An Cheoltóir

 " . . . and the way she'd look at you." !!!

Lough Derg

 

ROADSIDE FLOWERS

 Growing in abundance by this roadside stream, apast Tower Hill cottages,  these Ranunculi ficaria, aka Pileworth, open fully only in bright sunshine.  An tainm as Gaeilge = Grán arcáin. Checking the number of petals is important, when identifying them. 

Easter Sunday 2021

Few people around due to Covid-19, but Malcomson Square was brightened up with                            Tulips go-leór!

 Nearby stood a copy of the 1916 Proclamation of Independence, with the Tricolour flying overhead in memory of those who died in the Rebellion.

PAGEVIEWS

 

SHANRAHAN CEMETERY

 Associated with St. Cathaldus (Cathal), who set out from here on a mission to Europe, ending up in Taranto, Italy; also, the burial place of the martyred Fr. Sheehy.

Read about St. Cathal at:https://www.catholicireland.net/saintoftheday/st-cathal-of-taranto-7th-8th-century/

Lahardaun Re-visited

                                                                                                                                                                 FOR THE WEEK THAT'S IN IT

The village of Lahardaun (aka Lahardane),  Co. Mayo, produced a number of surprises when visited in March 2016. First of all was the friendliness of the people, shortly after arriving there; one offering to bring us on a tour of the area, the second filling us in on local history, and inviting us to his house for tea!  Next surprise was visiting a local park dedicated to  fourteen people from the same townland in the area, who all had been  emigrating on the Titanic. Three or four survived, one of them becoming a nun, the others all drowned. A fine park, with information panels and effigies galore, all in copper, is quite an amazing place.

Next surprise was the stained glass windows in the local R.C. church, depicting the Titanic tragedy, but of even greater interest was one devoted to St. Patrick and then one remarkable single-light one depicting the Crucifixion.  The windows were installed by the Myles Kearney & Son Stained Glass Studio from Dublin, which was a branch of Myles Kearney and Son, Waterford, natives of Portlaw! The extremely talented glass designer was a Mr. James Cox a native of Rooskey, Co. Roscommon, who worked with the Kearney company from when he was a teenager. The crucifixion window was remarkably tall, and had to be photographed in two sections from an angle because of an obstruction in front. This problem was sufficiently overcome with the help of Photoshop.  The artwork in this window is probably the the most outsanding I've ever seen, and I've viewed stained glass all over Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland, and work from some continental studios.  

Then, we discovered the village had a new whiskey distillery, but, beng Sunday, or was it a bank holiday Monday, the premises was closed. The distillery name was NEPHIN WHISKEY. Their website:

https://nephinwhiskey.com/

A pleasant and interesting place to visit, with plenty of other historic places and superb landscapes nearby. 

.  

OLD WINDOW

 The building in which this window was located was demolished sometime later!

For fun when restrictions lifted!!!

 

The Story behind the Tower Hill monument:

 Dorothea’s father was Church of Ireland rector in Carrick-on-Suir for some years. Spelling, capitalization, punctuation and spacing has been retained. The use of hyphens has also been retained, as in the original. This excerpt was written in 1783. 

 -       oooOooo    -

Mr. Carshore* soon became such a favourite at Curraghmore that he seldom came as formerly, to play Backgammon and dine on Beans and Bacon here – He was established in the Curraghmore business by his Intrinsic Cleverness particularly display’d in attending Lord De La Poer, Lord Tyrones Eldest son Who fell from his Horse leaping The Iron Rails of their Court yard just as Lady Tyrone was stepping into her Carriage to dine out – She saw her charming Son fall and in  few Minutes he was brought up stretched on a door almost lifeless-He died in a few hours-He was a beautiful young Man just grown up and adored for his humane and Charitable Disposition.

            The same year died Miss Beresford Daughter of Commissioner Beresford – she was niece to Lord Tyrone a beautiful young Woman-and Mr Polier Lord De la Poers Tutor and Bosom Friend-The three Deaths happened within three weeks-They were all buried in Clonegam Church in one grave-1778-One Very handsome Monument commemorates this fateful Event-And describes the affection the Victims bore to each other-Soon after a grand and beautiful Obelisk was erected on one of highest Hills at Curraghmore which rivals ancient Architecture in its Colossal Height & Dimensions _ What made the Catastrophe More Affecting was that Lord Tyrone and his Brother received at once The News of their childrens Death at the Waterford Election where Mr Beresford sat as Candidate-To describe the Distraction of the two parents would be impossible-And the same election was rendered still more ominous by the death of Mr Power Son to the opposing Candidate who was killed in a Duel.

            1783 The Bank of Ireland was established And the Order of St Patrick instituted-Lord Tyrone was one of the Knights and was soon after made Marquis of Waterford-But it made up poorly for their recent loss though the Whole Beresford Family immediately got into power And soon arrived at the Acme of Worldly grandeur and prosperity-Curraghmore shone with encreased Splendour if possible-But whenever My Father and Mother dined there En Famille. The Noble Owners gave a loose to their feelings on the Woeful loss they had sustained.

*Mr. Carshore was the local doctor and apothecary.

(One left-click  on the image at the top will show an enlarged version) 

Further excerpts from Dorothea Herbert's work will be posted on this blog when time allows!

A Kilkenny Tower-House

 

From a Hebridean holiday.

 From a trip to the Inner and Outer Hebrides in 2010, with my partner, Phyllis. 

At Milfort House

 The house, a former Malcomson-Morley mansion, is long 'gone'. The arch, recommended for preservation by experts not too many years ago, is likely to come crashing down before long due to the growth of ivy and small trees on it!

Further Statistics

 The following site statistics were received by email March 15th:

Portlaw.info, provided by Alexa ranking:  portlaw.info reaches roughly 967 users per day and delivers about 28,996 users each month.

(received from eigolink.net)

PAGEVIEWS . . . latest statistics

 Pageviews on 18th March 2021 for previous 30 days, provided by Google Analytics:

United States 712    Ireland 575

Germany 563    Sweden  540    

Hong Kong  453    Ukraine 284

Russia  281    U.K.  253

Belgium 242    Uganda 126

United Arab Emirates  103  Latvia 59

Qatar   54    France  49

Canada  43    Indonesia  30

Saudi Arabia 25    Peru  21

Australia 17    Others  147

The highest number of pageviews for an entry on this site since commencement is that for 'Southeast Radiotherapy for Waterford Regional Hospital' posted on May 19th, 2011, and consists of twenty-two images.  Total number of hits is 7,750. 

Lá Fhéile Pádraig 2021

Pictures from the past, due to Covid-19!

                                                                                                                                                                     A Cork family of 'Travellers' with David ('Keeper of the well') on right, 2011.

Regrettably, Portlaw's church organist for over sixty years, Maura Power, has passed away since.

This young lady was a greater attraction than the Portlaw Pipe Band members in 2011!

St. Patrick baptising the two princesses, Eithne and Fidelma, daughters of King Laoghaire of Ireland, at Ogulla Well (aka Cliabach Well), near Tulsk, Co. Roscommon in 432 A.D. Portrayed in the middle light from a 3-light window at a Dundalk Church, photographed in 2019. Eithne was known as 'Eithne the Fair', Fidelma as 'Fidelma the Red'. Both princesses were being fostered there at Rathcroghan.  The well and shrine is well worth a visit, if in the area, also Tulsk village, which has much of historic interest to see, including a fine heritage centre. 

Above: most of the Dundalk window.

There is material go-leór about St. Patrick, The Princesses, Rathcroghan and Tulsk on the Internet.     St. Patrick died at Saul, Downpatrick, Co. Down, in the year 461 A.D. There is much also to see and hear about the man himself in that town. 

Information plaque at St. Patrick's grave, Downpatrick.

The great stone and plaque covering the graves of Saints Patrick, Colmcille and Brigid

-    oooOooo    -

A quiet St. Patrick's Day in Portlaw due to Covid-19 restrictions. 

The procession of cars around the village was unplanned and not announced in advance, resulting in so few viewers turning out. 

The Oakville children confined themselves to their own estate and had a great time with suitable music!

Seaside Musicians . . .

 

Silence and . . .

 

MARCH BEECHWOOD

 

DOVE HILL CASTLE

 A 14th century Norman tower-house, associated with a variety of owners. Across the road from the  now-well-known Meadows & Byrne shop.

Slievanamon/Sliabh na mBan in background. 

"This is how . . . "

 

SUNSETS . . .

 Photo taken in Coolroe townland!

Séipéal Chluain na gCam

 

Ancient Oak near Marlfield

 

Evening Fog near Clonagam

 

Glasnevin Round Tower

 The Round Tower memorial over the tomb of Daniel O'Connell at Glasnevin cemetery, Dublin. Well worth a visit, the large tomb is below ground level, and is open to the public at times.  Within the tomb, with its colourful decorations and more, one can see a 'mensa' or table-tomb and a coffin within containing the remains of O'Connell. You can touch the coffin through an opening if you wish! 

Entrance to the huge cemetery is free. Furthermore, access to the Botanic Gardens is available on the north (?) side of the grounds (free admission also!).  One could easily spend a whole day walking around both, there is so much to see. Food is available at both places. Car parking, for a fee, is available inside the entrance to the gardens. There is a fee to access the museum. 

Check out info on the cemetery museum at:   https://www.glasnevinmuseum.ie/events/

February Flooding

The Clódagh river lives up to it's name 'Clóideach' a few times each year, following heavy rain; its Irish name meaning - mountain torrent! There are a number of such-named rivers in the country. The name Bunclody is derived from same Irish description. 

Following torrential rain on night of Feb 18th and continuing at times on the 19th, I headed out in such rain to see the anticipated flooding. The wind was almost blowing me off my feet; my brolly got quite a bashing, and raindrops were affecting my camera lens, as can be seen from above image; so I came home.

About 90 minutes later when the rain stopped, I came down to view the scene at the riverside walk, to find that the flooding had eased somewhat. This may well have been due to the fact that the tide was on the way out. Yes, the Clódagh is tidal as far as the now-defunct cotton-mill.

The above family, was one of the many groups who came along to view the scene during the day.

Still, the water was quite high at the bridge..

 Looking up-river, the Clódagh on left and the cotton-mill canal on the right, plus the adjacent field, higher up on left, which was completely water-logged and had the water surging through it.

A most interesting, hour-long TV documentary (BBC) last night about the 1607 Bristol Channel floods, showed dramatic contemporary printed matter and illustrations. An estimated 2,000 people were killed in the disaster.  Experts seemed uncertain whether the floods were caused by a tidal surge or a tsunami. Lots about the event on Wikipedia.  

Lower Tower Hill Area Feb. 17th 2021

A walk in the Tower Hill area on Feb. 17th last, revealed a panoramic view of the river Suir from approx. Mooncoin down to Mount Congreve; the latter out of the picture on the right. All this due to recent harvesting of large, mature coniferous trees.

Those on the left here may well be harvested also quite soon!

Ornamental grasses, obviously having escaped from either Milfort House or Curraghmore gardens, can be found by the adjacent roadside occasionally.  This plant found growing on the top of a Tower Hill wall.

                                                                                                                                                           Pheasant Berry plants are plentiful in this area also, obviously having originated in same gardens. They are now coming back into leaf, with the arrival of Spring.

Finding my way ahead blocked with this pool of water, I was about to return until the lady in the distance suggested I by-pass it simply by going up to a higher lever in the wood, which I did, and enjoyed a total of 75 minutes walking.