On Torr Road

Facing Views and History

A grand view presents itself throughout the roll down Torcorr into Coolranny townland. Loughan is a shallow bay along the North Channel of the Irish Sea, a rocky sand beach is accessible via a slope shallower than the cliffs on either side. This access is a reason for the tiny rural community on the slope above, now a site of ruined cottages, abandoned during the emigration from Ireland, a flight continuing into the Twentieth Century.

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See this post for a description of wildflowers flowering here in the month of June.

This photograph from the bottom of the Torr Road hill takes in Coolranny Townland. a slice of land running from the ridge to Loughan Bay. We see a number of hawthorne trees in flower, yellow flowering Whin Bush, houses and the Roman Catholic church Saint Mary’s Star of the Sea.

Tor in Irish is a steep rocky height. Likewise, Corr means odd, uneven, rounder, convex, curved, peaked, projecting, smooth. Combined Torcorr is the townland where we stopped on the Torr Road, halted by our wonder at this sight. In the distance, Torr Head projects into North Channel, the closest land to Scotland. Following the coast, the cliffs in front of Torr Head is home to numerous sea birds. The curved bay is named Loughan, the rocky sand beach are ruins of cottages emptied by Irish emigration. The white building is Saint Mary’s Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church. County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

The photograph of the header, taken by Pam, is from either Coolranny or Loughan Townland, looking across a sheep pasture, the North Channel of the Irish Sea toward the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland just twelve miles distant.

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Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

View from Loughcrew, South

Loughcrew history

In more recent centuries Loughcrew became the seat of a branch of the Norman-Irish Plunkett family, whose most famous member became the martyred St Oliver Plunkett. The family church stands in the grounds of Loughcrew Gardens. With its barren isolated location, Sliabh na Caillí became a critical meeting point throughout the Penal Laws for Roman Catholics. Even though the woods are now gone an excellent example of a Mass Rock can still be seen on the top of Sliabh na Caillí today. The Plunketts were involved in running the Irish Confederacy of the 1640s and were dispossessed in the Cromwellian Settlement of 1652. Their estate at Loughcrew was assigned by Sir William Petty to the Napier Family c.1655. The Napiers are descended from Sir Robert Napier who was Chief Baron of the Exchequer of Ireland in 1593.

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Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

View from Loughcrew, South by Southwest

Megalithic Ruin of County Meath

Cairnbane East of the Loughcrew Cairns site, County Meath Ireland, is also known as Hag’s Mountain. We are looking south, southwest from the north side toward Cairnbane West. Flowering yellow whin bush is in foreground, white flowering hawthorn trees in distance.

Carnbane East hill is topped by a fine and accessible passage tomb, Cairn T. 

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Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

View from Loughcrew, northeast, Megalithic Ruin

On the Ground in County Meath

On a May afternoon my dear wife, Pam, and I climbed to the summit of in Irish “Sliabh na Caillí” anglicized as “Slieve na Calliagh” translated to the english language as “Hag’s Mountain”, the site of 5000+ year old megalithic monuments. Here you are looking to the northeast with a collapsed tomb to the right foreground. In closeup is a curbstone, one of many laid side to side to form the outer tomb margin. In the middle distance is a hill with additional megalithic ruins, not visible.

Megalithic is an architectural style used throughout the world, between 6,000 and 4,000 years ago in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Megalithic ruins are scattered throughout the island and County Meath is especially noted for them.

We stand in Corstown townland, the townlands of Ballinvally is to your left, ahead and to the right is Patrickstown, all in County Meath, Ireland.

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Creeping up on 1200 Readers….

….and a photographic gallery.

As of April 5th 1181 is the count of subscribers to this blog, an interesting number. The individual numerals sum to a prime number, 11. I appreciate each and every “1” added together, you readers. Thank You.

Coincidentally, yesterday 1,200 of my blogs are published….Here is a selection of images from these posts.

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Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Pam Wills at Loughcrew, County Meath, Ireland

Pam and I were lucky enough to plan our tour of Ireland for May and June when the Hawthorne trees are in bloom.  Named sceach gheal in Gaelic, the white clusters of blossoms symbolize hope.  Hawthorns are plentiful throughout the island.  The Irish revere the tree and associate each Hawthorn with the Little People.  There are roads in Ireland that curve around a Hawthorn tree because the local people convinced the engineers to do so, to save the tree.

This specimen, covered with offerings (to the Little People?), is on the trail to Loughcrew.  Even with her knee trouble, Pam made it to the top of the Hag’s Mountain to visit Cairn T of the Loughcrew Passage tombs.

The steep path to Loughcrew passes a hawthorn covered with flowers and may offerings.

Pam loves to capture images and returned from Ireland with a large collection.  Most of the photos of me at work are by Pam.  Here Pam is capturing the summit view of Hag’s Mountain with the Cairn T entrance gate in the background.  Lucky for us, a fellow visitor made the trip to Loughcrew Gardens and picked up the  gate key from the café.  In a later post I will share my work from inside this passage tomb.

Pam makes friends wherever we go.  She started down the mountain before me to take it easy on her knees.  When I caught up, Pam and a young Irish family were deep in conversation.  I took the opportunity to capture Pam with that gorgeous view to the northwest, Irish countryside with Lake of the Branches in the far distance.

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Ireland on the Mind at Christmas

Irish Christmas Spirit

A previous post, “Christmas Tableau”, provides some context.  The photographs from that set were accepted by Getty for stock images.  Click the link to take a look:  “Cozy Snowmen” on Getty Stock.

This is part of my project to document our Christmas memories through photography.  Here we explore the Irish and Ireland themes of our decorated Christmas Tree.

Where would we be without Saint Patrick?  He was a force, to be sure.  A favorite story,  is the landing of his return to the island 432 AD.  The tides on the eastern coast of the Irish Sea can be strong.  His plan was to sail up to coast further north than what we call today Strangford Lough.  On passing this inlet the boat was swept into the lough tidal narrows.  Circumstances called for a landing, rather than wait for the tide.  Patrick came ashore where the Slaney River enter the lough and “quickly converted” the local chieftan, Dichu, who provided a barn for holding services.  The name of the town “Saul” in Irish is Sabhall Phádraig, translated as “Patrick’s Barn.”

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In this posting I’ll go lighter on descriptions of technique.  Leave it to say I held to the Canon fixed lens EF 50mm f1.2L USM throughout.  Some, like the photograph of Saint Patrick, used a tripod.  Others, like the latter two of the following Irish Themed Cross set were handheld.  Generally a flash was used to supplement ambient sunlight from a large north-facing bay window.

Here the “celtic” cross is converted to an Irish theme through a substitution of a shamrock with golden decoration inspired by pagan neolithic petroglyphs for the nimbus (circle) intersecting the central intersection of arms and stem.

For the first three I played with aperture, taking advantage of the stability of a tripod.  The final two of the set are handheld.

Note the fanciful leprechaun snowman with pot o’ gold, on the left.

Blown glass Irish dancers.

“Travel memories”

Lets’s finish up with a resin cast Santa Claus in hiking garb.  Hiking is a favorite activity of ours.  Featuring a stout staff and Aran Island sweater.

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Torr Head Stories VI

Down and Down

Weathered masonry at the height of Torr Head was there to serve the custom house and as support for a spotting station where ships transiting the Strait of Moyle (Irish Sruth na Maoile), the 12 miles of water to the Mull of Kintyre.

Lloyd’s of London, vitally interested in the appearance of ships’ progress crossing the oceans, had notice of passage via semaphore (and, later, Marconi’s “wireless”). Destination ports were copied in.

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Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Torr Head Stories V

The Way South –

Scottish influences touched the landscape covered by yesterday’s post, today we continue on this subject with these south facing views from Torr Head. The far ridge of Torrcor marks Loughan Bay.

A townland on the other side of Torrcor hill (and townland) has an eponymous ruin, Altagore Cashel. Mores the pity we did not visit this site, a thick drystone enclosing wall from the 5th century (you can see photographs from another site at this link). Cashel is from the Irish Caiseal, a circular, defensive fort (“ring fort”).

Books such as “Antrim and Argyll: Some Aspects of the Connections” tell of connections over the millennia, clan associations between the islands and ring forts such as Altagore Cashel.

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Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Torr Head Stories IV

Salmon Run

Late spring and summer, weekdays, a net is stretched across the bay to catch salmon nosing up the coast, searching for their home spawning stream, here called Altmore Burn. “Burn” is a Scottish term for a fresh water source, evidence of the influence 12 miles across the north channel.

The small harbor seen here from Torr Head is for the salmon fishery. Small boats will seek shelter here from the wind and tides strong enough to roar in passing the Head, like a fast flowing river.

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Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills