 2.

General Hospital 2

was quite literally

a hospital that had served whites in Kansas City

and then was left once white people

got a new hospital that was built for them.

It's in effect a cast-off building

and black people received cast-off care.

[narrator] For every 10 beds for white people,

there were just three for black people.

But by 1918, attitudes within 18th & Vine

were changing.

Around 200,000 African-Americans

were drafted and sent to fight in Europe.

Hundreds died defending the United States.

[Geraldyn] When the black soldiers came back from World War I,

there was this new attitude

that they portrayed and it was kind of

talked about as being the new Negro.

talked about as being the new Negro.

There was a new awareness of how

people were being treated,

um, the injustices,

inequalities that were going on.

[narrator] The new Negro movement

called for political equality and an end to segregation.

But in Kansas City,

black patients were going untreated.

The solution to the problem still stands on 18th & Vine.

Erika Brice is restoring the 100-year-old building.

[Erika] You see a lot of the original wooden here.

You see the newer beams and original beams.

So, this is wood that is so solid, like, literally

they do not make buildings like this anymore.

The cost of a building like this, I can't even imagine.

[narrator] Kansas City, had four hospitals for whites.

The only facility for its African-American residents

was an abandoned white hospital.

was an abandoned white hospital.

One man decided

he was going to do something about it.

His name was Dr. Edward Perry.

[Michele] Edward Perry, is the son of former slaves, he's born in Texas.

He excels academically.

He attends Meharry Medical College

which is a black medical college in Nashville, Tennessee,

and he becomes a medical doctor.

[narrator] Perry established Wheatley Provident Hospital.

[Alicia] This hospital was really

[Alicia] This hospital was really

filling a void for black residents

of Kansas City, Missouri,

and it was really just a band-aid at first.

It was a single two-storey building

that was providing care to people

who may not have received care at all

or who were receiving substandard care.

[Erika] Um what, as I understand,

a lot of these were medical rooms,

either examination rooms or rooms for patients.

And so this actually, despite

And so this actually, despite

the condition it looks in right now,

this is the most solid part of the building, or was.

[Rob] This was not a cutting edge facility.

They were not operating at the boundaries of modern science.

But what they did offer was a capable and compassionate service

with a bit of dignity.

[narrator] Gerry Sanders has collected stories

from former patients,

including one who was born in Wheatley Provident.

[Geraldyn] He said that his mother came from St. Louis

to give birth to him because

to give birth to him because

it was, kind of, looked upon really badly

that she was a young unwed mother.

So, Dr. Perry would accept all patients, regardless of color

and regardless of, uh, ability to pay.

[narrator] The Wheatley Provident Hospital

transformed the standard of living

for the residents of Kansas City,

but the city's most needy patients

still weren't being treated.

In the mid-1920s, in Kansas City,

the newly created Wheatley Provident Hospital

wasn't big enough to treat the city's most vulnerable patients,

its children.

So, the hospital commissioned the construction of a second building.

Behind us is the original building.

Behind us is the original building.

Uh, that was the hospital in 1918,

and we've now reentered the side that, uh, was built in 1924,

as part of the model children's ward.

[Michele] In 1925, they built

a whole new wing to take care of

children's needs, a pediatric wing.

They called it the mercy ward

and the mercy ward was a major game changer,

not only in terms of offering pediatric care

but also training, for nurses and doctors.

And so we have a few photos

where you'll see some ads

for some nurses where they're looking for nurses

and you'll see some children sitting on some beds and whatnot

that was in this room.

And so I can kind of imagine kind of like a nursing station back here,

um, probably some sinks or something like that and beds.

[narrator] For 50 years,

Wheatley Provident Hospital

took care of children and adults

in the African-American community,

but it was reaching capacity.

[Geraldyn] Wheatley Hospital could no longer

[Geraldyn] Wheatley Hospital could no longer

accommodate the number of patients that were coming in.

So, in 1972, they built

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Hospital.

[narrator] That same year,

Wheatley Provident Hospital closed its doors for good.

[Rob] It may sound like a sad ending of Wheatley Provident

after it did so much for the community,

but it plastered over a major social injustice.

And when that injustice was corrected,

And when that injustice was corrected,

Wheatley Provident graciously retired.

[narrator] Erika Brice is restoring

the Wheatley Provident Hospital

and making it the center of 18th & Vine once more.

[Erika] And we do have some,

some super strong visions for what happens next,

um, but it's also critical to,

to us that this is also an economic generator.

to us that this is also an economic generator.

We don't want it to just be pretty to look at.

Uh, we want it to continue to be a functional resource.

[Michele] With the activism done to dismantle segregation,

many of these institutions were or became temporary,

but they served a crying need and were game changers.

[narrator] Off the west coast of Ireland,

a marooned outpost bears traces

of a resolute people.

You can look out to the sea

and in the distance, you see a rugged-looking island.

Out here, you were completely alone

with nothing but your faith.

[narrator] Dilapidated weather-worn buildings hug the landscape.

[Dominic] Roofs and walls are crumbling and collapsing in.

The slate and timber all over the floor.

They're in complete disrepair

and surely have not been lived in for many years.

and surely have not been lived in for many years.

[narrator] There's few clues

as to what went on at this desolate site.

[Katherine] This small, defunct pier

shows us some of the things

that the people must have done in their daily lives,

but it's out there with the ocean

and showing that everyday dangers

that they must have faced as well.

[narrator] But something much more mystical lingers here.

[Dominic] If you look beneath the crumbling rocks,

you'll see centuries of history revealed.

[Sascha] But what was this place?

[Sascha] But what was this place?

Was it an ancient Roman mining town?

Was it the remote fortress of some band of knights?

Was it the kingdom of some obscure Irish prince?

[narrator] What tragedy left this tiny settlement deserted?

[narrator] Five miles out in the Atlantic Ocean,

this windswept rock is Inishark.

[Tommy speaking]

[Tommy speaking]

[narrator] Local archeologist, Tommy Burke,

has been fascinated by the island's ghostly houses

since he first came here as a child.

[Tommy speaking]

[narrator] Tommy knew that a hardened community

[narrator] Tommy knew that a hardened community

still lived here in the first half of the 20th century.

So, he set about searching for former residents.

A 75-year-old Martin Murray

was born and raised on Inishark.

He remembers a frugal childhood in his family home.

[Martin speaking]

[narrator] But what drew families like Martin's to these shores?

[narrtaor] This island's isolation has attracted

[narrtaor] This island's isolation has attracted

religious pilgrims for more than a thousand years.

[Sascha] The land was both a humble sanctuary

and a cultural vanguard

that attracted people from around the world.

Holy men who came here

felt that they were closer to God

than those at the center of civilization.

[narrator] Archeologists like Tommy

believe a Christian community came here

as early as the 6th century

with the aim of devoting their time

to contemplation and prayer in tiny stone built cells

known as Clochans.

[Tommy speaking]

Clochan Liath, as it's known,

would once have had

would once have had

a special conical stone roof

kind of beehive shaped.

It was a secluded oratory for private devotions.

[narrator] This is all that remains

of the Clochans of Inishark,

but it was clearly part of a larger religious ceremony.

Clochan Liath is believed to be the last

in a 14-station pilgrimage on the island,

representing Jesus' last walk.

[Tommy speaking]

[narrator] Following in the pilgrims footsteps,

Tommy finds further evidence

of their life of devotion and faith.

Another station is a bullaun stone,

a common feature of Irish monastic sites.

The circular depression at the top

is often said to be the imprint of a saint's body,

and the islanders believed

that the water that collected there

that the water that collected there

could cure all manner of minor ailments.

[narrator] Over the centuries,

pilgrims came and went,

and in time the settlement grew,

but it was only a matter of time

before the unforgiving Atlantic Ocean staked its claim.

[narrator] In the early 20th century

in the Atlantic Ocean of Ireland's West Coast,

the people of Inishark

still followed a centuries' old religious way of life.

Life here was incredibly tough.

You were really exposed to the elements,

so, the people and the livestock

would have had to face the harsh, unceasing winds

would have had to face the harsh, unceasing winds

and the driving rain that came in on the Atlantic storms.

[narrator] So, what happened to the God-fearing souls

who once lived here?

[Tommy speaking]

[Katherine] They worked very hard.

Uh, many of them were fishers,

and they were well known as being these great rowers.

Sometimes they would even row out seven miles,

uh, to some better fishing grounds.

uh, to some better fishing grounds.

[Tommy speaking]

[Sascha] A chapel was built here in 1894

and a school in 1898.

And for this isolated, sparsely populated area,

this was a real building boom.

[narrator] But despite the growth in infrastructure,

many goods still had to be rowed across

from the neighboring island of Boffin,

including one important resource,

a priest.

[Sascha] Once a month,

a priest would be rowed across the water to Inishark.

[narrator] Resident Martin Murray

recalls his time in Inishark's quirky chapel.

[Martin speaking]

[Sascha] As you look at the chapel,

though, it feels as if there's something missing

though, it feels as if there's something missing

and it's not just the roof.

For a place of worship, there's nowhere to sit.

The women would have had to bring their own wooden,

three legged stools

while the men would have just lined up

against the walls.

[narrator] But the priest only came monthly,

so, Inishark's more devout residents

made the perilous boat journey to Boffin

for weekly worship.

Eventually, the treacherous seas

that swirl around Inishark took their toll.

[Dominic] On Easter Sunday 1949,

the weather was severe.

A gale was blowing and the currents were strong.

Most residents decided it was too dangerous

to cross to the next island to go to church,

but two brothers and a cousin decided they would have a go.

[narrator] The three men successfully made it to Boffin,

but the storm had worsened by the time they returned.

[Katherine] As they were leaving and coming back,

the ocean got them.

[Martin speaking]

[Martin speaking]

[narrator] This awful event struck fear

into the isolated people of Inishark.

There was no local doctor.

There was no priest.

And the government even refused to install

a telephone line.

[narrator] It wasn't long before tragedy struck again in 1958.

One man fell drastically ill when the weather was too bad to launch the boats.

Cut off and with no telephone,

the islanders lit a bonfire to alert their neighbors

on the island of Boffin that they needed help,

but their signal went unnoticed.

[narrator] Trapped on Inishark,

the man's chances looked bleak.

[Martin speaking]

[Katherine] No doctors could get to him

and worse in the minds of many of the people of Inishark,

no priest could get to him to give him his last rites,

and this was a kind of final straw

for many of the people of Inishark.

[narrator] The island's population swiftly dwindled,

and two years later, the government relocated

the remaining 23 inhabitants to the mainland.

[Sascha] And the entire remaining population

of Inishark departed, with one exception.

of Inishark departed, with one exception.

Thomas Lacy, the father of two of the three boys

that had drowned in 1949, refused to leave.

[Katherine] And Thomas sets his table

for one last dinner

and he sets out three plates,

one for himself

and one each for his missing boys.

He has his dinner.

He prays.

And the next morning, when the priest comes,

Thomas gets on the boat and leaves Inishark for good.

Thomas gets on the boat and leaves Inishark for good.

[narrator] The Rocky Isle will always hold

pride of place in Ireland's history.

[Tommy speaking]

[Katherine] The Island of Inishark

symbolizes joy, symbolizes tragedy,

symbolizes joy, symbolizes tragedy,

uh, but fits itself

in this great Museum of Ireland.