Cillin

Another grey and windy day, but the drizzle was soft and bright (yes, possible) so we decided to venture out for a walk. We started off on the coast and walked inwards and upwards, through copses and moorland to the top of mountain where you could see both (misty) sides of the peninsula. Then we came down towards the sea, down little boreens to the strand at Tra Ruim. An exhausting steep hike back up. A very attractive route though. The hedgerows are looking fantastic full of foxgloves, honeysuckle, clover, daisies and vetch. We saw a hare and heard a cuckoo and a lark. We passed three hillforts and this cill. A cill, or cillin, was where unbaptised babies were buried - those stillborn, premature or born out of wedlock. They were not allowed to be buried in consecrated ground and often had to be buried secretly at night without a priest. The cillin was often close to the church and obviously a known location. Suicides, murderers and women who died in childbirth were also buried in cillins. This one had been recently restored and properly marked. You can see the stone grave markers over the wall. Many others remain lost to the undergrowth. A rather bleak testament to the old rigidity of the Catholic church.

We are shortly off to Schull to see what's happening at its short film festival. This is an annual event and this year there are 131 short films being shown in different venues around the village, Last year there was a mobile cinema but this year there are smaller screens in various pubs and a village intranet has been set up. It's very ambitious but a great idea. It's very well sponsored and has quite big names giving talks and workshops. Tomorrow Lord Puttnam is in residence.

I was very excited to see some new visitors to the garden today -a pair of siskins and a tree keeper - it's the simple things in life....