Church of the Sloes

We took a train to Killarney a few days ago. It was a most enjoyable journey that passed through delightful scenery, lush green fields, distant mountains and of course the Paps of Anu which always catch our attention. 

The Paps held a significance.

Part of the reason for our journey was to visit an historian who has kept these mountains in his focus and in the public eye for over seventy years. Being an author of dozens of articles that have been read in almost every Irish publication, he is a well known figure in Kerry. 

Today Dan Cronin, a native of Rathmore, near Killarney, who, at the age of ninety-seven has not yet retired his pen, told us that there are still a couple more articles that he intends to write.

https://aheronsview.blogspot.ie/search?q=dan+cronin

Do you know this elegant person ?

KILLARNEY RAIL STATION

Two Stags Rutting

This particular pair have a stainless steel skeleton 

with bronze sheathing and cost €70,000.

The Gaelic Muse

New use for a phone box stood next

too a representation of a White Tailed Eagle

The Eagle who resides in Killarney Town Centre was commissioned by a sub group of Killarney Town Council, the Killarney Arts Committee, in 2008/2009. The sculpture, a local artist Joe Neeson, initiated the concept from design to creation which represents the Killarney connection with the White Tailed Eagle. During that time the White Tailed Eagle project was well underway which saw the Eagle reintroduced to Killarney National Park.

Murphy's Ice Cream Parlour http://murphysicecream.ie/about-us.html

The second reason for the visit was to ramble around the town with our cameras and to enjoy ourselves by window shopping. That was the plan until we saw that there was a large branch of TK MAXX in the High Street and our resolve not to shop crumbled in milli-seconds !

We finally treated ourselves to one garment each and departed with a spring in our step to a small cafe for lunch. 

This was followed by a delicious ice-cream from Murphy’s of Dingle whose slogan is “ice cream that know’s where it’s coming from”

A lovely mural in one of the dining rooms of a unknown café where we had a wonderful lunch of a large toasted flatbread with a Cheese, Tuna and Sweetcornfilling and because of our hunger we failed to note the name of the café!

The Paps of Anu

There was a lot more to see and explore in Killarney whose name translates as Cill Áirne, meaning Church of the Sloes. 

We shall return again later in the year, when hopefully the streets will be less busy, for we country mice are not comfortable in crowds. 

I am making promise to myself to treat Mrs H to a ride in one of those famous jaunting cars on our next visit and perhaps another ice-cream will be in order.

http://killarneyjauntingcars.ie

Where shall we visit next do you have any suggestions ?

To The Kingdom & Dan Cronin

We took a trip down to The Kingdom the other day. The route I took was more or less parallel to a tolled motorway. My preference is not to pay a road toll as I hate parting with cash to drive on a road on which some of my taxes were spent to build the damn thing.  So I use the slower routes that connect with towns and villages, occasionally to stop eat, drink coffee and view the scenery.

CAHER CASTLE

Our first stop was to pull into the riverside car park at Caher, a beautiful old town in South Tipperary. On the river bank opposite the car park stands Caher Castle which was built in 12th century by Conor O'Brien on an island in the river Suir. For much of its history Cahir was influenced by the Butler family. It was from this family that the first Barons of Caher were created in 1375 and the castle was granted to James Butler the newly-created Earl of Ormond; his heir managed to hang on to it until 1647 when it was surrendered to Murrough O'Brien (a descendant of the original builder). In 1650 it was again surrendered to Oliver Cromwell. Betwixt and between ownership of the castle reverted back to Lords of Caher, continuing until the last Lord Caher - Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Butler Charteris died in 1961. The castle then became the property of The Irish State.

As I write this piece of history I am wondering if the subject of the previous blog has any connection with the Butler's of Caher?

We journeyed on along the roads towards Michelstown in Co.Cork where we turned off to take the road to Mallow. It was some years ago that I had last travelled this road and I was pleasantly surprised to see that it had been greatly improved since my last trip.

Mallow town

It is probable that there has been a settlement near Mallow since the Neolithic, for there is an alignment of six standing stones about 8 miles away at Beenalaght. For me Mallow holds a variety of memories as it has frequently been an attractive town that I have passed through on my way to the coastal areas of Cork and rarely stopping, until a friend of ours made her home there for a few years. She moved to Cupertino to assist in the development of Apple computers and is sorely missed in this household.

On the outskirts of Mallow we joined the road that leads to Killarney however, our destination was the village of Old Rathmore, about three miles from the Cork/Kerry border placing it very definitely in 

The Kingdom of Kerry.

Mrs H, with Margaret & Dan Cronin

We were there to visit Margaret & Dan Cronin.(Dan a friend of Mrs H) 
Dan is an historian, author and journalist who has written for every Irish newspaper, including a magazine called Ireland's Own.
At ninety two years of age he is still actively writing about the local history of his home place. (ibid: 2012/07/small-tour-of-cork-kerry.) Truly a remarkable man who left school at the age of fourteen and educated himself by spending lot of time visiting libraries.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself listening to Mrs H and Dan conversing on their favourite topics, namely Irish mythology and sacred sites.



On our journey home I cut across country from one main road to another and as we did so, Mrs H noticed a road sign that said "The Site of the Moving Bog". There followed a discussion between ourselves, for I recalled reading about a Bog that moved years ago though the actual details escaped me.

Below are extracts from two newspapers of that era:-

The Kerry Sentinel, 6 January 1897
THE GREAT BOG SLIDE.
INQUEST ON THE BOY DONNELLY.
Killarney, Friday.    
   "Early this morning rain ceased falling in the district that surrounds Killarney, and at the scene of the recent disastrous land slide, a slight frost also set in, which must be regarded as a favourable change. The peasantry living near the great bog slide, who have passed a week in fear and trembling, did not occupy their own homes last night, but took shelter in dwellings more remote with kindly neighbours who pity them and offer temporary relief in this period of trouble. During the night additional parts of the mountain moved, but by noon to-day the sliding had practically ceased. The people, however, are still apprehensive, and expect that at any moment the bog will move again. Direct communication between Killarney and Gneeveguilla continues cut off. Search parties, composed of peasants and police, were out on the hill sides all day looking for the remaining bodies of the Donnelly family, but without success. The search will be continued to-morrow."

   "An inquest was held to-day on the body of Daniel Donnelly, and evidence, in the main, similar to that already reported, was given, and a like verdict returned. There were, however, some points of particular interest disclosed. It was shown at the inquest that the body of the boy, who was sixteen years of age, was found a mile and a half from the spot in which he had resided had stood. This shows clearly how strong must have been the current of the moving bog, and where the other bodies are hidden it is impossible to conjecture. The funeral followed shortly after the inquest, and was very largely attended by all classes in the district." 
                               -
THE DISASTER IN EAST KERRY.
   "There is no longer any mystery surrounding the calamitous disaster in Kerry. Indeed it has occasioned very little surprise in the minds of those who were ultimately acquainted with the character of the spot. For years it was feared that this landslip was bound to happen, though possibly nobody anticipated that it would have proved so terrible in its results, otherwise it is difficult to conceive how those who stood in peril calmly awaited their impending fate. As has been already stated, this bog was extensively cut by the farmers in the country round. No provision, however, appears to have been made for carrying off the surface water from the cut-away portions. The result is that this has been accumulating for years, and during the past two it was apparent from the shaky condition of this portion of the bog that it has for some time been floating, though held in position by some slight barrier. The heavy rains of the past month, no doubt, supplied whatever increased bouyancy was necessary to float its position, and this happened with dire results during the small hours of Monday morning. It is gratifying to learn that the bog has now ceased to make any further progress, so that no more ill effects are looked for. The traces left by the moving mass as it shot down the valley show that it must have swept past in a fairly compact body, and with a tremendous force levelling to the ground and sweeping before it everything which obstructed its progress."
—Cork Constitution.

We returned home totally sated from our interesting journey to The Kingdom and having driven over 300 miles I sat and enjoyed a pleasant cup of tea before going to bed.