Ireland: Beautiful Clogherhead from above

Clogherhead is one of the loveliest Irish places I've had the privilege of visiting. There's a little fishing village with a trailer park alongside thatched cottages, and a long, wide beach that vanishes in the mists. But it is the "head" itself that I found most captivating, with its ever-varying rocky shores that frame views across to Northern Ireland and the open Irish Sea. I was making sure I had the spelling correct when I came across this video, recorded by a remote control plane operator... wonderful stuff. Full screen is a must!

A Summer in Ireland

Ahhh… That summer was the deep breath of my life at the time. I had just gotten away from Germany and all the oppression associated with my years there – I needed something really amazing to put me in a new frame of mind. And it did. I looked online to find a room to rent, and connected with Alison in Balbriggan, who promised me a sea view from my room and a beach just a few steps away across the field.

When I arrived in that fresh lushness, it was a balm to my ragged spirit, and I continued to write my current novel, Legendary Space Pilgrims, with new inspiration. Some readers say they can tell when my mindset changed along with my location.

But writing wasn’t all I did. At a tiny local church I met a new friend and we proceeded to go on lots of outings together – mostly day trips in the area around Dublin, but also a couple of weekends away in the West and North. Andrea has since become a good friend and we’ve visited back and forth a few times too.

Looking at the pictures I took back then, I’m amazed at the huge variety of places I got to see, the stunning vistas, the rocky shores (I was showing the album to someone recently and she asked me, why so many pictures of rocks? I suppose that’s what the coast is mainly made of…), the castles and ruins, the green land in its mantle of fecund humidity.

I love Ireland, and I can’t wait to get back there someday.

Amazing Places: Ireland Instagram

I recently came across a lovely Instagram feed from Abarta Audioguides in Ireland. They've got an awesome collection of shots of those old ruins and landscapes that give Ireland its ancient mystique. Check it out at http://instagram.com/abartaaudioguides.

Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way

This gorgeous video introduces a new coastal road in Ireland's wild west. I have seen only a little of it, and it is truly stunning. Notwithstanding the slightly corny advertising spiel, I got just a little bit teary at the thought of the auld land where my grandfather and great-grandmother were born. I have to get back there someday.

Giant's Causeway

Giant's Causeway is a fabulous natural monument on the north coast of Ireland. The legend goes that an Irish giant was fighting with a Scottish giant, and threw stones into the sea in his desire to make a way across to teach the Scot a lesson. There is a similar formation beyond the ocean in Scotland (image search: Cave of Melody). Check out Ireland.com's Giant's Causeway page for more background and a lovely video.

As for me, I visited in 2008 with a friend. The long and winding cliff pathways, the conveniently foot-sized stepping stones on their long seaward tongue, and the organ-pipe formations in the hillsides all make for an expansive and mind-boggling experience.

13 Types of Tea Drinker

I wish I'd come up with that title, but I didn't. This article over at Ireland's Daily Edge lists a variety of people that perhaps we all know, with some amusing images of which the above is undoubtedly my favourite. And if anyone knows tea, it's the Irish.

I didn't really find myself in the list, though. I shall have to add a #14: The one-strong-cup-in-the-morning milk-and-honey addict. Seriously, I should try to wean myself off it someday - it's scary how bad I feel if I don't get it.

Irish Bond

Staying with our Irish theme, it was recently announced that the next James Bond flick may be filmed in Dublin. Ever quick to the fore, my compatriots leaped into the Twittersphere and made all sorts of suggestions for what such a movie could be titled, including such gems as Quantum of Bollix and On Yer Man's Secret Service. The Journal compiled the 9 best ones here, and the hashtag on Twitter is also worth a peek!

Irish authors I want to read

This page lists some popular contemporary Irish authors. I want to read some of them for sure! Even just their names are so musical. I do like Maeve Binchy and Niall Williams, and their writing is musical too. The list is worth checking out!

Photo Story - Balbriggan Harbour

Five years ago I spent a summer in Balbriggan, on the coast of the Irish Sea just north of Dublin. I often walked into the town for my groceries, taking a turn around the harbour first. Always charmed by the many colours of the fishing boats, and always hurt to the heart at the sight of two sunken wrecks against the seawall. It's an interesting harbour; it has no water at all when the tide is out, leaving the boats high and dry.

Balbriggan Town

The name alone conjures up memories of the sweet summer I spent there, scribbling in a room with a sea view. It proved easy enough to arrange accommodation in Ireland, even from another country, and that is how I ended up in Balbriggan.

The town is about 45 minutes north of Dublin by commuter train, though there is no longer much of a gap between the sprawling city suburbs and the satellite communities. It has always been a fishing village, but now it serves also as a home for city workers.

I believe it has a population of about 20,000—sharply growing—and there’s one hotel, several pubs and restaurants along the main street, four supermarkets, and a good number of suburbs itself. In suburban Ireland, housing is arranged in estates where each street has the same name. For example, the Clonuske estate has Clonuske Park, Clonuske Drive, Clonuske Close, Clonuske Rise, and Clonuske Green. It was certainly confusing at first!

The houses themselves are joined wall-to-wall more often than not—it is the finer homes that stand alone—and they often have brightly-coloured doors and window-frames in otherwise plain facades of brick and plaster.

Balbriggan faces the Irish Sea, looking towards Wales, as did my window. The beach is never far away in this town, and once there, you can walk for miles to the north along tiny coastal tracks that may get a bit rugged and adventurous in places. Once I encountered a herd of cows who had trampled down their fence and escaped onto the beach. They proceeded to enter a housing estate, where local boys kept them in check until the farmer was called.

The sound of the green trains is often heard, whizzing by towards Drogheda, or the blue ones that go to Belfast. And when the sun sets over the little hills at the western horizon, the colours rise up in the eastern sky, followed by the night—and I wrote on and finished a novel or two that summer, in that little room in little old Balbriggan.