Beyond the Breakwater tells the story of Catherine Foley's transition from childhood into adulthood. She chronicles her family's journey from Waterford city to the Gaeltacht in 1970 and she monitors the shifting times of each successive decade, recalling individuals, relations, friends and communities she has known. Told in the first person, her stories are concerned with the passions, memories and experiences of a writer who is always mindful and mystified by the march of time. Although her stories are always shaped and honed by the salty landscape of the Ring Peninsula, she also describes times when she was away from home, either travelling or living in Cork, Tipperary and Dublin. This is a story concerned with the complexities, mysteries and longings of the heart and the mind. They celebrate a passionate engagement with the natural world and recount a history that spans the generations, describing how the march of time continues to mark individuals and communities.