Where the Burren Kisses the Sea

Today the summer rain falls intermittently, warm showers that caress the tall grasses of our front garden, as a compassionate watering from the caring and senior goddesses of this land Eriu, Banba and Fódla who still stroll the length,breadth and through this ancient island giving of themselves; By inspiring their children to seek a fulsome life mixing the blends of histories and modernity.

Yesterday we went on excursion close to the now familiar landscape of the Burren. This time it was as a backdrop, for on centre stage was its sea shore and in particular Linnane’s Pub at New Quay which is noted for its Sea Food. We had visited before and had our hungry appetites sated, our visit on this occasion was no different for the crab cakes accompanied by a fresh mixed salad was delicious.

http://linnanesbar.com

At New Quay

THE CRAB BOAT

Aughinish Bay leading to leading eventually to Corranroo Bay at its head which is so

 encumbered by sand banks and shallows that boat skippers are advised not to enter. 

After lunch we took ourselves for a short drive on the narrow road that borders the Flaggy Shore,  one of nine sites of geological interest and importance in Co. Clare. This is where the fringes of the famed Burren limestone kisses the sea and mingles with the erratic rock types of sandstone and granite, deposited about twelve thousand years ago after the last Ice Age.

Typical geology of the Flaggy Shore.

Here also stands Mount Vernon, the former summer home of Lady Augusta Gregory of Coole Park, Co. Galway, patron of the Arts and friend of the Poet W.B Yeats.

http://www.hiddenireland.com/bb_property/mountvernon-house-clare

http://mountvernon.ie/cms/history

The play of gentle waves that create dreams.

The Banner County

“The custom of carrying banners goes back a long way in County Clare. There is little doubt but that the Dál gCais carried banners at the battle of Clontarf in 1014 or that the Clare Dragoons carried banners at Fontenot in 1745 and in the many battles fought by the Clare Regiments on the continent during the eighteenth century.”

We went on a day trip recently to re-visit one of our favourite counties, as there are so many  antiquities dotted around the countryside we still have not viewed them all. The one thing I learnt a long time ago, when looking for interesting vistas or ancient sites, is that when touring you need to slow down, drive carefully and be adventurous. The best type of narrow roads to take are those with a thin strip of grass growing up the middle as very often you will see something interesting.

This is how we found ourselves outside (1) Smithstown Castle and on another narrow road we saw a fingerboard pointing towards the (2) Blakemount Holy Well.
This tempted Mrs H to go and find it - now doubt she will reveal all soon on her own blog.
It was on yet another narrow road, that I managed to photograph  (3) a double donut shaped erratic which had been dumped there by the last Ice Age.
Photo number (4) A Sham was found on a tourist road on the outskirts of Kilfenora, it is not an ancient monument and was only constructed recently by a local resident.
Photo (5) was taken with my new camera along the road from Callan to Ballyvaughan - said as Bally vocken not vawn.

1 smithstowncastle.com

2. Stile to Blakemount Holy Well.

3 a 'double donut' shaped erratic.

4 A Sham.

5 Along the road from Callan to Ballyvaughan.

Our circuitous route took us from Gort in Co.Galway along the R460 towards a small town of Corrofin or is it Coroffin or perhaps Caroffin or even Corofin ? 

I mentioned to  Mrs H on our way in that I wondered which spelling was correct because every imaginable spelling could be seen on signposts and billboards. I also wondered if the local business people had found a new method of attracting trade or perhaps their signwriters  were drunk?

Well now guess what I read last night on a news channel..

“Local groups have formed in the towns of Lahinch, Ennistymon, and Corofin, with each group set write to Clare County Council later this week, to officially begin the legal process of changing the towns’ names. The local authority has confirmed it is the appropriate agency to deal with this issue and that a local vote, similar to that held in Dingle in 2006, may also be required.

This situation arose more than five years ago when Transport Infrastructure Ireland, formally the NRA, contracted Clare County Council to update signage on the N67 tourism route.

At this time the official legal spelling of the towns, which was derived from documentation written before the formation of the state, was used to replace the traditional local spellings which had appeared on all signage for the past 100 years.”

My online research says this :The origin of Name: Corofin takes its name from the Irish ‘Coradh Finne’ which means ‘The Weir of Finnia’.

So there we have it:Transport Infrastructure/National Roads Authority and Clare County Council please take note!