Halloween is a time for family and friends to gather around a crackling fire and share ghost stories. Apparently in Victorian times, spooky tales were more associated with Christmas but nowadays we savour them at the end of October. There is a limitless supply of ghost stories in Ireland where huge ruined castles loom on the landscape and the ruins of big houses lie abandoned at the end of long winding avenues. They have always fascinated me so, to celebrate the spooky season, I’ve found four tales of haunted houses.
'The Family Shadow' is now available as an audiobook
A fine place for an inspiring stroll - Woodstock House and Gardens
We recently had visitors staying from England and, because they like walking, old houses and gardens, we decided to take them somewhere special. Woodstock Gardens in Inistioge, County Kilkenny are now being restored by Kilkenny County Council and are a wonderful place for a walk. I’d been before years ago but could only remember the famous Monkey Puzzle avenue, which would’ve been an impressive feature in Victorian times.
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.
A happy and healthy New Year to everyone!
A happy and healthy New Year in 2022 to you all!
A final few words from ‘In Memoriam’ by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, longest serving Poet Laureate and favourite of Queen Victoria.
Autumn leaves, abundant fungi and a tragic family story
What time of year do you like? I’m a summer person really. I love the early summer months of May and June best but autumn is the season that comes a close second. Walking in an autumn like the one we’ve just had, with bright blue skies and unusually warm dry weather for Ireland, I find uplifting and inspiring. Read on for a celebration of autumn leaves, deadly poisonous fungi and a tragic family story in Menlo Castle in Galway.
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.
Victorian-era plant hunters were an intrepid lot
Would you have applied for a job as a plant hunter in the 19th century? The first skill you would have needed was an adventurous spirit. Plant hunting botanists had to survive shipwreck, pirates, numerous accidents and foreign diseases, such as dysentery and yellow fever. Some never came home. I’ve been doing some research on medicinal plants and popular Victorian garden trees and, in this month’s blog, I take a look at a few of the specimens these brave, intrepid men brought back with them that still adorn our gardens today…
Tall ships, tall tales and an Irish female pirate
Have you heard of Anne Bonny - the Irish female pirate?
I've recently listened to two compelling audio books by Daphne du Maurier: Jamaica Inn and Frenchman's Creek, both very different as the first is dark and dramatic and the second is humorous and romantic. Both have du Maurier suspense and both are about pirates in Cornwall.
Cornish pirates inspired me to research Irish pirates and I discovered Anne Bonny. She was a young Irish woman who was born Anne Cormac in Cork at the end of the 17th century. Apparently she was the illegitimate daughter of a well-to-do lawyer and his housemaid. There are many stories and myths about this reckless woman pillaging treasure ships on the high seas.
The Family Shadow is here
It’s been a busy few weeks but The Family Shadow is here and is available as a Kindle ebook, paperback and in Kindle Unlimited. It’s a historical mystery with dual timeline suspense and is set on the sweeping Wexford coast in Ireland in the late nineteenth century and also in 2019.
I’ve always loved that area of Wexford. It’s near Curracloe with its seven mile long sandy beach and dunes, backed by Raven Wood, a spine of Corsican pines. Even on summer days, the beach never seems crowded. Around the far bend is the famous Wexford Slobs wildfowl reserve where geese and swans fly in for the winter months.