Gougane Barra

I met Margaret at Gougane Barra today. The weather was glorious and we took a picnic, drank wine, ate strawberries and foccacia and then took a walk.

Gougane Barra is the most magical place. it is high up in the mountain and in a Gaeltacht area. Gougane itself is a lake surrounded by mountains - that is stunning enough but in the middle of the lake is a little island and on this is a tiny and incredibly picturesque chapel dedicated to St Finbar. I was going to take the conventional tourist pic but the chapel was surrounded by blokes and machinery and having its roof done! This work will have to be done at a furious pace as the chapel is usually booked solid for weddings. Around the chapel though is an older and more ancient place - the remains of smaller chapels, hermit cells and old altars. The site is still a place of pilgrimage and the notice at the gate outlines very precisely what you are meant to do. There are 13 stops where you have to say the rosary, hail Mary and the creed, ending up by taking some water from the holy well. The fascinating thing for me is each stop there are stones where countless numbers of people over countless number of years have carved crosses. I loved this multilayered one nestling amongst the mossy greenness. The first time we came there was a huge old tree trunk, jam packed with coins. Sadly this has now been removed. I don't know why - maybe too pagan.

As if this wasn't enough, there is  a massive wood with huge straight tall trees, covered in thick and emerald moss. There are wonderful walks along waterfalls, through the forest, and you an even visit the source of the river Lee which flows into Cork. A very special place indeed.