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Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Advocacy

Wild Places on the Island of Ireland

6/10/2019

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While much of Ireland has been cultivated for thousands of years, it still has wild places where the wind blows and howls. Wild things grow in the cracks in rocks, and the beauty of creation is untamed. I found many such places along the coast. These places are popular with the film industry simply because they are wild, free from the noises of civilization and possess rugged beauty. Alas, my vacation in Ireland wasn’t long enough to explore many of the wild inland mountains and bogs. I need to take another trip.
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Ireland's northeast coast. That is Scotland across the water. This is part of the North Atlantic-a place full of wind and rain. We were lucky to be able to see so far. You have to admire the gorse for looking beautiful under harsh conditions.
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The Giant's Causeway is a popular vacation spot. The visitor's center is off the highway a kilometer up the hill. They do have a shuttle down to the water's edge. The stepping stone pattern is formed from volcanic basalt.
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The Giant's Pipe Organ. On a trail away from the wind we found this basalt formation called the Giant's Pipe Organ or the Giant's Pet Lion.
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The basalt formation reaching into the sea that gave the site its name. This heritage site is always crowded with people unless it's being used in filming for the movies or TV. Scenes from Game of Thrones were filmed in this rugged area. The whole National Heritage Site along the North coast is huge.
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Carrick-a-rede rope bridge connects a small island to the mainland over a narrow chasm. Some people actually think it is fun to walk on the bridge and pee their pants with fright. This is a short drive from the Giant's Causeway.
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We took a boat ride from Eniskillen down the river to Lough Erne and the Devenish Monastic Site. Much of the area is preserved and sparsely populated.
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Devenish Monastic Site. Perhaps an abandoned monastery on a small island in the middle of lake doesn't strictly qualify as wild. The air of desolation and abandonment gave it a wild feel.
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Connemara is mostly set aside as a parkland of hills and bogs pierced by lakes and Killary Fijord. The purple haze on the shrubs is species rhododendron growing by the salt-water fjord.
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The weather was actually decent when we visited Connemara. I loved the patterns of light and shadow made by the passing clouds.
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Our road seemed to follow a valley with hills and a couple real mountains surrounding us.
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The Connemara area has some farmland--mostly sheep grazing in the lowlands between the hills.
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The Burden is southwest of Gallway in county Clare. The area does have some farmland with shallow topsoil over the limestone. This area was so poor, even the English didn't want it. In the 1840's at the time of the great famine that killed a million people, the subsistence farmers in the Burren survived much as they always had because they didn't have English overlords dictating that they grow potatoes and they didn't share their meager crops with outsiders.
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Typical limestone outcroppings along the hilltops in the Burren.
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The Cliffs of Moher. The wind was blowing when we visited. Sometimes the rain or fog is so thick visitors can's see the cliffs below them. This is the Northwest facing part of the cliffs where the Cliffs of Insanity scene from Princess Bride was filmed.
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The southwest facing portion of the Cliffs of Moher. Sometimes the wind blows so hard here, visitors can't walk the trails along the top of the cliffs.
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Ring of Kerry. The Island where Luke Skywalker was hanging out is out beyond the two islands we see. The day was too misty to catch the island with my camera but we could make it out as a darker place in the mist. Many of the Star Wars scenes were filmed below this spot.
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The very tip of the Kerry peninsula. It was beautiful and rugged through this area. I had trouble standing in the wind and actually lost my balance trying to walk with great gusts buffeting me as I tried to return to our bus.
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Lakes on the Kerry Peninsula. This is rugged basin and range country. Few people live here. They do have electricity but no internet. They don't even have a date for installing internet. Some locals don't know why they need internet--truly wild country. Note: This remote-seeming area isn't that far from the town of Killarney--about forty minutes by bus. The northern end of this lake system can be seen in my pictures of Killarney House gardens below in my Gardens of Irish Republic blog.
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Irish Gardens in May By Delinda McCAnn

6/3/2019

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In the second week of May the gardens we visited in the Republic of Ireland were not a riot of color. The tulips and daffodils were gone leaving the rhododendrons and azaleas to carry the show. The structure and settings for the gardens, played a huge role in carrying the gardens through this gap in bloom. I was impressed at how well these gardens rose to challenge of providing interest during the transition. Of course there were enough azaleas and rhododendrons to please the garden visitors
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Kylemore Abby sits a couple hours drive north of Gallway on the edge of a small lake. The azaleas were lovely. I found several places here where the gardens were farther through their season than my Seattle garden.

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The walled garden at Kylemore Abby. These gardens situated well north of my Seattle gardens were way ahead of mine. This is a south facing slope and the gardens do have a wall around them. The wall is covered with espaliered fruit trees.
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My flower arranging and gardening teachers are always reminding me that green is a color too. I loved the layers of shape and form all done in shades of green.
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This species glad surprised me with its substance. I've been unimpressed with them in catalogs. I'm so getting some for my May garden.
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Camasia is a North American native. They grow wild in damp ground here. I was surprised to see it in Ireland.
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The Cliffs of Mohr: Sometimes wild places are gardens too. These tiny little flowers looked so brave to bloom in the wind above the cliffs.
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Killarny House gardens: Look at this setting! This long border and open lawns wouldn't do much anywhere else but here they beg the visiter to sit and contemplate the lakes and mountains of the Kerry peninsula. I loved the use of the tall waving grasses in this border, giving it a constant sense of movement.
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Kilarney House gardens were a bit of a hidden gem. They weren't mentioned in any of our guide books and our tour guide casually mentioned they were open to the public as we drove past. They were well worth a visit. I found lots of unusual specimen plants. These blue columbine are finicky in my garden, but they thrive here.
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This garden used lots of geum-the red things. I have wild geum in my garden. They're not impressive. I was impressed with this domestic cultivar. The flowers are over an inch across and have a nice substance.
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Blarney Castle gardens: Don't waste your time kissing a stupid rock. These are world class gardens on a grand scale. Do take time to walk the gardens and woodlands.
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I loved the way I'd walk around a corner in this garden and be met with something like this blazing azalea underplanted with the bluebells. The blues seemed to glow in this far north light.
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The garden is composed of lawns edged with understory followed by huge trees in the woods. Even in Seattle I haven't seen so many colors of azalea mollis.
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Sigh. Where else could you plant the flaming orange azalea in the same planting as the fuchsia colored one. It worked.
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This is a western red cedar. The brochure I saw called it the most photographed tree in the world. I have western red cedar in my yard. They're native here, growing straight up from one trunk. Who knows what happened to this weird tree, but its fascinating and begs to be climbed.
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Don't forget to look at the little things around the castle gardens. I loved the ferns growing in a rock wall near the tower.
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This is the driveway leading up to Blarney house. It's perfect. The house at the end of the drive comes as a bit of a surprise.
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The woodland was underplanted with allium. Yes, the woods smelled faintly of garlic. This is a low maintenance solution to making the woods look great in the spring. Deer probably don't bother the garlic.
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Azaleas don't get the attention they deserve, perhaps because of their short bloom time. This was a small bed that will soon be planted with annuals.
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Not all color comes from flowers. This Japanese maple begged to have its picture taken.
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Private garden in Kindle: The composition of the gray stone wall, yellow tree and purple flower caught my attention. The golden chain trees were blooming all over Ireland while we were there. They do better there than in my garden. I came home to find mine fried from one 80* day following a cold wet spell.
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Japanese gardens near Kildare. This red bridge provides the splash of contrast to all the shades of green in this garden.
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The waterfalls, stream and stepping stones were the main features of this garden. We found splashes of color tucked into corners but they didn't quite compete with the splash of water.
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Azalea bed at the entrance to the Japanese Gardens and stud farm at Kildare. Since the main attraction here was the stud farm, hubby took one look at this and asked if the sculpture was supposed to represent a giant horse testicle. No. He was just grumpy because he's hauled food and water to too many horses.
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Here we are at St. Stephen's green in the middle of Dublin. We stopped here at the end of our vacation. We'd spent the previous day touring Dublin. I was tired and the noise of the city was starting to get to this country girl. We entered the garden and the noise went away. The hedges effectively blocked the sound of traffic and a half-million people buzzing about. Blessed quiet. Slip into this garden in the heart of Dublin to get refreshed.
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What an interesting flower border. I loved the weird alliums in the foreground. The peonies were blooming and the whole border was filled with interesting things to study.
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Part of the peace of this garden came from the water and the trees. Again I was fascinated by the golden chain. The park was full of people but the grounds are big enough and the plantings thick enough that we didn't notice others strolling about.
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This is the shady back side of the border up above. The blue flowers in the brunnera and hostas were a peaceful contrast to the reds and yellows on the sunny side of the border.
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The center of St. Stephen's green is open and sunny. It's still quiet. The spikey plant in the lower left foreground is a phormium, New Zealand Flax. I try to grow it in Seattle, but it freezes out at about 28* F. This plant tells me that Dublin doesn't get the winter cold that we get in Seattle.
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    Delinda McCann is a social psychologist, author, avid organic gardener and amateur musician.

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