Wandering in the West

Out in the west of ireland now for a few days (thank you Grundtvig funding!) to attend the Burrenbeo Land-based Learning conference and meet a couple of other organisations.

Too much travelling today! But travelling into such an exciting landscape

In Caherconnel ringfort, I got very distracted by their stone walls....

Beautiful ferns tucked into the cracks in the limestone pavements (are they still called grikes in ireland?)

 Hanging over a wall, failing to photograph tadpoles in a cattle-trough!

And this lovely piece of writing:
This barony affordeth not a piece of timber sufficient to hang a man, water in any one place to drown a man or earth enough in any place to bury him. This consists of one entire rock with here and there a little surface of earth, which raiseth earlier Beef and Mutton, though they allow no hay, than any land in this Kingdome, & much sweeter by reason of the sweet herbs intermixed and distributed everywhere...

The Journal of Thomas Dineley, 1681

Poulnabrone Dolmen