The Irish have been scattered to the four corners of the earth since 1607 when the defeated Earls fled to Spain hoping to return to fight another day with the English armies overwhelming their country. By the 1680s, France had become their destination of choice, and all Irish children learn the story of Patrick Sarsfield who gave his life for his adopted country during the religious wars, mourning only that he was not dying for Ireland.

For the months of October and November the Beach Plum Inn is offering an Island Dinner Series, which translates to a special meal featuring a menu sourced from different farms every Thursday night.

If we want written accounts of Island life before the Gazette began to publish in 1846, we must usually rely on letters, town records, deeds, wills and diaries, many kept at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, some at the newspaper office, others at the county courthouse.

From the Vineyard Gazette edition of October 15, 1943:

Tuesday was Cranberry Day at Gay Head, and it is no exaggeration to say that virtually the entire population turned out for the annual visit to the wild cranberry bogs which has been the practice of the people of this place for untold generations.

When he was a young boy, Peter Herrmann loved to fish off the Steamship wharf in Oak Bluffs. Before the first boat, and after the ferry stopped running for the winter, Mr. Herrmann and his friends would climb over the fence, fishing rods in hand.

Traffic delays are expected at the Roundabout in Oak Bluffs this week, as the White Brothers-Lynch Corporation paving company sets down the final coats of asphalt on the central intersection. Work began Monday, and is expected to conclude sometime Thursday, said Richie Combra, highway superintendent.

The construction contract states that the traffic delays not exceed five minutes.

The town hall will get a facelift and Chappaquiddick a new fire truck as the Edgartown board of selectmen Monday approved bids for both projects during a brief meeting.

The town awarded a $540,000 bid to renovate the exterior of town hall to the Paul J. Rogan Company Inc. of Braintree. It was the sole bid the town received. The project, which will use Community Preservation Act funds, was approved by town meeting.

Island Grown Schools education coordinator Kaila Binney met Ellen Berube’s second-grade classroom at the front of the Oak Bluffs School on a sunny Monday afternoon. Ms. Binney was joined by Massachusetts State Representative Timothy Madden and legislative liaison Kaylea Moore, who were visiting the school as it celebrated Massachusetts Harvest for Students week.

With the federal government shutdown Tuesday due to a budget stalemate, the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) is bracing for impact.

The following poem is by Warren Woessner, a birding enthusiast and bard who wanders the shorelines of the Island.