road to the heartlands

" You must not burn logs of Rhododendron wood on an open fire because the gas which they give off is extremely toxic"

This being a lesson that I learnt while walking with companions, through the shoreline woodlands that border one of the Glengarriff inlets. After me commenting upon a neatly stacked pile of Rhododendron logs.

Here four of us were strolling on a balmy September morning, the second of a short break including two of my relations from that other island (see previous entry). The air was still, the temperature exactly perfect for me and so on spotting an open craggy place, that over looked the opposite shore I chose to sit awhile, alone and drink inwardly of the ambience. Whilst three walked on….

I have added this spot now to my growing list of places of where to visit, to meditate and commune with nature. On the coast of north Clare is another, a special solitary point that I know as Where Curlews Sing, for their song echoes across a wide bay, like a mantra designed to transcend the listener into a different consciousness and it does. Stilling the Mind: is a study and a practice that I under took many years ago, one of the better things that I have ever taken on and studiously maintained. Unlike a religion that entraps and ensnares. StM allows one to have freedom of thought, to be actually in charge of the Self and in control of the mind. It is the ability to be free in the truest meaning of the word.

Twenty four hours later the three of us stood at Healy Pass on the Bheara Peninsula, after having driven up from Adrigole, along a a twisty road that can best be described as being like a Serpents Tail !
At the apex of the Pass (as with all passes) you get the impression of being at the top of the world, with superb views here in easterly and westerly directions. We stayed only minutes for our destination that day lay further to the west and the Ring of Kerry.

My personal knowledge is that the best parts of the Ring lay not on the coastal roads, but on those small country roads found on the O.S maps that bisect the very middle and heart of Ring of Kerry. The suggestion of doing this fell on deaf ears as we, like every tourist before us, clung like fleas to the well beaten coastal roads.