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On Sunday 27 July, we said goodbye to Joe and Irene and dropped off the keys. It was a bit sad as we had spent 10 days there but it was time to move on. Joe and Irene were good to us while we were there, they were really nice people and I realised I would probably not see them again.
We left Mullaghroe in County Sligo, drove through the edge of County Roscommon and the edge of County Mayo and down into Galway. We went through the city and along the coast road, it was really quite beautiful and the scenery changed as we headed further south. It is amazing how this small country can have such a diverse landscape. We drove quite a way around Galway Bay to Spidall and then headed north again to Cnoc Suain, The guide books said Cnoc Suain was a pre famine village in original condition and I was very been keen to see it. The landscape was very bleak looking one we had left the lovely coastline of Galway Bay, lots of rocks and not much grass, a great expanse of nothing much for miles, we thought we had taken a wrong turn. And then we saw a brown tourist sign but the gate was closed. I didn’t hesitate, I wanted to see this place and when we got to the end of the drive a man met us and said it was a place which people came to do courses and for special occasions like music sessions. Martha said oh dear we have driven all the way from Boyle to see this so the man showed us around. The property was owned and lived in by the one family since about 1691 and they later built a new house in 1870. It was a property with a cluster of houses on it which, we were told, belonged to the family. So, as a village it was more like a family concern than a public place. The man said he bought the property off the family in, I think it was in the 1990’s. The cottages had been restored and also modernised but they maintained their rustic origins which is a good thing. The country was quite wild, made up of bog and stones and the man told me that the animals coped quite well on the bog, they were accustomed to it as it is blanket bog, springy with sphagnum moss and not muddy like we might think. They ran all kinds of courses at Cnoc Suain (Kunnuck Soo-in, meaning Restful Hill) and they also bred Conamara ponies. The man said he was about to begin a project growing organic vegetables as well. If you are in Ireland and are interested in Traditional Irish language, culture and music or would like to learn how to make Poteen this place is for you. They have a web site www.cnocsuain.com
He said he thought he had space on the boats but he didn't so I looked pathetic and said I've come all the way from Australia to climb Skellig Michael so he said come back tomorrow morning and if there is a cancellation its yours. We went and had a feed in the pub and then headed back to Martha's friend Agnes who lived on Valentia Island and kindly invited us to stay at her place for the night.
The next day dawned wet and yukky but that did not deter us, we headed to the pier and we managed to get places on one of the boats. Martha bought some sandwiches and we climbed aboard a boat which was not Pat Joe Murphy’s, the man we had been dealing with but obviously these people all work together which is good.
About 12 miles off the coast of Kerry there are two craggy islands, one called Skellig Beag (which means small) and the other called Skellig Michael. Skellig Beag is an important bird breeding habitat and when we got there it looked like a great big craggy rock with white icing on it and there were thousands of birds flying around as well as nesting. Skellig Michael was used by Irish Monks 700 years ago and they built beehive shaped huts on the top. There is supposed to be 600 steps, very uneven and quite steep in places, I didn't count them and didn't even know if I could get up there but I didn't want to think about the steps, only the destination. I was also worried that the rain would make the climb too slippery, that is what we had been told but no one mentioned that we would not be allowed to climb so I hoped for the best. I managed to get off the boat without falling into the water and off we went. I began climbing 30 steps at a time and resting but it wasn't long before it was 10 steps and rest and every now and then I had a sit down. It took a while but I got there and was a very happy camper to have done so. I wont tell you how many days it took my legs to recover though. There were not so many birds on Skellig Michael but there were loads of Puffins and I had never seen them before, they were so close but they were busy feeding their young so it was hard to get a good picture of them as they were always on the move. the one in the picture above ran right past me on its way out to sea again.
The beehive domes were built 700 yeas and and have not been improved by anyone. Inside they are surprisingly dry and of course hard stone floors and walls. The bits sticking out of one hut are steps that were used to climb up onto the roof to remove the centre stone so that on good weather days the smoke could escape, otherwise they just put up with the smoke when cooking in this refectory. The Irish Monks lived here but constant raids by vikings caused them to abandon the site. Later Catholic monks used the island as a place of pilgrimage. Martha was talking to the guide who just happens to be there each day to answer questions and give talks. She told Martha that a family lived on the island and ran a lighthouse, two of their children died there and are buried on the island and that sometimes people could not get there with supplies because of the bad weather.
As an experience it was a very good one for me. I was curious as to what kind of conditions these Monks lived under and I wanted to see it all for myself. I can highly recommend it to others but perhaps it is a good idea to book ahead as there are limits on the number of people who can land on the Island on any one day, and only some operators are allowed to land while others simply take you out there, around and then back home again. It is well worth a visit, it is steep and slippery but with care and patience you can make it. As far as it being a place to get away from it all you will find yourself surrounded by a fair few fellow travelers but I guess way back when the Monks built the beehives they spent many months alone as the area is prone to bad weather and in those days they would not have a nice fast diesel powered boat to get them there.
We got off the boat soaked and happy and we jumped into the car and drove on as we wanted to stay somewhere on the way to Cork. We actually stopped in Killarney and found a nice Bed and Breakfast place with a rather mad dog, if it spotted either of us it would run up like a mad thing and throw itself on its back to be scratched. It is very odd how animals are allowed in kitchens in such places because in AUstralia they would not be allowed. All the places we stayed at were very clean so I don't have any objections to the odd furry friend. The next day we were to go to Blarney Castle but my body and particularly my legs were rather second hand from climbing Skellig Michael and I suspect Martha's were too as she had dislocated her toe in a karate kick when she was practicing before doing her grading. The Lonely Planet guide book said that your enjoyment of Blarney Castle was in reverse proportion to the number of coaches in the car park and I just couldn't face crowds of people and stairs in a castle so we headed for Waterford Crystal Factory instead and it was a nice sedate walk around the factory seeing how things were done. I could watch glassblowing and glass sculpting all day so I was a bit worried Martha might not get me out of there but I took the risk anyway. I know some of you have been to this factory so sorry for boring you just scroll down to the next bit. Waterford Crystal do not sell pieces which have flaws in them. The process of making a piece relies on more than one person and so, at each stage, the piece is checked for quality control. the glass blowers, cutters and workers in between are paid per piece, the sculptors and artistic engravers are paid a salary as they can spend many hours on one piece if it is a complicated or ornate one. Before this tour I had no idea just how labour intensive this hand blown and hand cut crystal is. We watched a couple of fellows putting a handle on a jug, then we watched some glass blowers blowing jug shapes into a mould, then we watched the cutters cutting those grooves in which make the crystal catch the light, in between there was a bit of smashing of crystal going on as some pieces were rejected in quality control, and finally we watched an man engrave a pattern on something. We didn't buy any, I saw some things I quite liked but excess baggage stopped me from buying, it wasn't that cheap at the factory retail outlet and so if I really wanted some I could buy it back home.
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