Jul

17

A recent trip (well, before the last 2 months of rain) to the Glen revealed this fern monster. Each frond is approximately 2 metres long – the blurry photograph does not really do it justice.

Giant Fern 2

It has been suggested to me that this is the Broad Buckler Fern (Dryopteris austriaca) – information like this is difficult to pin down online.

Last weekend I purchased Complete Irish Wildlife in an effort to have a backpack friendly reference for walks. It’s pretty comprehensive guide to all things relating to wildlife, flora and fauna on the island of Ireland. For example, did you know that we have over 70 different types of moths?

Anyway, according to page 276 of this guide this fern is “favouring damp woods, heaths and mountain slopes, usually on acid soils.” Sounds right, though the description of frond length up to 1m does not tally.

If this is not a Broad Buckler Fern, could someone put me straight?

Jun

8

Over the years, the cairn at the top of Knocknarea has suffered a fair amout of abuse – mainly from climbers removing rocks and making their own mini-”cairns”, building towers, spelling their names. The last time I climbed a few years ago it was bad – judging by comments over the past few months – not too good.

Local archaelogist Martin Timoney, and the Warriors festival committee have highlighted their concerns in the local media, and this weekend everyone gets a chance to help.

The annual climb in aid of the Sligo branch of the Diabetes Federation takes place this Sunday, June 10th at 2pm. All are encouraged to bring a stone to the top of the cairn to replaces the ones that have already been removed.

There will be refreshments and drinks at the car park after the climb – get climbing, get picking!

Mar

16

What with St Patrick’s Day almost upon us, it seems timely to mention the legend surrounding the founding of the early Christian Church at Killaspugbrone (the Church of Bishop Bronus).

The eponymous Bishop was the son a local chieftain, and a companion of St. Patrick. Patrick seemingly lost a tooth on the site, and Bronus took it upon himself to build a Church on the site.

Ask about Ireland have a good piece on this history, including the fact that the Shrine currently resides in the National Museum of Ireland. This description comments that the shrine is

“…a handsomely decorated shrine of wood, in the form of a horse shoe, satchel, or reticule, eleven and a quarter inches wide by nine wide, and somewhat wedge-shaped..”

A reticule is a small bag for money or other small items, and it does seem like that Patricks teeth (when they fell out..) were prized.

Nice story – and a good illustration of the local heritage that is all around us.

Mar

16

Though born in Dublin, the Irish poet William Butler Yeats is most often associated with the West of Ireland, and specifically Sligo. Many of his poems refer to local landscapes and places – Lissadell, Benbulben, and Innisfree (Lough Gill) are immediately recognisable to even those briefly passing.

This early poem “Red Hanrahan’s Song about Ireland” is an early one from a collection entitled “In the Seven Woods” published in 1903 :

“The old brown thorn-trees break in two high over Cummen strand,
Under a bitter black wind that blows from the left hand;
Our courage breaks like an old tree in a black wind and dies,
But we have hidden in our hearts the flame out of the eyes
Of Cathleen, the daughter of Houlihan.

The wind has bundled up the clouds high above Knocknarea,
And thrown the thunder on the stones for all that Maeve can say.
Angers that are like noisy clouds have set our hearts abeat;
But we have all bent low and low and kissed the quiet feet

Of Cathleen, the daughter of Houlihan.
The yellow pool has overflowed high up on Clooth-na-Bare,
For the wet winds are blowing out of the clinging air;
Like heavy flooded waters our bodies and our blood;
But purer than a tall candle before the Holy Rood
Is Cathleen, the daughter of Houlihan.”

Cathleen Ni Houlihan of course is the heroine that has been repeatedly used through Irish literature to represent poor old Ireland. In this poem, a few obvious places on the peninsula are referenced – but where is “Clooth-na-Bare”?

Mar

5

The following extract is from the local Strandhill Development Plan, and describes the geography of the pensinsula.

“Strandhill is located 5 miles (8 km) from Sligo town on the western extremity of the Coolera Peninsula. The village extends along the north-western foothills of Knocknarea mountain and is surrounded on three sides by the coast: Cummeen Strand to the north, Sligo Bay to the west and Ballysadare Bay to the south.

On the eastern side of Strandhill, the ground rises dramatically towards the mountain and its northern shoulder extension, which provide a visual barrier between the settlement and the rest of the peninsula.

The general landscape is undulating and influenced by small-scale agricultural activity, which has resulted in a pattern of small fields with mature tree belts and hedgerows, giving way to machair and sand dunes at the coast.”

You can get a nice appreciation for some of this landscape by the birds eye view offered by Google Maps and Google Earth. In particular when when the latter is installed and used in conjunction with this plugin – it enables you to view digital photographs of the area mapped onto the satellite imagery.

It is disappointing however that the satellite imagery at the moment for the whole peninsula is split in terms of quality. The eastern side of a North North-West divide (on a line roughly running from Coney Island just to the east of Knocknarea) is the side which is high quality. To the west of this line is not so good. Difficult to explain in words – have a look here at Google Maps – and you will see what I mean…..

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