Sans Camera in Galway

Today's Galway visit went well, despite forgetting the camera. A European city of 37,000 is positively minuscule compared to the thirteen million in Istanbul. A short walking tour took us through Eyre Square (site of medieval executions) and the Saturday markets, into St. Nicholas' Collegiate church (the site of the tomb of Jane Eyre, supposedly a figure of inspiration for the novel), past a portion of the medieval wall and a stone's throw from the village of Claddagh, origin point of the famous rings. We also paid a visit to the newer Galway cathedral, which was completed in the 1950s and 60s. For a modern cathedral, it is impressive. Done in the old style from marble floors to copper roof, including stunning stained glass and a wall mosaic of President Kennedy, who was almost comic in his overly pious posture.

Lunch followed, and a visit to the art supply shop. It was as well stocked as any independent art shop, and I purchased a few bits and pieces. The markets were tempting. Fresh and dirt cheap fruits and veg, olive oils and cheese galore, fresh lavender and handmade soaps, fine jewelry and other goodies. All had to be ignored and noted for future visits, as the main shopping was to be accomplished at Aldi and Tesco.

I wandered from group to group, losing some of the other students as they went off to run other errands, and then meeting up with others. We sat in the park in Eyre Square, jackets off, enjoying the sun bathed grass. We walked to the Galway shopping centre and decided we would brave Aldi. It was surely a trial, but none of the ingredients were high fructose or high in preservatives, and everything was about fifty cents. I still visited Tesco for spinach and curry powder.

We waited for the bus in Supermac's, relishing Ferrero Rocher and Bailey's flavour ice cream and laughing over hurling recaps before tomorrow's big match. At last it was time to go, and we piled back into the bus. A few were lost of course, but we were only delayed a few minutes finding them.

The bus runs to Galway regularly, and I promise next time I will remember the camera.

Connemara

Last night's Irish Studies introductory course prepared us for a day trip to Connemara today. Our first stop after passing Galway was Moycullen, for brief coffee and refreshment at Tony's. Across the road, the first of a number of farm stands was being assembled. I purchased an apple for twenty cents, gave fifty, and receive two complimentary plums. They were all delicious, not overly sweet. The gent minding the stand was just about the most cheerful I have ever seen another human being.

The farm stand across from Tony's in Moycullen.

The countryside changed as we entered Connemara. The hills flew up into the low hanging clouds and fog. The day was not the best for sight-seeing, but glorious Irish weather nonetheless. We paused at Killary Harbour, a glacial fjord in the heart of Connemara county. A clootie tree stood near our layby, perched above the grey water full of salmon farms.

Me by Killary Harbour.

The clootie tree.

The fog.

The fjord.

Our next stop was Kylemore Abbey. Built in the wake of the potato famine, the opulent, gothic revival manor was first the private residence of wealthy Londoner Mitchell Henry, and later an international girls' school. Having closed in 2012, the site remains a Benedictine monastery.

Kylemore Abbey.

And again.

The hills above Kylemore, coated in fog.

On to Clifden for lunch. We stopped at a quiet pub for fish and chips and soup. The fare was not spectacular, and the real star of the place was the health shop, in which I wish I could have lingered. Little bags of designer grains, bottles of holistic supplements and various remedies lined the shelves.  I was at last able to replace the tea tree oil I lost in Heathrow.

Facts of interest!

A street in Clifden.

We stopped off at a beach covered in maerl, or coralline algae. The whole strand was littered with fantastic and highly photogenic shells. A random fistful of sand would yield a treasure trove of little souvenirs of the sea.

A patch of maerl.

We were allotted fourty-five minutes at the next beach, Dog's Bay. The sand here was white and lined with veins cut by the water. Lichens and mushrooms were to be found on the rocks by the sand. As well as a hotbed of barnacles, snails and crabs. We collected a few of the choicest, vacant shells.

By the beach.

Dog's Bay, looking out.

Moss and lichen.

The curve of Dog's Bay.

A path by the beach.

Tendrils of water.

On the ride home we stopped to inspect one of the peat bogs of Connemara. We found a place where the turf had been cut away (for storage and burning over the winter) and surveyed the local flora. I found a big, black slug.

This guy was the size of a small sausage.

Bogs and hills.

Low cloud over the bog.

A patch of sun in the distance.

Back through Oughterard and Moycullen, Galway and Kinvara. Back to the Burren and hot porridge for dinner. Nothing fancy, just something to warm the cockles before bed. Tomorrow is the week's big shop in Galway!

Bumper stickers are a rare find here, finally spotted one!

Studio

Our shared studios have be allocated. I have ample space, a pair of easels (Lindsay, my studio partner, is studying photography and foresaw no need for an easel), and several drawing boards. I covered my table in brown paper and purchased the bare necessities: compressed charcoal, brown paper sketchpad, recycled white paper sketchpad, 4B and 5B drawing pencils, cheap eraser. It is enough to start with before specific projects take form.

Double easels and big drawing board at the ready.

The before shot.

In down time between faculty and grad student portfolio presentations, I explored Newtown Castle. The stone stairway spirals up, and has worn through in places. That is, there are actual holes through which you can see the steps circling below. Views of the Burren peep through the arrow slits and windows on every side.

Newtown Castle.

The other Irish Studies students (which is to say, every other undergraduate) and I enjoyed an introductory lecture this evening. Tomorrow we will be bussed up from the alkaline limestone of the Burren to the acidic mountains, sheep lands and bogs of Connemara. Fingers crossed for puffin sightings.

A bit of the Burren Way.

Following morning registration and a brief settling into my studio space, I decided to return to the house. The day was free, so a walk seemed in order. I took the back road with Luisa, whose room is across the hall from mine. Our path eventually led to the coast road and looped back through Ballyvaughan.

The path goes up the hillside behind the college, with views of the Burren all around. The village cathedral offered a landmark by which to navigate, and the cows provided a ubiquitous soundtrack.

The village of Ballyvaughan, from a hillside path.

The welcome sign outside Ballyvaughan.

Galway from across the bay.

A pair of black birds by the waterfront.

 Opens at eight p.m.

A bus tour of the Burren

Our bus tour kicked off with a drive past An Rath, a home of the faery folk. We stopped off at a ring fort, from which we enjoyed a perfect view of the Burren is every direction.

A view of the college. Newtown Castle can be seen slightly left of centre.

Our bus climbed the hills, the landscape becoming steadily rockier, the clouds increasingly heavier. We reached our next stop, Poulnabrone. The dolmen is about six thousand years old, and burial site of the remains of upwards of thirty people.

Poulnabrone dolmen.

A hole by Poulnabrone.

The Burren at higher altitude.

The landscape of the Burren.

Withered thistle.

A stoat ran in and around the little limestone crevices and amongst the varied flora. The Burren is treed overwhelmingly in hazel. We trundled back down and headed for Kilfenora. We viewed the carved crosses in the old cathedral and then stopped off at Vaughan's Pub for a lunch of soup and brown bread.

Celtic cross in Kilfenora.

Kilfenora cathedral.

Our stomachs full, we piled back into the bus and made our way through a coniferous landscape and then passed through Lisdoonvarna. It was not long before the pines gave way to farmland once more, and then we were approaching the coast. 

I saw the cliffs before they were announced. We never got very close, but in the distance they rose from the sea like behemoths. I walked along the coast to the north, gazing off to the Aran Islands before us and breathing in the violence of the sea.

The Cliffs of Moher.

Looking out at the Aran Islands, towards Inis Oírr.

The Atlantic.

An hour's exploration of the coast came to an end, and we returned to the bus for the loop back to Ballyvaughan. We followed the coastline all the way back, pausing here and there to stretch our legs. Soon we were back in the sheltering crook of Galway Bay, and then the now familiar main street of Ballyvaughan. We would all sleep well tonight.

Sunday, arrival.

Following my home stay, I was collected once more by van and transported with my fellow Burren students to Ballyvaughan and Orchard House, our home for the next fifteen weeks.

The house is surprisingly well stocked, thanks to previous occupants. Kitchen equipment has been anything but lacking, beds are warm, sitting rooms large, wifi passable.

A quiet Sunday evening of tea and scones with the president of the college gave us time to see the village, purchase necessities and settle in. Though the weather was gloomy, we were all in high spirits and eager to begin the adventure properly.

Limerick

The McCarthy family greeted me warmly. Their home (outside the main house) is a sprawling collection of lean-tos, garages, pits, half-assembled cars, bicycles, tools and gates. Hens wander underfoot, and the animals (four dogs, a dozen or so rabbits, and a pair of degus) are housed out back. Lola the cat is in and out at all times, and her indeterminately gendered kitten, V, curls up beside her sometimes. Their company helps a bit while I miss the cats at home.

On Friday I went cycling (for the first time in eight years) with Aaron and Shannon, the two younger children in the McCarthy family. I had to walk my bike, borrowed from Sean (their older brother), up the more taxing hills, but it was easy enough to rediscover the muscles required.

Some time later we went out again, for a walk that ended up lasting two hours. I remembered the camera this time.

A solitary bull.

Just a country road.

Cows in the waning light.

A view looking towards Charleville, the nearest town.

Shannon and I happened upon an old water pump halfway up the road. A black cat mewled at us, and we walked along the wall behind the pump. There were little holes full of bottles and weeds and refuse, flowers growing through every crack.

The most flattering high-vis vest in Ireland.

A wee man atop the water pump.

Shannon flashes her most extreme smile.

The weekend was relaxing overall. On Saturday evening I went out with Ciara, the eldest McCarthy daughter, and her fiancé Jamie. We joined their mutual friends and made the most of our evening with generous libations. The following morning I bade farewell to Limerick, and to my host family. Not long now and I would be settled in the Burren.