We were staying at Leenaun in Connamara recently for a school reunion of my husband’s class from over four decades ago! I hadn’t been there for many years, and it was wonderful to see how unspoilt it is; still with its beautiful golden and purple landscape at this time of year. Best of all, from my point of view, was the story of Kylemore Abbey’s restoration of an abandoned garden from decades ago.
Wandering in old graveyards - St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny
This is the beautiful and peaceful graveyard of Saint Canice’s Cathedral in Kilkenny. Graves here are decorated by nature with wildflowers like poppies, roses and valerian. Some of the headstones are hard to read because they’re so weathered but tombs inside the Cathedral building date from mediaeval times.
Superstitions in Ireland - a light-hearted look at bad omens
I recently googled to find out which is the most superstitious country in the world, fully expecting it to be Ireland. Surprise, surprise; it wasn’t. It was India. And within Europe the most superstitious people apparently live in Serbia. Perhaps we are beginning to shake off our belief in bad omens in Ireland. I was brought up by superstitious parents and it took me years to abandon their worries about magpies, broken mirrors, spilled salt and peacock feathers, to name but a few.
I stumbled upon Dublin's 'Secret Garden'
I love old secret gardens, hidden away behind walls where ivy trails the paths and the bustle of a city slips away. I stumbled upon Dublin’s ‘Secret Garden’ yesterday.
On a warm April morning when dog walkers and tourists stopped to chat, I was talking to a complete stranger about her two Bichons when I noticed an old gateway at the end of Clonmel Street, off Harcourt Street. If you don’t know our capital city, this is a stone’s throw from the centre and St Stephen’s Green.