Burren Facts

Saving a Pre-Famine Cabin

info@heartofburrenwalks.com (Antaine Ó Ciarba) — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 23:18:31 GMT

REVIVING A PRE-FAMINE CABIN

The Bloods were English settlers who set up demesne initially in Killinaboy, County Clare around 1600. Sometime thereafter they laid out a deer park in the southwestern corner of the Termon townland in Carran. To this day this corner of Termon is known locally as “the deer park”. The extant park walls are monumental in scale. They are conspicuous evidence of lordly privilege.

Deer hunting was most popular in Ireland and Great Britain between 1600 and 1750. However, deer parks fell in to disuse around the middle of the 18th century. The pastime was replaced by fox hunting in the open countryside. The dismantled parks were mostly transformed in to tenanted farmland. This would appear to have been the fate of the Termon park.

The southern boundary wall of the Termon deer park also functions in part as townland boundary – dividing Termon and Fahee North townlands. Sometime after the dismantlement of the park, a small section of the boundary wall was repurposed as one of the gable walls of a pre-famine dwelling. (The house is recorded in the Ordnance Survey “six-inch” maps produced between 1832 and 1846).
Furthermore, the wall is much reduced in scale in the immediate vicinity of the cabin. That would suggest that the stone for the building of the other three sides of the house was drawn from the wall. Thus it would appear that the Bloods gave permission to a tenant family to build the cabin with material from the dismantled deer park. The park was located at the Termon side of the wall whereas the cabin is in Fahee North.

The house would have been recorded as a dwelling of 4th classification in the census of 1841 – a primitive, single-roomed cabin made of mud (or stone in the case of the Burren).

The Fahee North cabin was a small, single-roomed drystone construction which would have been roofed with thatch. It was a ramshackle, primeval structure. It is physical evidence of the most important event in the modern history of Ireland – An Gorta Mór/the Great Hunger 1845-1849. The house has a singular story in that it is a pre-famine dwelling made of material (stone) from the landscape of power of the gentry.

The house had latterly been overwhelmed by scrub. The scrub was removed by the Burren Conservation Volunteers (BCV) in November 2024. A family with a unique story lived in this cabin. Their daily lives ebbed and flowed in a mix of wretchedness and gaiety. Thanks to the BCV the family’s obscured homestead has become a “garden of remembrance”.

Author’s note : The author would like to thank the following for their part in the revival of the dwelling – Karen Dorp and BCV, archaeologist Elaine Lynch, landowner Willie O’Reilly and Burren heritage enthusiast Nick Geh.

Naming the Places

Fri, 22 Mar 2024 09:51:42 GMT

The Placenames of the Burren

INTRODUCTION
Irish (or Gaelic) is one of the oldest living languages in Europe. It is a Celtic language and part of the Indo-European family. Irish declined dramatically as the majority language in Clare and Ireland in the 19th century. The last native Irish speaker in County Clare, the seanchaí (storyteller) Paddy Pháraic Mhichíl, died in Doolin the early 1990s.

Though dead as a native language in Clare, Irish is still spoken in the Burren today as a second language by a small minority of tenacious Irish language enthusiasts.

The Great Hunger of the 1840s saw the disappearance through death and emigration of up to three million people – mostly native Irish speakers. In the post-Famine period, a burgeoning Irish middle-class adopted the English language as a means of advancing themselves within the British administration in Ireland. Moreover, the same administration conducted a radical and often brutal programme of linguistic colonisation, most notably through the National Schools.

The 19th century linguistic imposition also involved family and place names being anglicised.

PLACE NAMES
The vast majority of the place names in Ireland today are thus quite meaningless – having been mangled in translation as part of the enormous 19th century British Ordnance Survey mapping of the country. One has invariably to revert to the Irish language in order to understand the meanings of place names.

Toponymy (the study of place names) is important for a number of reasons. Place names assist communications throughout the world. They establish and reinforce identity. Moreover, place names can help greatly in our understanding of the history or geography of individual locales.

“THE BURREN” and “THE CLIFFS OF MOHER”
An excellent example of the anglicisation of a Gaelic place name is “the Burren”. Many think that the name signifies a barren place. Not alone is the Burren not a barren region but the name is in fact derived from the Irish An Bhoireann , which signifies “a place of rock”.

As for the Cliffs of Moher - the place name “moher” is a translation of mothar, meaning a ruin, in reference to a ruined prehistoric fort (no longer extant) at one of the most southerly points of the Cliffs . The Cliffs are primarily visited today for their outstanding natural beauty. However, the original placename informs us that the Cliffs were of strategic importance to a prehistoric élite.

THE VILLAGES
“Bally” is an extremely common prefix in placenames in Ireland. Bally derives from baile which originally meant human settlement. Many “bally”-prefixed towns and villages in Ireland today were founded long after the place name was given. Ballyvaughan is a picturesque village in the north-west of the Burren. The present village was only built up around the harbour in the 1800s. However, the place name Baile Uí Bheacháin significantly pre-dates the village of today. It means settlement of the Ó Beacháins, a historical Gaelic élite.

“Kill” is another very common prefix in placenames. Whereas “bally” signifies secular settlement, “kill” means church or ecclesiastical settlement. Killinaboy is the location of the Burren National Park. Its original name in Irish, Cill Iníne Baoith, means “Foundation of the Saint Daughter of Baoith”, an Early Christian saint. The monastic site of Iníne Baoith is a very important cultural site in the village of Killinaboy today.

Kilfenora is just a few kilometres west of Killinaboy. The village is renowned for its dense concentration of high crosses. Its ecclesiastical importance is also reflected in its original name, Cill Fhionnúrach, translated as “the church of the white brow”.

A word in Irish can often have several meanings. For example, the word lios (anglicised to “lis”) is very common in placenames and can mean any of the following 1. Enclosed ground of ancient dwelling 2. Ring-fort. 3. Fairy mound.

The coastal village of Liscannor lies just five kilometres south of the Cliffs. The original name of the village is Lios Ceannúir . It translates as “the fort of Connor”. The Connors were a dominant clan in the vicinity once. Thus, the “lios” in this case means simply fort.

Lisdoonvarna ( Lios Dúin Bhearna ) means “enclosure at the gapped fort”. The fort in question is Lissateeaun which is located 2.5 kilometres to the north-east of the town.
The original name, Lis an tSidheán , translates as “the fairy fort”. Thus, we can surmise that the “lios” in the case of Lisdoonvarna means fairy fort. According to tradition, a fairy fort is a fortification which was believed to be occupied by fairies.
Place names with the prefixes “kill”, “bally” and “lis” tell us of the human history of the locale.

On the other hand, the coastal Burren villages of Fanore and Bell Harbour were so named because of topographical peculiarities which they enjoy.
Fanore is sometimes referred to as the longest village in Ireland. Its large, sandy beach boasts lavish views of the Aran Islands and Connemara. The Irish name, Fán Óir, means “golden slope” – in homage to the slanted beach with its gold-hued sand.
Bell Harbour is an English “standardisation” of the Gaelic Béal An Chloga. Béal an Chloga translates as “the bell-shaped mouth”, in honour of the tiny, round-shaped bay on which the settlement was founded.

THE R48O/”MONUMENTS ROAD”
The R480 is a regional road running north-south through the Burren interior. It was also historically one of the principal artery routes in the region. There is a high concentration of spectacular archaeological monuments roadside today. That is why some heritage enthusiasts know the R480 as the “monuments road”.

Leamaneh Castle is the first monument you meet when you progress north along the road. Leamaneh is a very impressive twin-structure of a Gaelic tower house and a successive “gentleman’s” mansion. Leamaneh derives from the Gaelic Léim an Fhia meaning “deer leap” in honour of the deer hunting tradition of the Gaelic aristocrats, the O’Briens. They inhabited the demesne in the Medieval period (late twelfth c. – early sixteenth century c. AD).

There are two roadside forts along the R480. They are Caherconnell (Cathair Chonaill) and Cahermore (Cathair Mhór). “Caher” is another very common placename prefix in Ireland. It originates from the Irish cathair, meaning circular stone fort. Cathair Chonaill translates as “Conall's stone ringfort" whereas Cathair Mhór signifies “big stone ring fort”.

The townland is the smallest geographical unit in Ireland. It is a colonial legacy just like the English language placenames. The most visited townland in the Burren is Poulnabrone, home to the eponymous megalithic tomb. The spectacular funerary monument attracts more than 200,000 visitors each year. The name Poulnabrone derives from the Gaelic Poll Na mBrón which means “the hollow of the millstone”.

BURREN NATIONAL PARK
The Burren National Park is one of seven in the Republic of Ireland. The icon of the Park is one of Ireland’s most eccentrically-shaped hills, Mullaghmore ( Mullach M ór). Mullach Mór (206m) translates as “the big summit”. The word “mór” means big and it is common enough in Irish placenames.The Carran part of the National Park is located at the base of Slieve Carran ( Sliabh Cairn). Slieve is a common prefix in place names and signifies hill. So ”Sliabh Cairn” translates as the Hill of the Cairn in honour of a prehistoric tomb on its summit.

Ireland is one of the most minutely-detailed landscapes in Europe. Almost every field has a name and even features within fields on occasion are place-named. Two very good examples from this vast heritage of microtoponymy in Ireland are Léim an Phúca Mór (Big Fairy's Leap) and Léim an Phúca Beag (Small Fairy's Leap). They are two gaps in the summit of Turloughmore hill in the National Park, located opposite Slieve Carran.
The Púca is a fairy, a spirit horse. Whist he features on occasion in placenames in the Burren, surviving folk tales regarding him are scant. Belief in fairies was widespread in pre-Famine Ireland. The post-Famine period was marked by a huge decline in vernacular culture including folk beliefs.

TOLKIEN
The Burren underworld is the most extensive in Ireland and the discovered caves have been place named. Pollnagollum ( Poll na gColm ) is the longest cave on the island of Ireland . It is translated as “the cave of the doves”. According to tradition, doves were wont to take refuge in the cave.
As it happens, Gollum is also the name of one of J.R.R. Tolkien’s best-known characters. Some “Burrenarians” (Burren enthusiasts) maintain that the author’s middle-earth was inspired by the eccentric Burren landscape. Tolkien was a frequent visitor to the region.

CONCLUSION
Directional road signs in the Republic of Ireland are bilingual. This linguistic parity is thanks to a constitutional imperative. When you are travelling through the Burren and beyond, enjoy trying to decipher the original Gaelic names. A valuable resource in this regard is the place name website www.logainm.ie

Finally, bain suaimhneas agus sonas as Boireann na gcarraig . Enjoy the rocky Burren!

Art on a Headstone

Mon, 07 Feb 2022 15:40:25 GMT

In a Burren Graveyard

INTRODUCTION
The placename Glencolmcille comes from the Irish Gleann Cholm Cille meaning the valley of St Colmcille. Glencolmcille is today a sparsely-populated, fertile valley 5.5 kilometres east of Carran, the only village in the Burren hills. An ancient pass ran through the valley in the past providing a critical link between the Burren region and the outside world to the east of it. The importance of this routeway is reflected in the location of many signature sites along it, including four castles in Glencolmcille itself along with an ecclesiastical site of Early Medieval (431-1169) origin. According to tradition, the latter was founded by the renowned monk, Colmcille. The ruin of a church and a graveyard (still in use) stand today on the former ecclesiastical site. The church is considered to date from the 12th century.

THE GRAVEYARD
Graveyards in the Irish country side today are mostly managed by the local municipalities (county councils). However, in the past, it was the minority religious group, Church of Ireland (C. of I.), which oversaw them. C. of I. is an autonomous province of the Anglican community. It was the state religion in Ireland from 1534 to 1871. Though controlled by the C. of I., graveyards were multi-denominational spaces as Roman Catholics (R.C.s) and others could be buried there. The R.C. hierarchy only began to open its own dedicated graveyards after Catholic Emancipation (1823-29).

At Glencolmcille, the funerary "architecture" includes a lavish 18th century mausoleum of a member of the landlord class, Captain Cornelius O'Brien (C. of I.) and also a group of about 20 to 30 small, blank stone markers of the destitute. The graveyard in part reflects Ireland's colonial story of a powerful, unrepresentative élite (mostly C. of I.) and a vast, impoverished R.C. majority.

AN OUTSTANDING HUMBLE HEADSTONE
The markers of the poor R.C.s are concentrated in the north of the graveyard whereas the more monumental graves are to the south of it. The markers measure around 50-60 cm in height. They are all of the local limestone and they invariably have flat faces.

Fellow Burren explorer, Nick Geh, recently discovered one incised headstone amongst all the plain ones. The features depicted on the stone are a scissors, a stone, a hexafoil and either a maze or a labyrinth. The scissors may be an occupational symbol – that of a sheep shearer, a tailor or a dressmaker. The stone is probably the sharpening tool for the scissors. The six-leaved flower within the circle is known as a hexafoil. Hexafoils were assumed, amongst other things, to have apotropaic properties i.e. they could banish/entrap evil spirts. Finally, the three concentric squares may represent either a maze or labyrinth – both of which are ancient symbols, just like the hexafoil.

So much messaging in art form on a small headstone in an old graveyard

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to Carsten Krieger and Nick Geh for use of photos. Thanks to Nick for sharing the discovery and his thoughts on it. Míle buíochas/a thousand thanks

When the Healing has Begun

Wed, 24 Feb 2021 11:09:10 GMT

Magico-religious Healing in Killinaboy

Saintesses like Ita, Brigid and Gobnait are in and around Imbolg but Iníon Baoith is an outlier on the calendar. Her patron day is December 29th - round about the winter solstice.

Her cult is strongest in Killinaboy in Clare where amongst other monuments, there are four holy wells dedicated to her.

Toberineenboy (Tobar Inion Baoith) is on commonage in Commons South and is renowned for cure for sore eyes or warts.

The well is natural feature – a hollow in the bed rock caused by rainwater solution.
The hollow is permanently filled with rainwater and resembles an eye.
Holy wells, known to cure eye ailments, may on occasion resemble an eye (Bord).

The dry stone well house is elliptically-shaped. A humble flag acts as altar within the well house and overhangs the well.

Offerings lie on the altar and vicinity. On a site visit, I recorded the offerings. They included a medallion and four religious figurines on the altar. About 90 coins lay in a small depression on the pavement right behind the well.

The practice of christening girls in the parish ‘Innerwee’ has long died out but Winifred is part of the story too. A re-naming occurred from Iníon Baoith to Winifred - perhaps an attempt to re-create Inion Baoith as a mirror image of St Winifred, abbess, martyr and patron of virgins (Mc Mahon).

In order to get the cure, prayer rounds must be done at the site on two Mondays and a Thursday.

The prayers invoked are one Our Father and three Hail Marys. On completing the rounds, the devotee must leave a blessed offering. Finally, the water must be rubbed “to the eye or the wart” (Schools’ Collection).

Magico-religious healing in the middle of a county near the edge of a continent.

Stated in Stone

Thu, 28 Jan 2021 17:01:55 GMT

Pinnacle Well, Gleninagh, County Clare

‘Tobar Chornáin, near Black Head.
Perhaps the most decorative of the many wells, holy or otherwise, which dot the Burren’.
Peadar O’Dowd.

Tobercornan was a natural spring before it was ‘welled’.
One presumes it was welled when it was canopied.

That happened circa 1860 and so thereafter Gleninagh North had two canopied wells.
The other well is Tobernacrohaneeve, Tobar Na Chroíche Naoimh, only one km away.
Is Gleninagh North the only townland in all of County Clare with, not one, but two canopied wells?

Officially known as Tobercornan, Tobar Chornáin. Now commonly known as the Pinnacle Well.
Discounted by some as not being holy historically though Cooke did state in the 1840s that ‘The neighbouring peasantry call it a Blessed Well.’

The Tobercornan well house was probably commissioned by the land lord, Bagot Blood. Extravagant and all as the design is, it can hardly be defined as a folly as it did serve a function, i.e., shelter for the water users.

Was the project an elite extravagance in order to compete with the nearby local heart land of ‘indigenous spirituality’, Tobernacrohaneeve?
Or alternatively was the canopy designed as a facsimile in miniature of St John’s R.C. church in nearby Ballyvaughan - built in the same period and in the same Gothic revival style?

The whitethorn tree has been ‘culturally modified’, mainly with ribbons. Not always so. The tree was entirely undecorated in a 1980 photo by Peadar O’Dowd.

There are nine townlands in the parish of Gleninagh. The parish was entirely owned by two individuals in the mid-1800s. Whilst more than 90% of the housing stock was fourth classification, ‘miserable hovels’, around about that time*, a small body of water was being housed in a most elegant way.

One could argue that ‘The Pinnacle’ is, amongst other things, a monument to profound inegalitarianism.

Fanagí slán. Stay safe.

*90.4% of the housing stock in the parish of Gleninagh was classified as fourth classification according to the 1841 census.

Nel Blu Dupinto di Blu

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 14:29:37 GMT

Creehaun Killinaboy County Clare

Il Blu Depinto di Blu, in the blue painted in blue, in the Burren National Park at the turning of the year 2020. Air temperature was no more than 4 degrees Celsius. A north wind is blowing Arctic air down on us - a phenomenon known locally as 'The Black Wind'.

The location is Creehaun (Killinaboy), one of 64,000 plus townlands in Ireland. Creehaun measures almost 270 hectares and it does not have a single inhabitant. The place name is a mangling of Crítheán , a bushy place

The big water body is a dramatic winter merger of three lakes - Loch Sceach Ard (high bush lake), Loch Trá Bhán (white strand lake) and Loch Cúil Úrta (damp wood lake).

The three most easterly peaks beyond the water make up the Turloughmore range - a seldom-trod part of the National Park. The heights are 200m, 224m and 267m.

Stone, water, uplands... but the star of the show is the 'candy floss' - cumulus fractus.

Fractus clouds have this jagged, shredded appearance as they are seared by strong winds. They are indicators of fair weather and do not contain precipitation. (Thanks to Nick Geh for the identification).

Il Blu Depinto di Blu is the title of a song more commonly known as 'Volare' written by Domenico Modugno and released in 1958. Domenico died in 1994 but his song has not ended. A presto!

Once Upon A Time In a Parish

Thu, 24 Dec 2020 20:39:33 GMT

St Flannan's Holy Well, Inagh, Co Clare

The less well known of the two St Flannan's Wells in Inagh, County Clare. Flannan being the patron saint of the parish of Inagh. Flannan's day is over - just. It falls on December 18th. "If a person went on the eighteenth of December he would not have to go anymore." (Schools Collection Vol 0611 p. 109).

The well is in a remote location now in Muckinish. It was not always thus. Once the well was located along the old bog road between Ennistymon and Inagh.

"There is a grave yard at the back of it and children were buried in it some years ago. There are two big trees growing in the grave-yard and the grave of the saint is in the middle of it on the top of the hill.

People go there on two Thursdays and a Sunday. They say five "Our Fathers" five "Hail Marys" and five "Glory be to the Fathers" at the well. They go around five times and say "Our Father" and ten Hail Marys and the same at the graveyard.

They leave pictures, medals, statues, pins, pennies and cups (at) are left to take some water. When anybody goes to the well it is said that they leave some thing after them so that they would not take any disease.

They visit this well for sore eyes and for sore feet. " (Schools' Collection - Vol 0611 p. 109).

The offerings today consist of three religious figurines - one of which looks very dated and decayed.
The great French mime artist, Marcel Marceau, said nothing was old fashioned, there was just tradition that was allowed to pass.
Nollaig Shona daoibh go léir. Happy Christmas to ye all.

No Snakes In Ireland

Mon, 06 Jul 2020 11:20:54 GMT

Ireland's Only Reptile

A reptile is a cold-blooded vertebrate animal that includes snakes, lizards, crocodiles, turtles and tortoises. We have one native reptile in Ireland and it is the viviparous lizard (Lacerta vivipara). Earc luachra is the Irish for the creature. A viviparous animal is one which brings forth its young live (as opposed to in egg form).

The viviparous lizard is the most northerly reptile in the world and can even be found within the Arctic Circle. It averages 10 to 16 cm in length. It suns itself in order to reach a body temperature of 30 degrees C. It is then able to hunt effectively. Diet is small insects.

The lizard's predators include kestrels, stoats and minks. If the predator grasps the lizard by the tail, the lizard divests itself of the tail piece leaving the aggressor with a stump. The lizard then grows back its tail.

In the pre-antibiotic era in Ireland, folk medicine was widely practised across the country. The medicine was a mix of the natural (cures from herbs, plants, minerals and animal substances of nature) and the magico-religious. The latter consisted of magic, religious/holy wells and healers (Barron Soverino 2018, 1)

One of the folk beliefs was that if a person licked a lizard, he/she could cure a person of a burn by licking it. There are a number of references to this cure in the Schools Collection for schools in North Clare (SC Vol 0614, 321, Killinaboy ; Vol 0615, 307, Rathbaun ; Vol 0616, 049, Aill Bhéil an Tulaigh/ Ballyvaughan (Drumcreehy)). The Schools Collection is a collection of folklore compiled by schoolchildren in Ireland in the 1930s.

The accompanying photo was taken in Ballyryan in the south-west of the Burren.

According to propaganda, Saint Patrick is credited with banishing snakes from Ireland. Tellingly, Patrick himself never made such a claim in his epistles. Snakes never reached Ireland. The snakes in the Patrick legend are a symbol of paganism.

Finally, there is actually one other reptile in Ireland. However, it is not native. It is the slow worm (Anguis fragilis). It is a legless lizard. Its range is confined to County Clare. The worm was introduced from another jurisdiction by misguided folk a couple of decades ago. As they say in Yorkshire - there's nowt as queer as folk.

Bí slán, sabháilte - Be safe and sound.

REFERENCES
Barron, C. and T. Soverino 2018. Put a frog in your mouth ; toothache 'cures' from Nineteenth- and Twentieth -century Ireland. Journal of the History of Dentistry Vol 66, No.1.
National Folklore Collection 1937/38. The Schools Collection.

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Etching Memories at a Holy Well by Tony Kirby and Nick Geh

Thu, 16 Apr 2020 12:16:13 GMT

St Patrick's Well, Rossalia

LOCATION
The well is located in a small cliff face in the townland of Rossalia on the north eastern slope of Abbey hill. It is 4 kilometres south east of New Quay and 11 kilometres west of Kinvara, Co Galway. An impermeable chert-rich zone on the limestone slope has caused a small outflow of water. The initial part of the outflow was walled in with a well house and is known as Tobar Phádraig (St Patrick’s Well).

An old, unsurfaced road (known as a “green road”) lies just below the well. Less than one kilometre to the east of the well, the green road links up with an ancient North Clare route way i.e. Carcair na gCléireach (literally the Clerics’ Slope), commonly known as the Corker Pass. This route from north Clare into south Galway dates back to the 16th century at least (Gosling 1991, 126). Thus, St Patrick’s has enjoyed a strategic location for centuries at least.

Furthermore, holy wells are often site-specific for symbolic reasons. Some are located on the sea shore (O’Sullivan/Dowling 2006, 37). Though St Patrick’s is not on the seashore, its expansive sea views means that the well enjoys a liminal land/water, world/otherworld location.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gosling, P. (2001). The Burren in Medieval Times. The Book of the Burren . 2nd edition. Kinvara ; Tír Eolas.
O’Sullivan M. Downey L. (2006). Know Your Monuments Holy Wells. Archaeology Ireland. Spring Edition. Dublin – Wordwell Books.

FOLK RELIGION
The folk interpretation of the outflow of water is much more colourful that the scientific one! The story goes that a woman was fainting from dehydration as she was walking up Abbey Hill. She sat down on a rock and started to cry as her attempts to find water had failed. Suddenly, St. Patrick approached her and asked her why she was crying. The woman explained her situation. St. Patrick knelt down beside a rock and prayed to God that a well would spring up. It duly did. St. Patrick then blessed the well. (IFC 1937, 0049, 0169). Thus the miraculous powers of the well are attributed to the saint.

As the well was believed to be sacred and suprenatural, local people did not believe that the water would boil. Moreover, they would not dare to try to boil the water as they feared they might invoke the displeasure of St Patrick.

People who were suffering from pain in their limbs visited the well for the cure. They washed the affected part with the holy water. They would also take home some of the water in a bottle so that they could rub their limbs in the event of the pain recurring (IFC 1937, 0049, 0170).
Holy wells renowned for cure for sore limbs are uncommon. In an inventory of 43 wells in North Clare, the cures were documented for 25 of them. Only one of the 25 wells was renowned for sore limbs – Toberadubh, Caherfadda (Doolin 1991, 168-169).

The patron feast day at the Rossalia well is March 17th, St Patrick’s Day. (IFC 1937, 0049, 0170). Patrick's patron day falls on this date as it is reputed to be his date of death. It was not essential to visit holy wells on the patron day in order to get the cure. However, there are traditions of the water being most effective on that day (Ó Giolláin 2005, 16).

Offerings recorded at the well in the 1840s were “rags, pins, and other worthless offerings of devotees”. They were deposited in a niche within the well house. Talismanic stones were also noted on site – “large, but rudely shaped stones, ranged apparently in religious order” (Cooke 1842-43).

By the 20th century, the votive offerings included “turnips, prayer books, beads, medals and stones”. (IFC 0049, 0170).

Talismanic stones are also recorded at other North Clare holy wells including Tobermacduagh, Keelhilla , Bullán Phádraig, Poulnalour and Tober Moon, Kilmoon West (Westropp 2003,36). “The veneration of stones is often a part of the ritual carried out during pilgrimages to holy wells” (Logan 1980, 97). The stones (often curiously shaped) are imbued with special powers and include swearing stones, cursing stones, returning stones, floating stones and holed stones (Logan 1980, 97-120).

A tiny number of offerings and a photograph of a young person were noted in the well niche in February 2020.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Irish Folklore Commission, The Schools’ Collection (1937). Dublin.
O’Connell J.W. and A. Korff (2001) Lores and Cures and Blessed Wells Lelia Doolin. The Book of the Burren . 2nd Edition. Kinvara – Tír Eolas.
Ó Giolláin, D. (2005). Revisiting the Holy Well. Éire-Ireland. 1 & 2. Spr/Sum 05. Éire-Ireland. New Jersey – Irish American Cultural Institute.
Cooke, Thomas L. (1842-43) . Autumnal Rambles about New Quay, County Clare. Galway - Galway Vindicator.
Comber, M (ed.) (2003). Folklore of Clare T.J.Westropp. Ennis – Clasp Press.
Logan, P. (1980). The Holy Wells of Ireland. Buckinghamshire - Colin Smythe.

THE COMYN CENOTAPH
A cenotaph is a memorial monument to someone who is buried elsewhere. The Comyn cenotaph is located about 30 metres north west of the holy well. It is a rectangular stone mortared structure (L 1.6m ; Wth 1.5m ; H 1.6m). It has been variously described as “a pillar” (Cooke 1842-43), “a memorial stone” (Coffey 1995, 16-17 ),” an erection ” (Beresford Massy 1902, Vol V (2) and a leacht cuimhne (Tunney 2016) . Leacht cuimhne translates as memorial stone. There is an etched tablet in the cenotaph as well as a decorated stone. The tablet reads as follows -

LORD JHSUS
CHRIST HAV
MERCY ON
US PRAY FOR
THE SOULES
OF JOHN COR
NYM AND HIS
WIFE MARY
MNEMARA 1765

The text is in conjoined letters and they are laid out poorly with words spilling from one line on to the next. The disorderly script is explained by the fact that the masons who were inscribing the slabs in those times were illiterate and were copying something they could not read (Jones 2004, 229). It is also worth noting that spelling of names was more variable back then than it is today.

The inscribed "John Cornym" and "Mary M Nemara" would read as John Comyn and Mary Mc Namara. The fourth digit is indistinct but the date appears to us to be 1765. This may be the year of death of one of the couple or both.

The decorated stone consists of a moon face, a symbol of death. It had been partnered by another stone with a sun face on it, a symbol of life. The latter stone was re-located from a decaying side of the cenotaph and was used in the construction of the well house (Coffey 1995, 16-17). The twin stones of sun and moon would have represented the life and death of the Comyns. The moon face is better known today as the logo of local landscape charity, Burren Beo.

The monument may have been commissioned by their son Peter Comyn (1778-1830). Peter was a magistrate who led a colourful and turbulent life. He was found guilty of arson, perjury and forgery and was hung at 52 years of age. Though he was a member of the landlord class, Comyn had a strong interest in the folk customs of the tenantry. A manuscript was found posthumously in which he documented local legends and “the habits, morals and superstitions of the primitive and sequestered people among whom he lived” (O’Donovan and Curry 1839, 11). It is thus not altogether surprising that he located the memorial at the site of St Patrick’s well - a local centre of folk religion then. Comyn also probably choose this location as it was a busy thoroughfare in an area of outstanding natural beauty.

The monument’s condition was decried as far back as the mid-1800s, being described as “mutilated” with vegetation growing out of it (Cooke 1842-43). It was depicted as “sadly crumbling away slowly” as recently as the 1970s (Coffey 1995, 16-17). The monument has been re-pointed and cemented since then and is happily now in good condition.

Some commentators have defined the mound around the monument as a fulachta fia (prehistoric burned mound) . However, the most recent archaeological view is that the mound is spoil (Tunney). The spoil probably consists of waste material drawn up during the digging of the foundations for the monument.

19th century cenotaphs are quite rare in County Clare. However, there are 28 examples of such monuments on Inis Mór, dating from 1811 to 1876. They differ diagnostically from the Comyn monument in that they are “higher than a man” and are surmounted by a cross. Furthermore, the Inis Mór complex commemorate ordinary islanders whereas the Comyn monument perpetuates the memory of members of the landed gentry. In this latter respect, it is more akin to the 19th century cenotaphs north and east of Galway city (including the complex near Cong) which honour society elite (Robinson 1995, 117).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cooke, Thomas L. (1842-43) . Autumnal Rambles about New Quay, County Clare. Galway - Galway Vindicator.
Coffey, T. (1995). Field Notes – Rock Art and Related Rock Scribings in the County Clare. The Other Clare 19. Ennis - Shannon Archaeological and Historical Society.
Beresford Massey, E.H. (1902) Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead Ireland. Vol V (2).
Tunney, M. (2019). www.archaeology.ie Dublin - Ordnance Survey Ireland.
Comber, M. (ed.) The Antiquities of County Clare. Ordnance Survey Letters 1839 O’Donovan, J. and Curry E. Ennis – Clasp Press.
Robinson, T. (1995). Stones of Aran Labyrinth . New York - New York Review of Books.

WILLIAMSON AND BYRNE ROCK SCRIBINGS
INTRODUCTION
There are three stones within the fabric of the well house with scribings on them. Two of the stones are approx. 0.6m by 0.3m whilst the third one is approx. 0.15m by 0.12m. Discussion of the etchings has heretofore been limited to a short piece by Coffey in the mid-'90s(Coffey 1995, 16). Moreover, in an exciting development, previously invisible etching detail has now come to light.

WILLIAMSON
The lower of the two larger stones is the “sun face stone” which was moved from the cenotaph. The main inscription subsequently added to the stone is “ W. Williamson, Curranrue August 3rd 1867 AD”. (Curranrue is now spelt Corranroo). The wording is etched in a very neatly written copperplate script with double strokes on “1867” and “AD”. Williamson’s initials (“WW”) are to be seen in the bottom right corner below a heart. The motto “God Save Ireland” encircles a harp in the bottom left corner. A shamrock is part of the minor decoration outside the circle. “1867” is etched again to the right of harp and motto.

The top stone has some fairly ornate flowers on the left leading into more copper plate script. The first part of the script is a flower-illuminated "L" of the word "Libertas". The "L" also has the distinctive feature of double strokes which is evident in the lower stone. There are more flowers to the right of the script. The text is in Latin and reads – “Libertas et Natale Solum”, which translates as Freedom and My Native Land.

As both stones express nationhood sentiment and feature very neat copperplate script with stylistic similarities, one can conclude that the entirety is the work of Williamson.

Williamson’s rock scribing would have been quite time-consuming which suggests that he attached a lot of importance to it. The knowledge of Latin and the tidy handwriting style would indicate that the author was an educated person. Furthermore, he or she was obviously an ardent nationalist. Apart from the nationhood sentiment in Latin, “God Save Ireland” was a cry in vogue amongst separatists in the late 19th century as autonomy was sought from Great Britain.

Edward O’ Meagher Condon was one of five Fenians found guilty of murder in Manchester on November 1st 1867. Three of the five Fenians, known as the Manchester Martyrs, were hung. O’Meagher Condon was reprieved on account of his U.S.citizenship. His speech from the dock ended with the cry “God Save Ireland”. The phrase subsequently became widespread amongst the Irish worldwide and the refrain of a famous ballad (1994 Curtis, 73). However, the fact that the words were etched in stone in North Clare three months prior to O’Meagher Condon’s famous cry would suggest that “God Save Ireland” had already been in usage prior to the famous dock speech.

Curranrue is the plain and bay which lie just below the well to the north east. “Curranrue Bay, in common with everything in this neighbourhood, owes much to the enterprising spirit of its owner” (Cooke 1842-43).The owner was Burton Bindon and he spent of much of the year living in the village of Curranrue (no longer extant). It has not been possible to trace Williamson of Curranrue. Could the name be an alias for somebody who wished to publicly express his/her political sentiments in an anonymous fashion in turbulent times?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Coffey, T. (1995). Field Notes – Rock Art and Related Rock Scribings in the County Clare. The Other Clare 19. Ennis - Shannon Archaeological and Historical Society.
Curtis, L. (1994). The Cause of Ireland. Belfast - Beyond the Pale Publications.
Cooke, Thomas L. (1842-43) . Autumnal Rambles about New Quay, County Clare. Galway - Galway Vindicator.

BYRNE
The third etched stone measures 0.15 m by 0.12m approx. This etching is a far less ornate affair than that of Williamson. It is devoid of artwork and the lettering is plain. The inscription reads – “M. Byrne RIP AD 1916 Kinvara”. The words “M. Byrne R.I.P.” have been previously documented. “1916” and “Kinvara” have also been recorded though they were not associated with Byrne. The “A.D.” has not heretofore been recorded at all (Coffey 1995, 16).

The Kinavra connection is not surprising given that the well was popular in the past with Kinvara folk. “The two holy wells that are best known are St. Patrick’s and St. Colman’s. St. Patrick’s well is situated about three and a half miles from Kinvara”. (Irish Folklore Commission (IFC), 0049 p. 0169).

The only Byrnes recorded in Kinvara in the period around 1916 lived in Rineen, Doorus. In the 1901 census the surname is given as Beirne. The household is Pat 50 and Mary 45 plus children Michael 17, Patrick 12, Mary 10, Bridget 8, Ellen 5. Pat and Mary’s ages are almost certainly incorrect and should read 60 and 55 respectively.

In the 1911 census the family name is registered as Byrne. (The surname varies between Byrne and Beirne in census and register of marriage and deaths). The household in 1911 is Pat 70, Mary 65, Patrick 20 and Ellen 12. Michael, Mary and Bridget are no longer registered as part of household.

The father Pat was from Roscommon. He and Mary married there in 1864.
Mary died at 70 years of age in Carrick on Shannon on 9th June 1916. A small part of Carrick-on-Shannon is in County Roscommon. Evidently, Pat and Mary moved there in later life. Mary is described as a farmer’s wife on her death certificate and she pre-deceased Pat.

One of the three M. Byrnes from Doorus is memorialised at the well. It is either mother Mary, son Michael or daughter Mary. We have no record of children Michael and Mary subsequent to census 1901 whereas mother Mary’s year of death coincides with that in the rock scribing “M.Byrne RIP AD 1916 Kinvara”.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Coffey, T. (1995). Field Notes – Rock Art and Related Rock Scribings in the County Clare. The Other Clare 19. Ennis - Shannon Archaeological and Historical Society.

COMESHILL
There is one further memorial on site. It consists of a small sheet of zinc or similar about 0.125m by 0.125m. The edges of the plate have been folded back and cemented on to the cliff face. The wording is - “In memory of Matthew Comeshill who died in Ireland August 13th 1958” and it is hand-engraved in copperplate script. The plate is located at head height just before one steps down in to the well.

Mr Comeshill may have been on a visit to Ireland when he passed away. Subsequently, family or friends must have decided to mark his passing with a memorial. This site may have been chosen as Comeshill himself had considered it outstanding - with its spiritual energy and stunning views.

What is beyond doubt is that the plate is further evidence of the rich and curious tradition of memorialisation at St Patrick’s, Rossalia.

CREDIT
All photographs by Nick Geh.

Got To Go Back

Thu, 26 Mar 2020 17:41:47 GMT

Aughinish, County Clare Ireland

INTRODUCTION
I had thought that the nearest County Clare had to an inhabited Atlantic island was Inis Oírr. It is known affectionately on occasion as "the Clare Aran" on account of it strong historical links with Clare. However, Inis Oírr enjoys stronger links with the Galway mainland today and is administratively part of County Galway. Inis Oírr is like its sister islands, Inis Meáin and Inis Mór, a Galway island.

Nonetheless, it did dawn on me quite recently that Clare does in fact have its own inhabited Atlantic island. It is Aughinish in the extreme north-west of the county. Some argue that Aughinish was only an island for a brief period from its detachment from the mainland in the 1750s to its re-attachment via a causeway in the early 1800s.

However, since Aughinish was "islanded" by a natural event (a tsunami) and "de-islanded" by a man-made structure (a causeway), it is still technically and resolutely an island . Aughinish enjoys its deserved place amongst the 570 islands documented in the encylopedic Irish islands guide Oileáin by David Walsh (2004, Pesda Press).

THE STORY OF AUGHINISH
Aughinish is a townland located in the very north of County Clare on the southern shores of Galway Bay. It is separated from the rest of Clare by water. Aughinish is peculiar in that it is only accessible by land via the neighbouring county of Galway. It is a small reality - only about 3 kilometres long and 1.6 kms wide.

The place name is an English language mangling of the Gaelic Eachinis . Eachinis translates as Horse Island. "Ock-in-ish" is how the locals pronounce the name.

Aughinish was originally connected to County Clare. However, that connection was lost in 1755 due to the tsunami effect of the enormous Lisbon earthquake. The Great Lisbon Earthquake may have caused the deaths of up to 50,000 people. Its shocks were felt as far south as North Africa and as far north-west as the west coast of Ireland.
Subsequently, the British built the 0.80 km causeway from Aughinish to the County Galway mainland in order to service their troops in the martello tower constructed on the island after 1811.

Martello towers are circular coastal fortifications which the British built along the Irish coastline (and the coastline of the south east of England) in the early years of the 19th century as they feared a Napoeonic invasion of the then United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Aughinish's modern history has thus been literally shaped by two great European events - the 18th century Lisbon earthquake and poor Anglo-French relations at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Despite the causeway, Aughinish has an island-like feel to it.......a place apart with only about 50 inhabitants. The population was more than 300 people prior to the Great Hunger of 1845-49 (Swinfen 1992, 7).

Aughinish's remoteness means that only the most intrepid visitor will seek it out. A visit is more than worth it as the island is not only rich in history and heritage but it also enjoys a beautiful coastal location.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Swinfen, A. (1992). Forgotten Stones Ancient Church Sites of the Burren and Environs. The Lilliput Press.

VISITING THE ISLAND
I have had occasion to visit the island only twice ever. I visited 15 years ago in order collect a consignment of wedding wine from a German organic wine importer and vegetable grower, Dirk Flake. I visited again in February this year. However, the motive this time was not vinicultural but more about the cultural landscape!

I am currently conducting a survey of killeens (children's burial grounds) in North Clare. I have a provisional list of 30 such sites. Killeens are unconsecrated burial grounds for people who were not deemed worthy of interment on blessed ground. Excavations reveal that the majority of those buried at killeens are unbaptised infants. However, there are also adolescents and adults interred at killeens who were considered deviant in that they were ordained not to have followed life's normal courses - a category of otherness. This funerary apartheid had its roots in the 16th century Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation. The separate burial tradition was abolished by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.

The Aughinish killeen is located in the north-west of the island. I am very grateful to Nick Geh for the spectacular aerial images - including the one of the killeen. The photos were taken from Nick's light aircraft.

CHILDREN'S BURIAL GROUND
There are over 1,400 recorded killeens in Ireland. Many of them today are neglected monuments to the forgotten dead. However, in the last two to three decades, a minority of the sites have been restored by local communities and blessed by clergy. In such cases, the killeens have been transformed in to quasi-gardens of remembrance.

The hitherto neglected Aughinish killeen became one such site of active remembrance in September 1994 . According to island historian Rose Glynn, the graveyard was then enclosed by a dry stone wall. The parish priest of New Quay at the time, Fr Heneghan, blessed the site and said mass there. There was a large attendance at the cemetery. A local man, the late Pat Keane, had a stone cross erected on site in memory of two of his children who are buried there (Glynn 2002, 10). Reconciliation had broken out and the burial place of the forgotten had been finally recognised as holy ground.

Artist Áine Philips inserted temporary public sculptures at three Clare killeens in 2005 in a Ground Up Artists' Collective Project. Philips' particular project was called Shelters (3 Cillíní). Aughinish was one of the sites at which a sculpture was placed.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Glynn, R. (2002). The Story of Aughinish. Rose Glynn.

CHILDREN'S BURIAL GROUND NOW
I visited the killeen in February of this year and it had a really dishevelled look about it. The enclosure wall was decayed in parts. The primitive, unmarked headstones were overwhelmed by rank vegetation and scrub. Furthermore, the stone cross was shattered. The burial ground seems to have gone from birth to decay to re-birth to decay yet again. It would be wonderful if the site had another coming though a locally-driven conservation project with the consent of the land owner.

GOT TO GO BACK
The remains of an old church and a baking house are also located in this north-western corner of the island. The ruins are testament to a much bigger population in pre-Great Hunger times. I had not time to see them on my February visit.
Journalist Susan Daly wrote the article "5 Unusual Ways to Reach Very Special Irish Places" for the on-line periodical journal.ie in October 2012. "The interesting geographical anomaly" of Aughinish was one of the very special places featured. "Got To Go Back" as the title of the Van Morrison song says.

EPILOGUE - PEOPLE
Nick Geh is a Bristol native living in County Galway. He is an aviator with a passion for heritage and the outdoors amongst other things.

Dirk Flake has been market gardening since 1981. He sells his produce at a number of farmers' markets. His imported organic wines are retailed in a number of outlets in Galway.

Rose Glynn was an Aughinish native. She wrote a precious history of the island and self-published in 2002. "The Story of Aughinish" is an out-of-print 92 page paperback. A small number of used copies are available on line and are reasonably priced. Sadly Rose passed away in February this year. Codladh sámh. Rest in peace.

Van Morrison released the recording "No Guru, No Method, No Teacher" in 1986. It was his 16th studio album. It features the song "Got To Go Back".

The Dimming of a Burren Day

Mon, 16 Dec 2019 17:21:44 GMT

Late November 2019

22nd of November in the year '19. In the bleak winter. A rare day for life in Ireland.

The late afternoon view south from Termon in Carran as "the wind and light are working off each other".

The latter is a line from the poem "Postscript" by Séamus Heaney. The poem was first published in The Irish Times. Heaney described it as "a sidelong glimpse of something flying past". He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995. Heaney passed away on August 30th 2013. He was 74 years of age.

"I Need You at the Dimming of the Day" is a powerful love song written by the great English folk artist Richard Thompson. The song is from the album "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight" released by Richard and Linda Thompson in 1974. The album was critically ignored and commercially unsuccessful. It is now considered to be a masterpiece. Thompson played the Royal Albert Hall in London on the 30th of September this year to celebrate his 70th birthday.

Connemara

Tue, 19 Nov 2019 15:22:16 GMT

The Last Pool of Darkness

Connemara is an extensive region of about 1100 square kilometres located west of Galway City.

Its southern confines are defined by Galway Bay. Its western limits are demarcated by the Atlantic whilst to the north the region peters out at Killary fjord.

The great writer and cartographer, Tim Robinson, has described the south Connemara coastline as “banal and overcrowded”. The same can not be said of the sparsely populated interior with its peat lands, lakes and two great mountain ranges, the Twelve Bens to the west and the Maam Turks to the east. Beautiful desolation.

I detoured north to Connemara at the end of my own walking season for a bus man’s holiday in the “mini-Alps” of the Twelve Bens. My base was just outside the Quaker-commissioned village of Letterfrack in the north-western corner of the region. Three out of my four days were characterised by wondrous winter weather whereas day three was a “rain-out” though I hiked just the same.

I arrived just in time to make it up and down Diamond Hill (510m) before the dimming of day one. Diamond is conically-shaped like all the other mountains in the quartzite range of the Twelve Bens. It is located in the National Park and is the most trafficked mountain in Connemara. I only came across two souls during my hike. There is virtue sometimes in vacationing way off-peak.

Niagaran volumes of rain came down on day two. I still managed to walk from and back to Rosroe Pier via the Salrock Pass. The views along the famine relief road of one of Ireland’s only fjords (Killary) are usually magnificent. However, visibility was poor during my hike. When I did glimpse Mweelrea (890m) across the fjord in County Mayo, it looked menacing. Mweelrea is the highest point in the province of Connaught.

Day three was a day from heaven. I took on a complex called Mweelin and followed the instructions in Paul Phelan’s Connemara walking guide to the letter. The hike involves scaling three peaks opposite Kylemore Abbey. The abbey is a Benedictine nunnery and a major tourist attraction in Connemara. The abbey looked like a piece of lego as I gazed down upon it from the peaks of Benbaun (477m), Benbrack (582m) and Knockbrack (442m). Lavish views were also on offer out west towards numerous Connemara islands, some inhabited and some long since disinhibited. Back east the Maam Turks protruded proudly in the winter sunlight.

On day four, I finally met up with my fellow-walking tour guide, Paul Phelan. Paul is the author of the excellent publication Connemara & Mayo Mountain, Coastal and Island Walks A Walking Guide (The Collins Press 2011). We opted for Tully mountain (630m). The mountain and its hinterland are still defiantly known as Leitir (original Gaelic name) by the locals. It is very rich in archaeology – vernacular and monumental. Paul pointed out the Tully walk was one of the best in the region for “drinking in” the Atlantic seascape.

Wending homewards via Galway city, I concluded that the north-western corner of Connemara alone deserves at least a stay of a week if one is disposed to hiking and island-hopping. Beidh mé arais (I will return). Thanks to Paul for the company and maximum respect for the book!

POSTCRIPTS

1. I enjoyed a tea time pint in Veldon’s of Letterfrack almost every evening.

2. Tim Robinson’s astonishing trilogy of books on Connemara is published by Penguin. “Listening to the Wind”; “The Last Pool of Darkness” and “A Little Gaelic Kingdom”.

3. The place names in English have all been anglicised from the Gaelic. Some of the original meanings are as follows -
Connemara (Conamara) – the Conacme tribe of the sea.
Twelve Bens (Na Beanna Beola) - the peaks of Beola, an obscure god.
Maam Turks (Mám Tuirc) - the boar’s pass.
Letterfrack (Leitir Fraic) - the woman’s hillside.
Diamond Hil (Binn Ghuaire) – the peak of Guaire, one-time King of Connaught.

The Three Peaks

Thu, 24 Oct 2019 14:49:42 GMT

Burren National Park Hike

Start and finish: Gortlecka Cross Roads, Burren National Park, Killinaboy.

Description: A strenuous climb of three of the Burren’s most eccentrically-shaped hills. Much of the walk crosses limestone pavement, which is uneven terrain. Mullaghmore, the first of the three hills, is way marked. Sliabh Rua and Knockanes have no way markers.

Highlights : Great views of parts of Clare and Galway countryside. Two substantial prehistoric cairns crown the summits of Mullaghmore and Knockanes. Uncommon turlough flora and many different orchid species can be seen during the flowering season

Distance: 13.5 kilometres. Time: 5.5 hours. Grade : Strenuous.

Map: The Burren - a two inch map of the uplands of north-west Clare. Folding Landscapes. 1:31680 or Discovery Series Map No 51. Ordnance Survey of Ireland. 1:50 000.

Turn right at Gortlecka Cross Roads on to Crag Road. Walk a kilometer along this road till you come to a stile on the left had side of the road with an information display board. Proceed through the stile towards the dramatically folded Mullaghmore hill.

You will soon see flood debris, (a trail of dead plant material), which signals the winter high-watermark of the Lough Gealáin turlough (seasonal lake). Northern bedstraw ( Galium boreale ), marsh dandelion ( Taraxacum palustre ) and fen violet ( Viola persicifolia ) are uncommon wildflowers in Ireland and Britain. However, with careful searching you may be lucky to see them here in spring between the summer low-watermark and the winter high-watermark of the turlough.

The ascent is along a stone-bordered path. Keep an eye out for the fossils of colonial corals along the way - they look like black nodules.

The Burren hills are characterized by terrace-and –cliff topography. You cross two terraces and ascend the trail alongside a couple of cliffs before you see the summit of Mullaghmore ahead of you to the north.

Mullaghmore is crowned by a cairn – a huge aggregate of loose stones within which the bones of Stone Age or Bronze Age special dead are interred in chambers or stone boxes. Cairns also functioned as temples where the living practiced religion and ritual.

The late, great Burren writer and philosopher, John O Donoghue, considered Mullaghmore to be a sacred mountain and memorably wrote “Mullaghmore is the tabernacle of the Burren. Once glimpsed it can never be forgotten”.

The grasslands at the summit of Mullaghmore provide sweet, nutritious feed for the cattle in winter. The limestone absorbs heat in spring/summer and releases it in autumn/winter. The resultant benign winter is one of the incentives the farmer has for out-wintering the cattle on the Burren hills. The Burren is one of the few regions in the world livestock are transfeered to altitude in winter. The summit of Mullaghmore abounds in spring with the lemon-yellow delicate flowers of the hoary rock-rose (Helianthemum oelandicum ) – a rare plant in the north of Europe.

The summit offers excellent views of the hinterland. The dwelling used as the parochial house in the ecclesiastical TV comedy series Father Ted is due west of the peak. The 400 million year old sandstones of Slieve Aughty in East Galway are to the north-east.

Slieve Aughty is home to a huge wind farm whilst Maghera is the name of the hill in Clare to the east. The antenna on the hill serves as a regional radio and television transmitter. Lough Bunny, (the largest lake in the east Burren wetlands), is to the east in the foreground. The lake is 195 hectares in area and much of it is surrounded by limestone pavement.

Proceed along the peak of Mullaghmore in a north-easterly direction towards Slieve Rua. As you descend Mullaghmore, you see ahead the stunning folds on the southern slopes of Slieve Rua.

Mullaghmore, Slieve Rua and Knockanes serve as a fine study in glacial erosion, tectonic processes and dissolution by rainwater. The limestone was laid bare by the erosive action of great ice sheets. The terrace and cliff formation was formed by the stripping effect of both water and ice on the weaker points of the rock mass. The huge swirls were created by tectonic movement in the earth's crust. The earth movements had the effect of distorting the hills in this south-eastern corner of the Burren into a series of folds. The cumulative impact of nature’s forces is the formation of one of the most distinctive hill ranges in Ireland.

Having climbed to the top of Slieve Rua, Knockanes is to the north-west. The Knockanes peak can soon be reached by crossing the saddle between it and Slieve Rua. Knockanes also has a cairn on its summit. Galway Bay and South Connemara are visible on a fine day from here.

You do not have to cross the summit of Mullaghmore again on your journey back. When you reach the saddle between Slieve Rua and Mullaghmore, just follow the arrows in a westerly direction in order to return to the trailhead along the western slopes of Mullaghmore – homeward bound after an exhilarating National Park hike!

Finally – what’s in a name. Most family and place names in Ireland were anglicized during the colonization and have been rendered meaningless. One must revert to the original Gaelic names to get any sense of meaning. Thus, Mullaghmore is from Mullach Mór (the big top). Slieve Rua is from Sliabh Rua (the red hill) and Knockanes comes from Cnocán (little hill)…and slán tamall means bye for a while!

The Blind Man's Cliffs

Thu, 29 Aug 2019 09:08:28 GMT

A piece of Burren Coast Line

Ailladie Cliffs are located in the south west of the Burren. The limestone cliffs are 800 metres long and 35 metres at their highest point. Aillidie is an anglicisation of Aill an Daill which means The Blind Man’s Cliffs. It is one of Ireland’s most prized rock climbing locations.

The shelf under the cliffs is popular with shore anglers. Several rocks have numbers painted on them for club angling competitions.
The painted rock in the photo weighs several tons and was thrown on to the shore by a storm – testament to the ferocity of the North Atlantic.

Ailladie offers sublime coastal views including west to the Aran Islands.
Extreme care should be exercised along the coastline.

Coppiced Woodland in the Burren

Mon, 15 Jul 2019 12:29:52 GMT

A Fading Tradition

Coppice is "an area of woodland in which the trees or shrubs are, or formerly were, periodically cut back to ground level to stimulate growth and provided firewood or timber" Oxford Dictionary of English.

The rich coppicing tradition of the Burren has almost died out.
Indeed, the decline of coppicing and farming in the Burren hills over the last fifty years or so has meant an incremental "greening" of the distinctly stony landscape.

So lack of human pressure is leading to a loss of some of the rare Burren global land form of limestone pavement. The ecological succession is hazel with a fine ash canopy emerging above it.

Wild Atlantic Music Lovers

Wed, 17 Apr 2019 14:12:22 GMT

Walking the Burren with Lovers of Tunes

It was Edward (aka "Eddie) King of the brand new Wild Atlantic Music Tours (W.A.M.T.) who engaged me to lead the company's first ever group on a Burren guided walk on a glorious, sunny day this April. I met the group on the coast on the last day of their 6 day traditional music tour of the sweet County Clare. They were in uber-ebullient form having spent an exceptional week in the company of their musical chaperone, the renowned multi-instrumentalist Kevin Crawford.

Coastal Burren was its best with very generous views of the North Atlantic, the Aran Islands, Galway Bay, the south Connemara coastline, the Cliffs of Moher and the rocky, majestic Burren itself. On and on and the craic was good to paraphrase Van Morrison.

The Burren had just begun to bloom and we got a glimpse of the region's's bizarre warm climate/cold climate flower mélange with the Early Purple Orchid (Orchis Mascula) and the Spring Gentian (Gentiana Verna) thriving within inches of each other.

Most of the group hailed from the U.SA. However, I do recall a couple from Stratford, Canada and I won't forget Simona from Cagliari in a hurry. I lived in Italia for five years and Sardinia has a place in my heart. Pete took sublime photos. Everybody was extremely affable and enthusiastic. It sure didn't seem like work to me - au contraire it was a real pleasure to be inside the WAMT "love bubble" for a couple of hours!

We hiked in the south-west of the Burren, where coastal plants like Common Scurvygrass ( Cochlearia officinalis ) add to the bewildering Apine-Arctic-Mediterranean mix. The plant is a rich source of Vitamin C and was used in the past to prevent scurvy, a nightmare ailment caused by Vitamin C deficiency. The ailment widely afflicted the labouring classes during the Great Hunger in Ireland in the 1840s as the potato (the peasant's main source of Vitamin C) was decimated by a fungus for six pestilential years. We associate scurvy today with the developing world. However, the disease is on the rise again in the developed world due to deficient diet.

Our walk may have been a symphony of stone and sea and plants but the show was stolen in the end by Ireland's only reptile, the viviparous lizard (Lacerta viviapara). Viviparous creatures are so called as they bring forth their young live rather than in the form of eggs. The noun is viviparity! The lizard likes the bare limestone of the Burren. It draws heat from the stone and the sun. When it is energised sufficiently by the heat, it goes a-hunting for insects and spiders. It is only about 36 centimetres long (15 inches). The lizard is elusive so we were the lucky ones. It is the most northerly non-marine reptile in the world.

Snakes are reptiles too and the story goes that we had them in Ireland in the past. In fact, our patron saint Patrick is credited with banishing them from Ireland according to over-imaginative hagiographers or writers of the lives of saints. However, science can be inconvenient and the truth is that there have never been snakes in Ireland. The hagiographers were so ideologically skewed that they may have been using the snakes as a metaphor for the paganism that the evangelist Patrick triumphed over. I guess the moral of the story is that the narrative of Patrick and the snakes is a load of "paddywhackerooney "(Celtic codswallop!).

"The Kinnity Sessions" (2004) by super goup Lúnasa was one of the soundtracks of the lives of myself and Eimer when we lived in Dublin . That is before we moved west and had family. So it was immense to meet up with Lúnasa flute player Kevin Crawford as he led the first ever W.A.M.T. group on its remarkable week-long musical extravaganza.

Kevin assured me that Lúnasa is still very much an active project. He is also a member of another great trad outfit, The Teetotallers, in tandem with two other giants of the Irish traditional music scene - Martin Hayes and John Doyle. Kevin also serially collaborates with other great musicians and singers. One of his most recent collaborations was with the New York singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant. Kevin has been living in Brooklyn for the past six years and his musical endeavours take him back to Ireland for about six weeks each year. He is great fun and unassuming. Happy to meet, sorry to part.

Finally, a big bualadh bos (round of applause) for Eddie and his W.A.M.T. partner Robert for the barnstorming start to their venture. W.A.M.T. is cutting edge cultural tourism laced with lots and lots of fun. Go n-eirigh an bóthar leo! (May the road rise with them!).

"A Vast Memorial to Bygone Cultures"

Wed, 27 Feb 2019 17:12:32 GMT

The Archaeology of the Burren

INTRODUCTION
The Burren region of 350 square kilometres is home to more than 2,000 recorded monuments.It is one of Ireland’s richest archaeological landscapes. “The Burren is a vast memorial to bygone cultures” are the words of the great landscape writer and mapmaker Tim Robinson (1999). The easy availability of stone and its durability as a building material help to explain the dense concentration of monuments.... as does the millennia of"sympathetic", low-impact farming.

Bibliography
Robinson, T. (1999). The Burren ; a two-inch map of the uplands of north-west Clare. Folding Landscapes.

MESOLITHIC 7000-4000 BC
Two shell midden (dump) sites near Fanore beach were excavated in recent years by archaeologists Michael and Clodagh Lynch of Killinaboy. Findings included hunter-gatherer stone tools and shell beads. These finds have been dated to the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) period. The finds are in fact the first evidence ever of pre-farming civilisation in County Clare. This hunter-gatherer period ended with the arrival of farming in to Ireland in the Neolithic (New Stone Age) period.

NEOLITHIC 4000-2000 BC
One of the foremost icons of Neolithic Ireland is the Poulnabrone portal tomb. The bones of the interred date from 3,800 to 3,200 years BC. Poulnabrone is the oldest dated neolithic tomb in Ireland. It was constructed by pioneer farming communities in the Burren. Poulnabrone is the most visited site in region, attracting around 200,000 visitors each year (Duffy 4, 2016). The popularity of the site is proof of the importance of archaeology to the region’s tourism industry.

Bibliography
Duffy T. (2016). Discussion of options for sanitary solutions for visitors to the Poulnabrone Dolmen, Co.Clare . Burren Cliffs of Moher Geopark.

BRONZE AGE 2000-600 BC
The cult of death changed in the Bronze Age from communal to individual burial. Hundreds of cist (box) graves in the Burren date from this period. Many of them are covered by cairns which are large mounds of loose stones. The Poulawack cairn enjoys a spectacular elevation position south-west of Poulabrone. On excavation, burials were dated from both the Neolithic and the Bronze Age (Jones 2004, 33).

The other widespread evidence of Bronze Age mankind in the region is the fulachta fiadh (cooking pit of the deer or the wild one). The monuments are known as burnt mounds in the U.K. and U.S.A. The mounds were water stations where the water was boiled by hot rock. The fragmented rock was subsequently discarded around the station forming a distinctive, crescent-shaped mound. The boiling water was used by the Bronze Age farming communities for a myriad of purposes. There are hundreds of fulacht fiadh in the Burren.

Bibliography
Jones C. (2004). The Burren and the Aran Islands Exploring the Archaeology. The Collins Press.

IRON AGE 600 BC-400 AD
Farming in The Burren, and Ireland in general, seems to have undergone a mysterious lull during the Iron Age as the forest re-established itself. Only a small amount of archaeological sites in the region have so far been dated to this period.

EARLY MEDIEVAL 400-1169 AD
The successive Early Medieval period was distinguished by very prosperous times economically with a huge upsurge in agricultural activity. 30 church sites from this period have been identified in North Clare (Sheehan 1986, 46). North Clare broadly corresponds to the Burren region.

My own favourite is St Colman’s, the only hermitage in the region. The site is set in sublime mature woodland at the base of the steepest cliff in the region. It is the only monastic site in the Burren located in the stony, “penitential” uplands. All of the other Early Medieval monastic sites are situated in the valleys with their thick cover of fertile glacial deposits over bedrock.

The political equivalent of the monastic site in this period was the ring fort. The forts were fortified farmsteads of the farming élite. This hierarchy was the great patrons of the monasteries. There are about 500 ring forts in the Burren (Dunford 2002, 17).

Holy wells were probably a pagan introduction to Ireland from Roman Britain, a cultural overspill. However, the Early Medieval monks seem to have readily incorporated this pre-Christian water cult in to Christianity. I estimate that there are about 50 holy wells recorded on Tim Robinson’s Burren map.

Bibliography
Sheehan J. (1982). The Early-Historic Church Sites of North Clare. North Munster Antiquarian Journal Volume 24 03. Thomond Archaeological and History Society.
Dunford B. (2002). Farming and the Burren. Teagasc.

MEDIEVAL 1169-16th CENTURY AD…AND ONWARDS
The idiosyncratic Early Medieval Irish take on Christianity concluded in the 1100s at the start of the Medieval period. Parish churches of the incoming “experienced multi-nationals” (Mc Mahon 2013, 56) like the Augustinians, sprouted up as well as expansive new abbeys. Arguably the most spectacular antiquity in the Burren region is Corcomroe Abbey in Bell Harbour – a 13th century Cistercian construction in origin.

The farming élite gradually changed abode type from ring forts to tall slender stone buildings called tower houses. There are over 20 of them in the Burren. The name “tower house” explains their twin function of defence and dwelling. One of the finest 17th century residences in the west of Ireland was Leamaneh Castle, a gentleman’s mansion which is in fact built on to a 15th century tower house – both located at a critical southern entry point to the Burren in the past.

Bibliography
Mc Mahon M. (2013). The Parish of Corofin A Historical Profile . Michael Mc Mahon.

THE WIDER CULTURAL LANDSCAPE
The Burren otherwise features a very dense concentration of stone structures which are not classified as archaeological monuments. Nevertheless, these structures are themselves also culturally very significant in our attempts to understand the past. Such structures include the thousands of kilometres of dry stone walls, pre-Famine peasant dwellings, thuiles (fuel-drying stone constructions), crós (kid goat stone pens), mass rocks, penitential stations and much, much more.

“Human endeavour transforms the natural world to form the cultural landscape”. (Aalen F.H.A. 1997, 4). The Burren in County Clare is one of Ireland’s richest cultural landscapes.

Bibliography
Aalen F.H.A. (1997). Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape . Editors F.H.A. Aalen, Kevin Whelan, Matthew Stout. Cork University Press.