Friday, February 26, 2010

My Point of View(s)

Nesting Fulmars at Loop Head

The Kerry Mountains from Loop Head


Loop Head Lighthouse

There are times when things fly around in your head at 100km per hour and threaten to engulf you. I imagine we all have places or rituals to deal with the chaos. One of my boltholes is the very tip of the County Clare Peninsula called Loop Head. From here on a clear day there are spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean, the River Shannon, the distant but visible Aran Islands, the Kerry Mountains and the Clare coast right up to Hags Head which is just before the famous Cliffs of Moher. There is something about the Loop Head Peninsula that captures the imagination. It has a very dramatic history particularly relating to famine times. It is a wet and wild headland with a the first lighthouse built there back in the 17th Century. There are countless stories of shipwrecks and the families who grew up at the lighthouse.

At the towering cliffs, thousands of seabirds nest during the spring/summer and their echoing calls add to the atmosphere. Out on the Shannon, there is a famous school or group of Bottle-nosed Dolphins that can be seen from the headland with just the aid of binoculars. I have sat at the tip of the headland and watched them passing along with whales and seabirds.

Whenever I am there, I always bring a sandwich and a flask of tea because the car makes the perfect mobile restaurant with the best view.


4 comments:

  1. Hello Christopher,So glad to see this new post,hope all is well with you.
    I have never been to this part of Ireland,but from your photographs and description,it looks and sounds wonderful. A perfect place for peace and quiet contemplation,I must visit this one day.I do go to Mayo as I have a sister in Ballinrobe,will have to make a detour next time I go up there and take in the sights.

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  2. Hello Matron and thanks for the concern. All is well with me as I hope it is with yourself too. Ballinrobe is a lovely spot too and indeed I spent a lot of time at the nearby Lough Carra studying the lake as part of a master of science thesis. I highly recommend a trip to Loop Head especially in the summer and a trip out on a dolphin watching boat from the nearby village of Carrigaholt - you won't be disappointed!

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  3. I know Lough Carra very well my sister and brother inlaw live almost on its shore line.My brother in law is a warden for the deer in the woods around this area,you may have met him during your study of the area,small world is it not!!
    Thanks for tourist info,will do this trip next time I go up.

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  4. I have subscribed to Birdwatch but it seems to only cover average gardens.
    We have 14 acres,a lake and 2 ponds,woodland and shrub,so do not fit into garden category.We get many more birds than an ordinary garden,can you recommend a more relevant site.?
    I tried to email you but it does not work.

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