Ireland – Day 5
A great day, today. Stops included several towns, Doo Lough Lake and the most marvelous music session in a pub in Louisburgh.
Boats and Cypress on Doo Lough Lake
We had some sun today, so photography was more interesting. Nothing like a little light to make things pop a bit. Interesting plant life in Ireland. Cypress trees, which I associate with warmer climates grow here. There were a lot of them around Doo Lough Lake. Also, Potentilla plants, which I have only found before in arid climates. There are even palm trees here, which I assume are not native to the area.
Famine Rows
As I have said before, there is a lot of history in the land in Ireland. Famine rows are everywhere around County Mayo. This is where farmers dug potatoes during the potato famines of 1847 and 1852. Believing that the blight was in the ground, farmers would not plant where the bad potatoes were. What you see in the picture above are the actual rows of potato plantings from that period. They have not been touched since then and have become grazing land.
They have faces with true character in Ireland
Abandoned barn and winding road
Abandoned stone buildings are everywhere in County Mayo. They are wonderful to photograph and tell a story about leaving. Many of these buildings were abandoned during the famines either through death, or emigration.
L to R: Olcan Masterson, Laoisac Niconnajhag, Connie Collen
Olcan Masterson is the guide for our jaunt around County Mayo. A musician and photographer, he is a wonderful tour guide. He was scheduled to play for a couple of hours at a pub, Campbell’s, in Murrisk. Of course, we went with him and had a wonderful time. The music was fantastic. All three musicians were kind enough to allow me to photograph and record. I will use the music for a soundtrack on the slide show I will do when I return from this trip. The experience was two hours of fantastic music.
