EIRE IV

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In 1953 my parents holidayed on a tandem in the west of Ireland. For as long as I can remember I'd flicked through their old photograph albums and could still recall a black and white photograph they'd taken of a shining white crucifix at the roadside on a high mountain pass. I half wondered whether or not we'd see it. 

In misty-moisty weather we set off up the the Healy Pass with our (long since replaced), wishbone bolts and bushes squeaking insanely on the stepped tarmac. (My memory is helped here because on the video you can hear those squeaks, interspersed with those from the clutch pedal). 

And......... 

 

There it was! 

 

Just below the cloud line. With Jo's appeals to me to watch the twisting road, the crucifix came into view as we rounded a corner. A little discomforted, and somewhat irreligiously, I trundled past the foreign-looking thing with a strangely strong consciousness of that small piece of my family's history. 

 

It is a fact that I nearly always look around too much when the scenery gets particularly good, (and isn't good scenery nearly always accompanied by sharp bends?). 

And I often quite pointlessly point out to Jo that were I on my own, I'd be concentrating much harder! When we're together, most competent driver that she is, I tend unreasonably to rely on her awareness of our surroundings to help me keep the van on the curved and narrow, even when her video-eye may be glued to some far off subject at anything up to, and beyond, 90° off our intended direction.

 

 

 

 
  Approaching from the south, Castletownbere, the Caha Mountains and the Healy Pass. It looks very oddly similar to the approach to Bealach na Ba (nam Bo), from Kishorn in the Scottish Highlands.  
     
     
     
     

Sites such as these were not unusual - "new" houses and bungalows long ago left unfinished. I can only assume that mortgages were too easily available, or builders too unreliable, or prospective owners just too adventurous?

 

 

Part of the Ring of Kerry from the Ring of Beara.

 

At the western end of the Ring of Beara a woman in a tea-and-cakes caravan told us about the dolphin which had reliably visited there until two years earlier. She thought that perhaps the red algae were responsible for its departure.

Interesting: irishseaweeds.com
 
 

An uncaring landlord? A life too harsh? Economics too harsh? 

Famine? Desperation?  All five?  And more?

 

Ireland's Wildlife: New farming methods put birds in serious decline

By David McKittrick, Ireland Correspondent, The Independent

Published: 12 January 2006

 
The Republic of Ireland's Heritage Council has warned that many of the country's birds are under threat because of trends in agriculture. The corncrake, lapwing, barn owl, cuckoo and chough are all on the danger list, according to the official body that monitors the health of Ireland's wildlife.

In all, 29 species of birds and 120 flowering plants are in serious decline because of the introduction of more intensive farming methods that damage their habitat. Other wildlife, such as the marsh fritillary butterfly, is also under threat.

Michael Starrett, the council's chief executive, said: "Ireland lags far behind most European countries in the approach it takes towards managing our countryside and we will need to take serious steps to safeguard and protect it. There is a new opportunity for farmers and landowners to receive recognition for the role they play in managing and protecting our heritage, environment and landscape. They perform a public service that benefits everyone in Ireland."

The council advocated payments to farmers who were most sensitive to heritage management, saying that should give additional financial incentives to others. Over the past decade, agriculture and the environmental lobby have found themselves at odds as measures to protect wildlife have brought complaints from farmers that their livelihood is affected.

 

 

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