This is footage from Inis Mór, the largest of the three Aran Islands in Galway Bay, on the west coast of Ireland. It's a wild place, rough and windy. The land is crisscrossed by stone walls, protecting the fields from the wind. About 4 mins into this video, you see Dún Aonghasa, a prehistoric hill fort, one of several Bronze Age sites on the island. But this is not a history blog, so for anyone interested, go here.
The poem is spoken by Mike Scott of the Waterboys. He wrote it in the early 1980s when the band was living in An Spidéal, a small village on the Atlantic coast, overlooking the Aran Islands and the coast of county Clare. The village is famous for traditional music sessions.
I like to believe that the storm he is referring to at the beginning of his poem is the one we ran away from in October 1981 when we were staying on Inis Mór for a short while. I have very little memory of our time there other than that we walked a lot, were accompanied by all the island dogs, met very few people and smoked our very last joint sitting next to the fort looking out on the ocean. That day, we decided it was time to have a child, one of several, so we imagined.
Back at the harbour village of Cill Rónáin, the fishermen had started to pull in their boats and gear, windows and sheds were secured and by dinner time, the storm warnings were all around us. Early the next morning we got the last boat back to the mainland.
This was the time when I started to think of myself as becoming an adult.
That is a memory that I'm glad you kept.
ReplyDeleteSuch moments change our lives forever, and remain vivid in memory. To have a child. Love’s greatest lesson, at least for me.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful video. It made me think of all the times I spent at my sister and brother-in-law's house in Ballyvaughan and all the walks we took on the 'flaggy shore." I walked on a beach yesterday and, though it was beautiful, it made me long to be walking at Bishop's Quarter with my sister. Thanks for sharing a lovely memory.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Such a vivid memory brought to life again. Ever present. You and your prince on the white horse and a vision of Sunday's child. You and R making good decisions together in the midst of the great beauty that was there before us all and will remain when we are gone.
ReplyDeleteyou've lived such an interesting life. I think I've said that before. I've barely been out of America, certainly only lived here. you've made me wonder, what act was my first step into adulthood. I think it must have been 1971, my third year of college, going to the Art Institute in Chicago, living with my boyfriend unknown to my parents. I dropped out my second semester and went out and got my first job to free myself of my parents' control.
ReplyDeleteas I walk through it
ReplyDeleteas I breathe it
as I become it
Yes, even just listening to it and watching the beautiful video, I too for a moment, become it.
Thank you for this moment of beauty.
We went to Inis Oirr while we were in Galway and spent a day walking around that little island, watching the seals, and saying Dia Dhuit to everyone we encountered. It was a magical place and I think about it every time I wear my Aran Islands sweater.
ReplyDeleteNot a place I've ever been, sadly. As for becoming an adult, I often think about it but try to resist the temptation.
ReplyDeleteLooks like amazing country! I still haven't been to Ireland. It's way past time, considering how close we are.
ReplyDeleteAn area where one becomes acutely aware of accented vowels.
ReplyDeleteRugged island beauty! Glad you have such a treasured memory and in such an awesome location. I’m not sure but I think my sense of adulthood started when i was a young child and a doctor seriously talked to me about how to help my mother relax to avoid some physical issues she was subject to having.
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