Return to Ballyvaughan

A week ago we went back to the West Coast of Clare, Ireland. You may remember my posts about last years trip, where I experienced wonderful weather and an inspirational week on the shores of Galway Bay.

Going back to somewhere in the expectation of a similar experience can often result in disappointment, but Ireland worked its magic and I came back with a head full of beauty and a heart full of peace. Perhaps I could share some of the beauty with you by posting lots of pictures?

The Burren above Fanore beach.

A ruined tower near Kinvarra.

The wild sea on a very windy beach, also near Kinvarra. Can you see the kitesurfer?

I went for two long walks with my friend who came with us for half the time, as my husband was busy at his concertina class...thats why we went. At the end of this road there is a tower.

This the Burren Art School. What a place to study. 

Now, shortly after this we met two students on the road, who were looking for a dead fox they had heard about. They asked if we'd seen it, they wanted to take it back to the studio and draw it.

Well, later, we found it. I don't know how it died, but it was in superb condition, and very beautiful.

So we drove back to the college to tell them about it. They weren't there, but their friend kindly collected it for them and we took her back to the college with it.

We met them in the Whisky bar that night and they thanked us and the girl said 'I dabble in taxidermy too', so the beauty of the fox will be preserved if she's a good dabbler.

We had a bit of a close shave with the very sweet girl in the picture, who got out of the car without looking, on a quiet but nevertheless main road.(..it doesn't bear thinking about what might have happened if the driver of the car overtaking us at the time had blinked, or looked away.) 

Last year we saw a dead badger on our walk. What next year? Deer, elephant?

In the woods we saw this footprint. I'm sure its a badger, very much alive.

I've seen black ivy berries before but never yellow.

The flora was a little more advanced than last year so the wood had a few new shoots.

The hazel catkins in the many hazel coppices were longer and fuller.

And things have started to shoot in the gaps in the limestone.

While I was there I bought a beautiful book of photographs of natural surfaces of Clare. (There will be a picture tomorrow) and I took quite a few of my own close ups of limestone and lichen.

Yu can see the tiny fossils of the creatures that formed the stone.

They are considerably larger in this Liscannor Stone.

Lovely spotty lichen below.

Tiny underwater beauty here.

As we travelled around the little roads on a small peninsula we came across this

I can really understand that sentiment.

I am inspired again.