By Lough Meelagh’s shore.

The weather is beautiful here at the moment, 18-20c for the last few days. Sunday saw us once again in woodland. This time it was Knockranny Wood on the shores of  Lough Meelagh.

On this occasion the Poetree Walk was led by John Willmott from Ballinifad, Co. Sligo. John shared many of his poems with us over the course of the afternoon. John is a great character with a head full of stories, folklore and legends. He has a captivating way of telling a story which entrances the listener. John has made a Garden of Labyrinth’s at his home and visitors are welcome there. Check it out on www.celticways.com .

So many beautiful trees in this forest…this Beech infected with bracket fungus has started it’s slow decline.

Eventually we reached the shore line where John regailed us with stories of Orchard Island which can be seen in the distance. It is said to have once been home to St. Lasair and her father Ronan Mc Ninneadha, St. Ronan. It was a place of abundance with an apple orchard, bees and the Rose of Sweetness. Ireland’s Avalon as John called it.

The shoreline here is made up of these unusual rocks…I call them Moon rocks. So many wild plants growing here…Meadowsweet, Wild Mint and Primroses are in abundance.

Leaving the shoreline we walked across fields to St. Lasair’s Holy Well…

it is here that people still come to pray and drink the sweet, cool water that will cure their ailments. 

 

Further still we walked onto the so called Fairy House. This sits in what was once the grounds of Kilronan Castle. If you look closely you can see that the stones are the same as the Moon rocks from the shores of the nearby lough.

As we made our weary way back to the carpark the sun was setting and the evening chill was coming in. A beautiful end to a lovely afternoon.