{"id":3550,"date":"2022-09-25T16:12:04","date_gmt":"2022-09-25T16:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chrishankey-artist.com\/?p=3550"},"modified":"2023-06-15T07:38:24","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T07:38:24","slug":"eire-2022-part-3-a-visual-blog-with-a-few-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chrishankey-artist.com\/index.php\/2022\/09\/25\/eire-2022-part-3-a-visual-blog-with-a-few-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Eire 2022 part 3 … a visual blog … with a few words …"},"content":{"rendered":"

…..Packed and ready to continue …. though when you find places like Clare Island with such spectacular landscapes a wealth of human and geological history it is always somewhat a wistful experience to leave such a place behind.\u00a0 We take with us the memory of this experience, the finding out about it’s history, the warm welcome of the people, the caracter of this place, and knowing that ahead of us is another opportunity of exploration of meetings to take place …. for me all this … this journey\u00a0 ….. is home …<\/p>\n

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…. Our next camp was at Westport and for a change we went into a campsite to expedite some much needed laundry ….<\/p>\n

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We were fascinated by the history of Oile\u00e1n Chliara and the life of the pirate queen Gr\u00e1inne N\u00ed Mh\u00e1ille c.<\/abbr>\u20091530 \u2013 c. 1603, told too us by the lady who worked behind the bar and after I had to tell my good friend Carole about this who then let me know that there is a statue to her in Cathair na Mart<\/span><\/span> which was right next to our campsite ….. It was our main reason for stopping at Cathair na Mart<\/span><\/span>, that and the fact that the campsite was a reasonable days ride away from Oile\u00e1n Chliara.<\/p>\n

Such was her power and influence that Gr\u00e1inne N\u00ed Mh\u00e1ille is thought to have met with Queen Elizabeth 1st in the late 15th century. It seems to me her character and her life was not unlike that of the great celtic warrior queen Maedhbh …… I love this history and this mythology …. It is thought that Gr\u00e1inne N\u00ed Mh\u00e1ille spoke French and Spanish and some claim that she conversed with Queen Elizabeth 1st in Latin, certainly Gr\u00e1inne N\u00ed Mh\u00e1ille met Queen\u00a0 Elizabeth 1st.<\/p>\n

In her 2006 biography of O’Malley, Irish historian and novelist Anne Chambers described her as:<\/p>\n

a fearless leader, by land and by sea, a political pragmatist and politician, a ruthless plunderer, a mercenary, a rebel, a shrewd and able negotiator, the protective matriarch of her family and tribe, a genuine inheritor of the Mother Goddess and Warrior Queen attributes of her remote ancestors. Above all else, she emerges as a woman who broke the mould and thereby played a unique role in history.<\/p>\n

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….and so we continue along a fantastic dedicated cycle path that took us most of the way from Cathair na Mart<\/span><\/span> West …. a fab ride with several public artworks along the way ….<\/p>\n

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…. puncture time next to some interesting public artworks ….<\/p>\n

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…. and this was our next wild camp ….<\/p>\n

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…. 29th April ….<\/p>\n

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…. 29th April ….<\/p>\n

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…. 29th April ….<\/p>\n

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…. 29th April ….<\/p>\n

…. and the next day we continued West to Achill and camped below the massive cairn that is thiought to be the burial place of the celtic warrior Queen Meadhbh ….<\/p>\n

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…. 30th April ….<\/p>\n

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1st May<\/p>\n

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…. 1st May …<\/p>\n

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….2nd May ….<\/p>\n

…. the deserted village of Sliabh M\u00f3r …. another consquence of the …. Holocausd na nGaedheal<\/p>\n

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…. 2nd May ….<\/p>\n

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…. 2nd May ….<\/p>\n

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…. Not all wild camp sites are a combination of sublime views in a vast an incredible landscape …<\/p>\n

…. sometimes as the weather changes we will make a descion to find a wild camp site before the weather turns proper wet. On this occassion it was only a slight drizzle but it looked like we were about to have a down pour. The ground was fairly rough and rocky there was not much room being a small alcove of a field surrounded on all sides with dense bush and one single track leading into this small place that had obviously not been used for some. time high up above the cycle path and out of everyone’s way … we had to clear the ground of dead wood and small rocks before pitching …..<\/p>\n

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4th May<\/p>\n

…. on the road again …<\/p>\n

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…. 4th May ….<\/p>\n

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…. Look where we found to wild camp …. WOW …. This was a perfect wind camp no buildings or homes anywhere near and a fair ways from the road. We use google maps to check out the terrain we will be cycling through and make a note of likely looking places. This stream passed under a small bridge and we were able to easily climb down to the edge and follow the bank to this spot. It was one of those completely perfect places with enough dry wood on the ground for our stove … and as always to fall asleep to the sound of gently running water is just wonderful.<\/p>\n

4th May<\/p>\n

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…. Setting up our wild camp for the night ….<\/p>\n

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…. Tent with a view ….<\/p>\n

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…. What an incredible place ….<\/p>\n

…. Wild camp chef ….<\/p>\n

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…. We can even use the base of the stove to dry off any damp wood ….<\/p>\n

…. Chef ….<\/p>\n

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…. Aaron’s wood gas burning stove is a tremendous piece of kit …. No need to chop any wood …. no need to break any branches …. no need to make a mess<\/p>\n

plus it is high enough of the ground so as not to scortch the grass or risk any woodland fires …. Great Stuff ….<\/p>\n

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…. And what a fab meal to end the day ….<\/p>\n

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….As always what we bring to a wild camp …. we take with us when we leave ….<\/p>\n

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…. Wild camp in the dunes …. spot the tents time …. 5th May ….<\/p>\n

We arrived first of all at a small and at the top end of the high street there was what seemed like a communal area with grass and benches, high walls open to the sky with plug sockets dotted at intervals around the walls. There were several benches with a covered area as well, and I suggested we camp here …. at first in jest …. but there was something about the area that suggested it woud be fine to do so, however Aaron was a tad uncertain and so as an alternative we had already noted a possible wild camp just 2 km away that was by the sea and we always find good places to wild camp in dunes. So reluctantly on my part … because I really wanted to camp in that communal area we headed for the dunes and found a great place to pitch. We had had intermittent rain throughout the day but were dry and pitched without any rain and helped a farmer find a lost calf that was happily resting in the long maram grass.<\/p>\n

The oddest thing happened in the night …. at about 2 am we were woken by a distant voice on the beach reciting gaeilge poetry. the voice grew louder as it’s owner walked along the beach below the dunes and continued to fade into the distance only to grow louder once more as again the owner passed below our tent, continuing to recite some gaeilge verse.\u00a0 It was quite hypnotic and at no point were we scared at all. You could tell that the verse was in a rousing and enthusiastic tone. Who ever it was had a terrific voice and to here gaeilge spoken like this was wonderful, I am learnig gaeilge and could pick out the odd word but no chance to understand the whole which was a shame. The person also had a dog and the dog did find the tents and gave out a startled bark or two which then gave the person a moments pause …… and eventually the person made his way back home or so we assume …..<\/p>\n

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…. Our next wild camp …. also in dunes …. as you can see lasts nights adventure into gaeilge poetry only fired our enthusiasm for wild camping ….<\/p>\n

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…. Another wild camp by the sea …. 8th May ….<\/p>\n

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…. rainy day today …. and it very nearly destroyed my phone …. 9th May ….<\/p>\n

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… Cnoc na Riabh with Sol and the celtic warrior Meadhbh’s buriel cairn…<\/p>\n

…. Legend tells us that Meadhbh was buried standing upright within the chamber, with her armour on and facing her ancient enemies …. Great Stuff …<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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…. Our camp under Cnoc na Riabh ….<\/p>\n

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….Seeded dandelion heads ….<\/p>\n

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At this point we needed to make a difficult decision … we really would have liked to continue cycling into Donegal …. but time was moving on …. and we had another part of the world cycle tour\u00a0 planned – two and a half months artist in residence in Iceland was coming up. But also my eldest daughter was getting married in Cornwall and we did not want to miss that before the artist in residence in Iceland took place. So we made the decision to cycle into Sligeach to catch a coach to Derry and a train to C\u00fail Raithin\u00a0 to see Cloch\u00e1n an Aifir. we came to the conclusion that we had just enough time to do this before heading back to Duibhlinn (Dublin) as I am learning gaeilge I am alsolearning in depth the history of Ireland and as an aside the etymology of place names, I find it fascinating Dublin has origins in early classical Irish – Duibhlinn ….. Old Norse –\u00a0<\/i> Dyf<\/b>lin<\/i><\/span> ….\u00a0 iceland – Dyf<\/b>linn ….<\/span> Welsh – Dulyn and Breton – Dulenn<\/b><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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…. So we took the coach to Derry and then a train to C\u00fail Raithin …. and then it was just a short ride to find a campsite within easy reach for a days ride to see the Cloch\u00e1n an Aifir …<\/p>\n

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…. back at the campsite ….<\/p>\n

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…. from here we cycled back to C\u00fail Raithin and then caught a train to Duibhlinn ….<\/p>\n

We planned our last few days in Ireland visiting a few places of interest before heading back to see my daughter in Cornwall top of the list were the public art works concerning what I consider a crime against humanity – Holocausd na nGaedheal ….. S\u00eddhe an Brugha <\/span><\/span>….. and the butterfly house just along the coast at Mullach \u00cdde, as well as just a wander around and a trip to the cinema ….<\/p>\n

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… last campsite in Eire … for now … just outside Duibhlinn ….<\/p>\n

…. We then went in search of a particularly notable mathematician … who came up with this ….<\/p>\n

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i\u00b2 = j\u00b2 = k\u00b2 = ijk = \u22121<\/b> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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…. Our good friend Tanya had told us about the butterfly house at Mullach \u00cdde ….<\/p>\n

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… Just a few of the many monuments … to comemorate this crime against humanity that was …. Holocausd na nGaedheal …<\/p>\n

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\u00a0Our last major place of interest to visit …. for now …. was, and the place has several names ….sometimes called Sid in Broga. The name in modern Gaeilge is S\u00eddhe an Brugha or\u00a0 S\u00ed an Bhr\u00fa. Also known as Br\u00fa na B\u00f3inne. It is an interesting name …. Bhr\u00fa is the old gaeilge word for womb, and B\u00f3inne can be translated as Moon or as the bright Cow …. hence ‘Womb of the Moon …. or Womb of the Bright Cow. So this is interesting for me as the Moon is a prominent feature and a recurent theme in a number of my paintings which touch upon ideas in modern cosmology and the origin of the Moon and in mythology …
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In brief then the idea that the Moon formed from a colision between a Mars sized proto planet and the Earth some 4.2 billion years ago. and fascinating to me is the name given to this Mars sized proto planet …. ‘Theia’ and so The Moon in ancient Greek mythology is known as the daughter of Theia.<\/p>\n

so I love the fact that the Gaeilge name for this place is Br\u00fa na B\u00f3inne. The landscape\u00a0 where Br\u00fa na B\u00f3inne is, is fascinating as well situated as it is by a bend in the river Boyne the name of which seems to be derived also from the gaeilge word B\u00f3inne. Both the enterance to the inner chamber and the bend in the river remind me very much of the crescent Moon. However it is clear from the perfect alignment to the winter solstice that these ancient people probably were sun worshipers. The site dates to 3200 BC,\u00a0 On the Winter Solstice, the light of the rising sun enters the roofbox above the main enterance\u00a0 and penetrates the passage, shining onto the floor of the inner chamber. The beam illuminates the inner chamber of Newgrange for just 17 minutes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

…. Br\u00fa na B\u00f3inne<\/span><\/span> has the largest concentration of stone engravings anywhere in Europe ….<\/p>\n

…. Br\u00fa na B\u00f3inne<\/span><\/span> predates the building of the pyramids and was built with sophistication and an in depth knowledge of astronomy ….<\/p>\n

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… A complex of buriel chambers near Br\u00fa na B\u00f3inne …. all with entrance chambers though not accessable to the public ….<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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… The curb stones are almost complete and all are engraved …. this place is amazing and it left me quite speachless ….<\/p>\n

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This blocks the entrance to the chamber of Br\u00fa na B\u00f3inne<\/span><\/span> though there is a way in to the right …. entry is by guided tour only to protect the site …<\/p>\n

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…. this carving is fascinating and very much reminds me of the rays of the sun ….<\/p>\n

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…. When inside the chamber the guides enact through lighting creating a simulation of what happens on the winter solstice ….<\/p>\n

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…. On both sides of the central chamber and oposite each other are two alcoves and inside one is the most remarkable stone carving …. This is carved from a single boulder …. I can only imagine what this must have been like to re discover this incredible stone carving which is smooth and concave …. Great Stuff<\/p>\n

…. This was a thoruoghly glorious way to end this part of the tour ….<\/p>\n

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…. Postscript ….<\/p>\n

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Heading home I remembered that the Irish ferry company always had supurb deals if after the ferry journey we had further to travel and they gave us an fabulous deal including ferry Duibhlinn from\u00a0 to Caergybi<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 and then a train journey all the way from Caergybi<\/span><\/span> to Penzance. A long old journey … We had only two changes on the train one at Casnewydd, and the other at Exeter. The Exeter one proved a tad problematic as we arrived at midnight and our connection was not untill 6 30 am …. there was the possibility to catch the sleeper at around 2 20 am …. if there was room for our bikes unfortunately there was not, The station guard at Exeter was so helpfull he opened up the waiting room and allowed us to unpack our sleeping bags and wait for the later connection. Great Stuff ….<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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…. Exeter train station waiting room ….<\/p>\n

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…. not exactly sleeping ….<\/p>\n

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…. and then we were back in Penzance to see my daughter Saffi, check all our gear before we began our 86 day cycle tour and artist in residence of Iceland ….<\/p>\n

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…..Packed and ready to continue …. though when you find places like Clare Island with such spectacular landscapes a wealth of human and geological history it is always somewhat a wistful experience to leave such a place behind.\u00a0 We take with us the memory of this experience, the finding out about it’s history, the warm […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cycling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chrishankey-artist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chrishankey-artist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chrishankey-artist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrishankey-artist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrishankey-artist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3550"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/chrishankey-artist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4376,"href":"https:\/\/chrishankey-artist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3550\/revisions\/4376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chrishankey-artist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrishankey-artist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrishankey-artist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}