High above Skibbereen

A day out in the field. We met our pals Robert and Finola for strong coffee first and decided to continue - decided for the weather was pretty wild. We've experienced just about everything from near gale to sleet to rainbows to sunshine to hail, but we're hardy types and had a great time. Odd how the sun appeared each time we got in the car and all hell broke out each time we disembarked. We have been up and down tiny muddy boreens, somewhere high above Skibbereen. We have investigated wart wells, cup-marked stones, a standing stone and this rather fine collection of monuments: four boulder burials plus the remains of what looks like a stone row. You can't see the three skittish cows lurking just behind here! The men stayed in the car for it was exceptionally lively weatherwise at this point, and I borrowed Himself's walking stick, just in case. We bumped into an old man in a gig with his horse, Autumn Boy, leapt out of the car to examine a rather beautiful but probably not holy well, had a quick mooch around a ruined farm and had a chat with Mary who owned the field in which an elusive 12 cup marked stone lurked. Some wonderful names in this part of the world too: Lissanoohig (fort of the spectre), lissheennapingina (little fort of the marsh pennywort), Bawnagollopy ( pasture land of the grazing animals) and Gortnamucklagh ( field of the piggeries) to name but a few townlands.

A steaming bowl of hot soup, squash and ginger, was highly welcome half way through. Now warming up in front of the fire.

Himself has blipped the solitary standing stone that we climbed over walls and strode through bracken to get too - remarkable for odd indents in its side and top.