A favourite thin place

Looking out from the front of the house - meadow, pond and down to the river

This place is so calm!  Martin and I are true Coults and early birds;  he’d been working at his computer for some time before I surfaced, and we shared breakfast and bird-watching. The Tir Na Spideoga birds know they’re on to a good thing with Martin, who keeps the feeders well filled. Eileen’s a night owl, and I think Michael too (it goes with being a folk musician (playing gigs and then enjoying the craic afterwards!) so it was a while before she emerged – which gave me time to get blogs on the move, and post today’s cat one on Facebook.

The little river at the bottom

Between Michael & Martin, they’re a little car-short (Martin's has been in for repair for some time) and the rented one we were in yesterday needed to be returned, so Martin & Eileen went off to do that, and I stayed home to finish stuff, and do some Dublin research on bus routes and timings. No rain, but a cloudy morning – I took myself out for a walk, and soaked in the greenness of the Irish countryside. 

So much honeysuckle in the hedgerows!

Meadow-sweet

The pond - which needs digging out, and some waterlily cover!

When they got back, we worked out schedules – Michael had a gig in Limerick in the evening, so needed the car. So dinner needed to be early, and we’d not much time for an outing.  We ended up going to one of my favourite places, Gougane Barra. It’s one of those liminal places – a Celtic ‘thin place’ where you’re aware of the past and the what-might-be. It’s a lake with an island (now connected) and a tiny little church dedicated to St Finnbar, but the place was likely a pre-Christian place of worship – it represents the source of the river Lee. Any source of a great river was a place of power in ancient Ireland, and this place with its encircling mountains has the same effect on visitors today as so long ago. 

Gougane Barra lake

We had tea together at the little tea-house and then Martin went back to the car – he doesn’t let himself get stopped by anything he really wants to do, but a walk for no reason means less energy for other things.  Eileen and I went to explore the island.  The church is very small, but a popular site for weddings – Michael’s played there. Of more appeal to me is the space around – the sound of the wind and the waves, and the peacefulness.  A wonderful way to spend an hour. And though we weren’t the only visitors, everyone seems to have that same sense of respect, and of seeking for something intangible.

I met these placid guys as I walked a little further around the lake

Back home for supper (a wonderful coq au vin – both Martin and Eileen are great cooks – and then more tennis (watching Marin Cilic go through in classic form!) and a fascinating program about the lives of stoats and weasels. BBC at its best!  We planned for the next day, but had an early night.