JOURNAL 2013

Ireland: Monday, July 22, 2013

I took my walk yesterday along the foot of Moneen and Aillwee mountains onto the ringfort of Cathair na hYamham. I found things much changed from what I experienced in my past visits. This visit is much later in the season so there are different wildflowers and vegetation (in the past I have visited the Burren in May and in early June). In the past there were stiles built into the stone walls in which one could easily climb over and wander and investigate the limestone pavement. These stiles either no longer exist or the full growth of the vegetation has them well hidden.

The landscape was very beautiful and peaceful and I started taking some close up photos with my little Nikon camera that has served me well over the years. In the past it has periodically given me some trouble with the little automatic lens cover getting stuck –well yesterday it decide that it is stuck for good and will not allow me to take any photographs because of an lens cover error message. All the photos that I will post from now on with be taken with my iPhone.

The field that contains the ringfort of Cathair na hYamham has changed a lot as well. Before where there was a large field for grazing cows has now been divided up into separate fields by stone walls made of very large pieces of limestone, so large that only some kind of mechanized earth mover would have been able achieve. The stone walls along the narrow roadway have been built up which no longer makes it possible to enter the field to walk to the ringfort.

This morning I received an email from Anne Korff of Tir Eolas Publishing in Kinvara to set up a meeting for tomorrow morning to review the concept for my book project. She will be meeting me at the bus stop at Kinvara at 10:00 so I will be taking the early bus from Ballyvaughan.

I was planning on traveling into Galway today but I will stay here at Meadowfield and do some manuscript writing to prepare for tomorrow’s meeting. The owner of Meadowfield B&B has been very gracious to allow me to turn her dining room into an office after her guests have had their breakfasts and are out for the day.

I was lucky enough to finish two new drawings just before I left for Ireland and put them into the mock-up layout of the book: The Holy Well of the Holy Cross and Poulnabrone Dolmen. I hope the writing muse is with me today as I labor . . .

Holy Well of the Holy Cross

Poulnabrone Dolmen