In the middle of May I took a different sort of day out, travelling across to Kilconnell, near Ballinasloe in County Galway.
My first stop was to Green Hills Farm Stay, a couple of Kilometres from the village where Pat Noone, a farmer lives. It was an absolutely beautiful day with the whitethorn in full bloom in the hedgerows. As I approached my destination, I became aware that this countryside is full of ancient places with those distinctive shapes in fields, usually with a few whitethorns growing atop, that denote something beneath. Pat himself is a friendly, outgoing man, who speaks in a genuine local accent, full of colloquialisms now often lost to our Social Media speak. He greeted me outside his farmhouse, a lovely homely house, where the hens run about in a yard which backs out to a wonderful, magical landscape.
Magical might be an odd word to use but in this case, I think it’s almost appropriate. As he brought me on a trip to the first field, greeting young foreign students on the way, who were working and staying on his farm, it was obvious that the hill before us was something special. It’s difficult, in these places, to exactly determine what it is, but you know that this place has the stamp of an ancient past and even the odd rock outcrops give the hint of a previous place of perhaps burial, or worship. Bringing me down a path through fields with cows and calves, my fears were allayed by his handling of the animals he cares for with total confidence, and soon we entered what he calls “the fairy field”. Now this place is really special. Immediately you can see by the lay of the land, that there is evidence of ancient human activity; long ridges and a cairn like structure (covered in grass) with a smaller rise on top of it. All about are hawthorns, ones that are far older than those in the hedges, magnificent, often crooked and broken but still blooming. There is the one he calls the “portal” where many visitors have a spiritual experience beneath its branches, mine being that I felt particularly rooted to the earth. Then there is the Fairy Fort itself, surrounded by a wonderful mix of our native trees and in the middle, a tall Ash.
What makes all this the more interesting is Pat’s own stories of the fairies, that he has seen them many a time, and spoken to them. But it isn’t only him, but others who visit. I asked what they look like and according to him, they appear in a way that makes you comfortable, a bit like yourself. “Are they the Tuath de Danann” as in mythology, I asked, but he doesn’t believe they are, more beings from another dimension who are always there but only let themselves be seen at certain times. There were many other questions I wanted to ask but didn’t, ones I hope to have the chance to ask again, in the future. He also performed a healing on me, using Divining rods and Copper rings, something that goes back into the midst of time. I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed the visit and would recommend anyone to go down and have a chat and even perhaps, take the time to stay at his farm.
On the way home, I stopped in Kilconnell itself and visited the Franciscan abbey. It’s behind the main street and I actually drove past the tiny entrance lane a couple of times before realizing that was the way in. It’s an interesting site, founded in the 14th century by William Buí O’Kelly, Lord of Uí Mhaine and renovated in the 15th century by his grandson.
It is a well-preserved site, with its tower, nave, choir, south transept and aisle surviving and many of the cloisters are still intact. There are also many fine tombs with its walls. It has a turbulent history, though it’s earlier occupiers, Sir Richard Bingham and Captain Stryck, who held this site for the invading English, surprisingly allowed the monks to practice and did not damage the abbey in their conquest. In fact, it appears that there were still a small community of monks there till the mid 1700s, so by all accounts this abbey seems to have fared better than many in terms of not being completely dissolved and subsequently destroyed.
Having left the monastery, I made a meandering journey home, through Roscommon where I decided to visit what I think is my favourite location for a Dolmen. It is situated near Drum, not too far from Athlone and in a beautiful setting on a Bridle Path, very near the M6 motorway but feeling a million miles from anywhere. The Path alone, recently restored is a lovely, tranquil walk, tree-lined with each side of the path covered in wild garlic. Along the way you pass the Fort, Lios an Dreoilín or Fort of the Wren before coming to the dolmen itself. Meehambee Dolmen, from the Irish Meathán Buí (yellow meadow), was discovered in the 1960s by two children playing and is a perfect example of its type, standing 2.3 metres. Moss covered, it blends into the rich undergrowth while still outstanding, reminding us of our ancient heritage. Definitely one to visit!
And that was it, time to take a more direct route home after that!
