 |
| Killala boats |
Last weekend we took a trip from Belfast to the furthest western reaches of Ireland. The drive was a beautiful one, passing through the lakelands of Fermanagh, Cavan and Leitrim and the hills and lighthouses of Sligo, until finally we reached County Mayo. The wonderful thing about traveling in Ireland is that each hill and country road is every bit as spectacular as the destination.
We rambled through North Mayo sampling hill lamb in Ballina's Market Kitchen, visited the old fishing village of Killala (where many brightly painted boats seemed to go to die), and ventured into the Megalithic Tombs near Rathlackan. In the heavy rain the boglands soaked up our feet just as quickly as the rainwater. The bogs are made up of 90% water and the remainder residual plant matter, acting as a unique habitat for flora and fauna and preserving places, such as the Ceide Fields, for thousands of years.
The site of the Ceide Fields is Ireland's earliest known settlement. Walking around the nearly 6,000 year old stone structures, overlooking the Northwestern hills and beneath the pitter patter of soft rain, was like going back in time. There were no weapons or fortifications found among the well preserved remains buried deep within the blanket of bog. Here is evidence that thousands of years before the Vikings, the Normans, the British, the Planters and the Troubles - there was peace in Ireland!
If our towns and cities were deserted today and consumed by boglands, it's interesting to think what people may learn of us in the years to come.
We continued on to the Irish Country Life Museum and Turlough Cemetary, each sharing insights into a more recent history of Ireland's West. We slept in beautiful hotels and enjoyed delicious meals in Westport. We drove through Ballycroy National Park and danced on the beach at Achill Island. As we drove through the dramatic hills we lost track of mankind - only reminded that this land wasn't solely inhabited by the many sheep dotting the landscape by the freshcut peat drying in the fields.
I spent the next few hours of our journey soaking up every experience of peacefulness Mayo was introducing. I left feeling rejuvenated by the settlement at the Ceide Fields and by the striking natural beauty and calm that our wee island embodies - both in spirit and now also in history. As we traveled back to the land of Seamus Heaney I felt I understood a bit better his poem of the Bogland. At the very least I was quite inspired to write a few lines on the majestic powers of the boglands myself.
 |
| Ceide Fields |
We rambled through North Mayo sampling hill lamb in Ballina's Market Kitchen, visited the old fishing village of Killala (where many brightly painted boats seemed to go to die), and ventured into the Megalithic Tombs near Rathlackan. In the heavy rain the boglands soaked up our feet just as quickly as the rainwater. The bogs are made up of 90% water and the remainder residual plant matter, acting as a unique habitat for flora and fauna and preserving places, such as the Ceide Fields, for thousands of years.
The site of the Ceide Fields is Ireland's earliest known settlement. Walking around the nearly 6,000 year old stone structures, overlooking the Northwestern hills and beneath the pitter patter of soft rain, was like going back in time. There were no weapons or fortifications found among the well preserved remains buried deep within the blanket of bog. Here is evidence that thousands of years before the Vikings, the Normans, the British, the Planters and the Troubles - there was peace in Ireland!
If our towns and cities were deserted today and consumed by boglands, it's interesting to think what people may learn of us in the years to come.
 |
| Keem, Achill Island |
I spent the next few hours of our journey soaking up every experience of peacefulness Mayo was introducing. I left feeling rejuvenated by the settlement at the Ceide Fields and by the striking natural beauty and calm that our wee island embodies - both in spirit and now also in history. As we traveled back to the land of Seamus Heaney I felt I understood a bit better his poem of the Bogland. At the very least I was quite inspired to write a few lines on the majestic powers of the boglands myself.
