A Heron's View

I don't believe that I have ever shared with you that my first love was painting and that at various times in my life I have been quite prolific. During the in-between times my mind was wholly taken up with poetry which filled and satisfied my being.

Creative poetry now seems to have left me high and dry once again ! So I have now returned to my first love once more and have set myself up in our spare room.

This is my five-hundredth blog post and the last photos of our recent holiday

on the West coast of Co Clare.

It would be fair to title this photo 'Ancient and Modern'.

In the foreground is the traditional curach which has been in use for centuries 

by the inshore fishermen of Ireland.

Modern lobster and crab pots made of steel.

My eye was caught by the high trees, so close to the shore, an unusual sight

in this part of Clare for you can travel for miles without seeing any at all.

The glorious limestone of the Burren dominates all 

and provides an eye stopping backdrop.

The small harbour of Ballyvaghan and a large old anchor

The houses of Ballyvaghan seem to cling to the shore for survival, 

squashed as they are between the Burren hills and the sea.

Further along the coast is Fanore beach with its sand dunes. 

I imagine that it may be a good place to fish with a rod and line 

given the right conditions.

In the foreground are the feeding grounds of sea birds as well as herons and egrets.

The rocky isles are almost totally covered by the high tides each day.

Night falls slowly and the sea has a particular look about it 

that says winter is not far away.

The ever-present elements of wind powered waves crash upon coastal rocks

to shape the land that we call home.

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My great appreciation and thanks to everyone who visits and reads this blog

and please leave me a comment for it is nice know who has visited.

This blog has returned to normal, well whatever normal is... This blog is a continuation of our holiday in Co. Clare and the photos are those that were taken in the early morning immediately after my first nights sleep in a strange bed. A single bed at that, which in itself felt strange, not having the comfortable companionship of a sleeping partner immediately next to me. 

The dawn light breaks lovingly through in the eastern sky.

On the horizon the low fog and the sea reflects the dawn lights.

And all is tranquil.

Looking to the northeast-ish.

Our holiday home and the replaced Bentley catches the early light.

Long shadows are cast upon the ground, typical for the time of the year.

The small harbour of Ballyvaghan with its fishing boats sit silently shrouded under 

Cappanwalla and Gleninagh Moutains of The Burren.

Later that day we visited an Arts and Crafts Exhibition where Jane met a local artist Helen Lowe.

 It turned out, unknown to me, that they are Facebook friends ! 

There are more photo's to share with you because I really do want to show case

this part of Ireland with you all.

On our travels we often find interesting places, like the one below which is almost hidden from sight by shrubbery. It is the ruins of a gate lodge belonging to a once large coastal demesne of Finavarra House in Co Clare, built in the 1800's.

I expect if it had a voice there would have been some interesting stories it could relate.

Perhaps the gate keeper would utter tales about his employers coming and going at all hours of the day and night and talk of their visitors, those who would tip him well or those who would speak kindly to him and those who would not.

There is enough of the lodge remaining that it would be an interesting project

to renovate and carefully modernise the old building.

The gate has gone now and has been replaced with a modern tubular field gate

so that only the stout stone pillars remain.

All of the windows and the doorway have cut stone features.

Through the front window you can glimpse the interior. 

I can only imagine that it was once a cosy home with a roaring fire here on the hearth.

A superb view of the coastal waters would have been seen from the lodge.

Wouldn't you love to see this view as you woke each morning ?

If I have a fad for a particular piece of clothing it has to be that of a waistcoat. 

This all started at the age of fourteen when I became the owner of an ex-army sleeveless, leather drivers' jacket with a khaki lining; it became my pride and joy when going on long hikes across Dartmoor as it kept me warm and left my arms unrestricted to do those things that are necessary when camping alone.

Over the years I have had several waistcoats and still have quite a few in my possession.

As a consequence of this fad my eyes are always on the lookout for a new one.

We recently visited a treasure trove of books, cards, clothes and jewellery in Kinvara Co. Galway.

Ostensibly we dropped in to get Mrs H a copy of Jack Roberts' new book 'Island of the Sheela-Na-Gigs' (ISBN 978-908378-40-8) but you can imagine how delighted I was when my eyes fell on a rail of waistcoats! One in particular caught my eye and to be honest I did not know why at the time.

In our wild garden

The wonderfully comfortable waistcoat

The rear view showing its sensible length

The embroidered emblem.

After a day of wearing the waistcoat I suddenly recalled that the design

on the back reminded me of my first mantra when I first started in the practice

of transcendental meditation of over forty-five years ago!

Detail of buttons

Regina Tierney  the Faerie Tailor of County Clare who is the designer of my waistcoat.

She also creates clothes and beautiful jewellery. 

Please visit her website here - http://celticfusiondesign.com/

Autumnal colours at Mount Shannon

It was with sorrow that we found an inconvenient Convenience.

It does make me wonder about the sincerity of the local administrators,

 closing down buildings such as these.

 Where do they expect needy visitors to relieve themselves ?

It is against the Law in Ireland to relieve oneself within in a public area 

irregardless of whether private parts are actually visible - even behind a tree.

In Mount Shannon harbour a foreign ( Dutch ?) craft is for sale.

I found her stern quarters as attractive as her bow and especially the yellow detailing.

The mascot of the Iargo Sneek.

From the banks of east Clare across a placid Shannon to Tipperary.

I think that the tower house, bottom right is Castlebawn which was restored in 1995

http://homepage.eircom.net/~castlebawn/index.htm

Lots of islands loiter creating dreams for some.

In case you are wondering I am not focussed on the tree :-)

More islands lurking near the banks of Clare can be seen when in County Tipperary.

From Portroe in Tipp to the misty mystique of county Clare.

In the foreground an old sleeping ground of yesterday's people lie silently slumbering.

I hope that you have enjoyed this photographic visit

as much as I have in sharing them.

We sat in the car after our rambles on the shore at Tracht, - see my previous post :https://aheronsview.blogspot.ie/2017/09/tracht-beach-flowers.html discussing all that our eyes had feasted on and the conversations we had been part of with people who were previously unknown to us - and still are because we never exchanged names.

An interlude of silence followed, broken by Mrs H who said she would like a cup of tea. I suggested that perhaps a delicious ice cream from Messrs. Linalla at Finavarra would soothe her, as it was only a few minutes drive away. 

Map of Finavarra

The area around Fhíonaigh Bheara, Finavarra is rather special to me for several reasons.

There is a Martello tower on the point jutting out into Galway Bay, a place that I frequently visited in the past when wanting time alone with the elements and the curlew. 

https://aheronsview.blogspot.ie/2011/09/where-curlews-sing.html

A view of the countryside from outside of Messrs. Linalla's.

another view from the same place

Another similar establishment was Cahermacnaughten, near Ballyvaughan along the coast, where the once great Brehon Law School was held under the auspices of the O’Davorens. 

Originally these laws were handed down by word of mouth, passed from master to student, but from the seventh century onwards they were written down. One of the most important recorded sources of Brehon Law is the manuscript Egerton 88, now in the British library. This was copied in the 16th century from older documents at the law school of Cahermacnaghten.

 inland bay

The other end of the same bay

'The Almost Floating House'

and I always wonder if the occupiers ever fish out of there windows 

from the comfort of an armchair.

This whole maritime landscape is steeped in all that is precious to me, Irish culture, seats of ancient learning, wild nature and deep peace.