Doesn’t that just sound cheerful?! In truth, they are related in this story, so don’t give me a hard time yet. We were starting to run out of steam a bit on our third day in the north, having hiked and scrambled 20 kms or so up steep landscapes the day before. I might behave like I’m still 25, but my body isn’t buying it!
The day began with considerable rainfall. I know…..really?! In Ireland?!! Well, if you didn’t go places in the rain in Ireland, you wouldn’t go anywhere at all. So, with the wind blowing our wrinkles back from our face and the rain pelting, we headed for Streedagh Beach. It is a little strand of beach on the western edge of County Sligo and is the site of a massive loss of life. In 1588, the Spanish Armada, in a failed attempt to invade England, retreated and hit stormy seas off the coast of Ireland. Three ships – La Lavia, La Juliana, and the Santa Maria de Vison, blew into Streedagh Beach, breaking up quickly and either dragging their crew down or casting them to the sea where they were mostly drowned in short order. It is believed that about 140 survivors made it to shore, where they set upon and stripped and left to die or killed outright. The nearby village of Grange has an annual festival to commemorate the event. You can learn more about it at https://spanisharmadaireland.com/. There is another shipwreck at Streedagh Beach that was originally thought to be part of the Armada sinking, but Wikipedia reports this as being dated as an 18th century wreck of a trading vessel that sailed between Britain and Ireland and was swept out to sea. This wreck is actually visible at low tide. Twenty lives were lost. I think the moral of this story is…..don’t sail around Streedagh Beach if you can avoid it! Being there on a windy, stormy day gives you a pretty good idea of how such a catastrophe could occur. Next on the list of things to do was to stop in at the Drumcliffe Cemetery where Ireland’s most famous poet – W.B. Yeats is buried. The cemetery was the site of a monastery founded in 574. This stop would be a 2-for-1 as there is also a great view of the Benbulben Mountains from the churchyard. We arrived a little wet, but with our interest intact. At this site, there is also one of the old Celtic High Crosses that are scattered across the Irish landscape. We have seen them here and there – Foynes had one as well, but this one we could get up close to and it is remarkable that they have survived so long with their carvings still visible. They were used as illustrations of bible stories so a mostly illiterate population could “read” them. This one dates back to the 9th century and has carvings of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and Daniel and the Lion’s Den that are still quite clear. William Butler Yeats wasn’t just a poet and playwright. He was a bit of a mover and a shaker. While he spent a good deal of his life outside of Ireland, he returned to Sligo often and considered it home. He was one of the key players in the Irish Literary Revival, the key playwright for Irish theater, and became politically active later in life, serving a couple of terms as a senator. The epitaph on his grave shows his own words: “Cast a cold Eye on life, on Death. Horseman pass by.” It is unknown if it was his intent that these words be used on his grave, or if that was decided for him after his death. He died of heart failure at the age of 73. We failed to see the Benbulben Mountain from the cemetery, with low cloud refusing to give up its secret. So, we carried on. A brief stop in the City of Sligo was in order as we were hungry now. The lot where we parked had a moving statue with “Letters from America” telling the story of the clearances, and The Great Hunger, where families were torn apart, died, or emigrated in hopes of surviving, leaving loved ones behind. From 1847-1851, over 30,000 people emigrated from the Sligo port. Such tragedy. A W.B. Yeats quote is associated with this statue, reading “The dead are not far from us….they cling in some strange way to what is most still and deep within us.” I suppose there is some consolation in that, but my personal experience is that I would still rather have my loved ones right here in front of me to talk with, laugh with, sing with, dance with, cry with, and love. How fortunate we are that we have all we need and more at our fingertips. We stopped at a restaurant called Hooked that looked good. There was a bit of a wait, so we went for a walk and got our tourist photos with the SLIGO sign and wandered the canal a bit. Going back for lunch, we found Hooked to be full of quirky art and good food. A stop well worth making. The weather began to lighten, making our next stop at Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery much mor pleasant. This site is astounding! It has the oldest and highest concentration of Neolithic tombs in Ireland. You couldn’t turn in a 360-degree circle without seeing one either close enough to touch, or identifying one on the landscape. 35 surviving tombs date back to 6,000 years ago. A great visitor centre provides you with a story and a map of the area with a description of the tombs. Many of the tombs look like they are just a stone or two on the landscape, and if you’re wondering where the rest went, you only need to look as far as the farmer’s wall surrounding the sites. They would have provided a readily accessible source of stone for caging livestock and defining property. Some tombs are still remarkably intact and a walk through the mowed path leads you through a number of sites which are described on a map provided by the visitor centre. The largest tomb on the site has been reinforced against erosion and destruction. This one has a passage and a central area with a massive dolmen inside. How the heck they moved those things into such structures just never ceases to be a marvel. The website at http://www.carrowkeel.com/sites/carrowmore/index.html says that DNA findings from this site suggests the people came from north-western France, bringing cattle and sheep with them. I also learned from this site that the native Irish Elk became extinct in the last ice age and these Neolithic folks re-introduced the red deer to Ireland. This is based on the oldest indications of red deer remains being found in these tombs as antler bone used for pins and tools. Of course, Peter's keen geologist's eye even picked up some fossils in the rock. Like the very old cemeteries, there is a feeling of peace at these sites. Also, a feeling of insignificance, in a way. Not a bad way, really – its rather reassuring in the sense that life has and will go on, one way or another, with or without the petty strife of humanity. Finally, it was back to our home away from home for a pauper’s dinner of monster crab claws, cambezola cheese (can’t believe how cheap cheese is here!) and wine. Tough life we’ve got going on here.
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