Inishmore Cottage among fields
An island cottage among fields along the Galway Bay coast, the twelve pins of Connemara beyond.
Notice the playhouse, a replica of the larger cottage.
Time and Hands
From the heights of Dun Aonghasa the karst, a type of limestone, of Inishmore falls away for the sight of the twelve pins against Galway Bay. These unworked, barren slopes have a pale green covering growing seemingly on air.
On approach to Dun Aonghasa, Cottage Road dips closer to the road for this view of a field with enough dense grass for five cows to feed, the rest on the cushioning green. Where did this come from?
The answer is simple hard work, hundreds, a thousand years of hauling seaweed and sand, mixing it on the barren limestone, allowing the rot of time to work. Hold it down with roots, till and refresh.
Beware of falling rock
From the commanding location of Dun Aonghasa, looking northeast across Inishmore island, we can understand why the ancient builders chose this location.
We also see the transition from exposed limestone to the fields built literally from the ground up (see my post “The How of Soil”). For a closer view of island houses see my posts “Settled In” and “Cottage Road Cottage.”
The field walls are described in my posts, “What is a rock, what is a stone?” and “Stone on Stone.”
Click the photograph for a larger view. Enjoy!!
Breaking waves below the dramatic cliffs of the ancient fort Dun Aonghasa (Dun Aengus),
in the distance the karst landscape of Inishmore with clouds of an approaching storm over Galway Bay.
A crack in the limestone foretells the next cliff erosion, “don’t step there!!.”
Inishmore, Aran Islands, County Galway, Ireland.
a storm threatens
In a previous post, “Inner Ring, at last” we passed over the entrance to the inner enclosure.
A long path through fields, karst landscapes and outer walls leads to this entrance to the inner ring of Dun Aonghasa (Dun Aengus) of Inishmore, Aran Islands, County Galway, Ireland. The image composition is as a dramatic landscape with the surrounding walls and the cloudscape of an approaching storm.
Reference: wikipedia Dún Aonghasa
A time of wildflowers
My previous post, “Inner Ring, at last”, lowered the horizon. Here, we study the base of the inner wall.
A detail of the interior wall of Dun Aonghasa (Dun Aengus) in springtime. White flowers of Sea Campion (Scientific Name: Silene uniflora) (Irish Name: Coireán mara) set against the ancient dry stone wall. Inishmore, Aran Islands, County Galway, Ireland.
We found Sea Campion throughout the west Ireland coast.
Wishing a blessed All Saints Day (November 1st) for all my readers.
Reference: wikipedia Dún Aonghasa, Sea Campion
Tree Peony
See my previous May Woody Peony postings for background on this peony variety.
These photographs were taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV dslr and the Canon EF 50mm f/1,2L USM lens. I opted for handheld exposures; the morning was absolutely still.
Site of earliest construction, 1,100 BC
A view to the northwest from within Dun Aonghasa in springtime. The interior a karst formation (see my post, ” Galway Bay View from Dún Aonghasa”), the grikes filled with grass and a sprinkling of white and yellow flowers, a cloudscape rising over the walls. Inishmore, Aran Islands, County Galway, Ireland.
Reference: wikipedia Dún Aonghasa
where the wildflowers grow
The exposed limestone of the Aran Islands here transitions to a fertile field of grass, husbanded by generations of islanders. Photograph was taken from the path on Inishmore leading up to Dun Aonghasa.
The Aran Islands are an extension of The Burren of Ireland’s Counties Claire and Galway. The word burren is from the Irish Boireann, meaning “great rock.” The glaciers that covered Ireland, retreating about 10,000 years ago, scraped down to the bedrock, exposing wide areas of limestone and dropping, here and there, large rocks. When people came along the foreign nature of the large rocks was recognized, all the more obvious for lying on the horizontally bedded, exposed limestone. We call the foreign rocks erratics. The underlying scoured rock is a pavement for a resemblance to a cobbled roadway.
The incised line, filled with grass and wildflowers, in the following photograph is called a gryke. The body of stone between the grykes are clints. Sometimes, the grykes are cross hatched and the clints resemble cobblestones or flat paving stones.
The view is northeast toward the 12 Bens of Connemara. Inishmore, Aran Islands, County Galway, Ireland
Click the photograph for a larger view.
References: search wikipedia “The Burren” and Google “gryke”, “clint.”
A modern path to Dún Aonghasa offers views of the karst landscape, walled fields, and the North Atlantic Ocean in Inishmore, County Galway, Ireland.
Modern stonework borders the 1/2 mile path to the inner Dún Aonghasa walls, keeping tourists off delicate plants, maintaining the integrity of this ancient site.
The view north, northwest over the walled path to Dun Aonghasa (Dun Aengus) looking across karst landscape, walled fields, farms, the North Atlantic Ocean, coast of Connemara and the 12 Bens (12 Pins) mountains. Aran Islands, County Galway, Ireland.
Click the photograph for a larger view.
References: search wikipedia “Dún Aonghasa.”
while trillium
Taken with a Canon 100 mm “macro” lens, a Kodak digital single lens reflex body, a Manfrotto tripod and ample time and patience.
Enjoy!
Michael Stephen Wills Photography 