Ireland: Land of Ancient Song

An ancient bridge,

and a more ancient tower,

A farmhouse that is sheltered by its wall, An acre of stony ground,

Where the symbolic rose can break in flower, Old ragged elms, old thorns innumerable,

The sound of the rain or sound Of every wind that blows…

WB Yeats – excerpt from “Meditations in Time of Civil War” (1922)

A bridge, a tower, a wall, all of these images is Ireland, a land of poetry and song, memory and magic.

At the edge of the known world, Ireland had been inhabited for almost 10,000 years with successive layers of civilization building a stony record in the ragged landscape. Mesolithic settlements can be identified along coastal areas and in the river valleys. Later the Celts, originating from Germanic tribes in Central Europe, pushed their way west, bringing language, culture and religion. Vikings descended from the Scandinavian North during the early Middle Ages, wreaking havoc but ultimately merging with the local population. Anglo-Norman influence from British dominance further molded Irish history.

We traveled to West Ireland in pursuit of this rich human legacy, where the ancient and modern coexist, where the spirits of times past mingle amongst the living.

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We brought the mighty S (Typ 007), the versatile M (Typ 246) and the impermeable Q2. Ruth was focused on shooting solely in B&W on this trip.

The Burren is a vast glaciated landscape of sedimentary rock topped by limestone that was formed approximately 325 million years ago. It spans up to 220 square miles, encom- passing the Cliffs of Moher on the Atlantic and spanning Counties Clare and Galway. It is as ancient as the Earth itself and within is spectacular evidence of human habitation. The Poulnabrone Dolmen (#1), the hole of sorrows, is a portal tomb – transporting us from the world of the living to the world to come. Constructed in about the 30th C BCE, at the same time as the Pharaohs of Egypt erected the pyramids, this imposing dolmen is the oldest dated stone monument in Ireland. Beneath it were found the remains of 21 people, their bones telling tales of hard labor, violent conflict, creativity and craftsmanship – all in a tomb that was in continual use until about 6,000 years ago.

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POULNABRONE DOLMEN (ca 30C BCE) COUNTY CLARE IRELAND

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EIGHTERCUA MEGOLITHIC TOMB (ca 19 CBC) COUNTY KERRY IRELAND

Standing stones, stone circles and stone rows litter the Irish countryside. Along the Ring of Kerry, on a small hill looking west toward the bay and open Atlantic Ocean we espied an elegant alignment of stones, in a nearly oval formation. We jumped out, ran up the road and climbed a fence to approach what beckoned. Erected at about 1800 BCE these stones called Eightercua (#2) mark a holy terrain, the final resting place of Sceine, wife of the local bard-magician-judge. She died at sea. Whose voice carries on this wind? The bay below was named Inber Scene in her memory.

Further on, the Aran Islands emerge from the sea keeping watch over the Galway Bay, the final frontier between Europe and beyond. Dun Aonghasa (#3), built in the 11th C. BCE is a great fortress that sits atop the largest isle of Inishmore. Covering over 14 acres the fort rises up from the base of the island with a long slow climb. We passed the three terraces of walls that surround the final enclosure.

DUN AONGHASA (ca 11C BCE) ARAN ISLANDS COUNTY GALWAY IRELAND

Perched more than 300 ft. above the sea on the edge of a sheer cliff, this imposing fort is a daunting protector of Ireland, its view an enticement to the world unfurled.

In the Common Era, ancient peoples and new arrivals occupied Ireland sequentially and concomitantly. The Middle Ages saw the coming of Christianity and the emergence of monastic communities, choosing to serve God in isolation and abstinence, living in the harshest of environments. Clochan, or beehive huts (#4), dot the road around the Dingle Peninsula and were home to the hermit monks of the 8th C CE and may have been modeled on pagan homes of earlier times. There is no mortar; dry stones stacked meticulously one above and one next to another creating a dry and snug abode in this damp and hostile place. Although they appear diminutive from the outside, once entered the beehives open up into surprisingly expansive and accommodating spaces.

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GALLARUS ORATORY (ca 7-8C AD) DINGLE PENINSULA COUNTY KERRY IRELAND

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BEEHIVE HUTS DINGLE PENINSULA COUNTY KERRY IRELAND

Nearby on the Dingle Peninsula, built at around the same time as the beehive huts in the medieval period, the Gallarus Oratory (#5) employs similar dry stone technique. Fit perfectly together, its elegant form reminds one of an upturned boat. It is believed that the oratory was used as a chapel — with one small window on the far wall opposite the door. Whoever could climb through this tiny passage of light would have their soul cleansed and immediate access to heaven above. At the solstices, winter and summer, and on every Easter Sunday, the sun’s rays pierce the tiny openings and illuminate the interior of the Gallarus Oratory, sharply and distinctly.

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MINARD CASTLE DINGLE PENINSULA COUNTY KERRY IRELAND

In the following centuries Ireland saw the increasing influence and conflict of Church and State. In the later Middle Ages great cathedrals and abbeys came up all over the island. And from this time forward the English were present in Ireland. In Cong (#6), once the seat of the dreaded kings of Connaught, an Augustinian Abbey was built on the site of an earlier monastic church. It is a fine example of Romanesque architecture, now in ruins, destroyed and looted by the Cromwellian forces in the mid-17th Century. Minard Castle (#7), constructed in the 16th century is situated in a most strategic and gorgeous position, with views across the Irish Sea to the Iveragh Peninsula.

A testament to its strength and endurance, it still stands proud centuries later, despite detonations set by Cromwell’s men at all four of its corners.

The abbeys, monasteries and cathedrals of Ireland, the village churches, ancient Neolithic sights all honor the memory of those who died in their environs. And even until our time, every churchyard stone marks the tomb of noble and plain folk. Saint Finn Barre’s Cathedral (#8) in Cork was erected in the 19th Century. The original site housed a monastery in the heart of the city. The current Anglican church consecrated in 1870 is in the highly ornate neo-Gothic style.

But the graveyard, is modest, quiet, solemn. Echoes of stone songs that haunt and ring across the Emerald Isle.