TV: New series focuses on lives of immigrants who made Cork home

The lives of migrants to Ireland who have made our islands their home are explored in a new series on TG4. 

Called Trasna na dTonnta, it includes several visits to Cork’s islands.

It began last Monday with a visit to Bere Island, where Arsenii Bohodist, 16, navigates island life and a daily sea commute to school. The episode - which can be seen on the TG4 Player - spent time with his extended family as three generations came together.

On Sherkin Island, charismatic Scottish artist John Simpson reflected on the pull of island living and the journey that brought him there more than 20 years ago.

In the next episode of Trasna na dTonnta on TG4 on Monday at 8.30pm, we head back to Bere Island where Dariia, from Ukraine, and her baby Denis begin a new chapter, while her partner Dmytro settles into work at the local boatyard.

On Dursey Island, German native Christian Kostner and his wife Sheila embrace life among a tiny island population, while on Sherkin, Nina reflects on rebuilding her life after fleeing the war in Ukraine.

The third episode on September 28 again stops off on Bere Island, to see South African native Belinda deliver Meals on Wheels, while Arsenii works on a mussel farm and enjoys the island’s summer festival.

We meet Alona, a Ukrainian pastry chef at the West Cork Hotel, and catch up with Dursey Island residents Sheila and Christian and the annual summer festival.

In the fourth and final episode of Trasna na dTonnta on October 5, Arsenii’s mother Liudmila volunteers in a charity shop in Castletownbere, while her daughter Dariia reflects on whether Ireland will remain her long-term home.

On Sherkin, Ukrainian Aliona, a talented cake-maker, helps prepare for the annual Christmas party, bringing her own flavour to a cherished community tradition. Meanwhile, on Dursey, Sheila and Christian reflect on the rewards and challenges of island life.

This intimate and compelling four-part documentary series aims to provide an insight the lives of the ‘New Irish’ who have chosen to make Ireland’s offshore islands their home, and highlight the remarkable journeys of people who have travelled from across Europe and beyond.