Meeting of the Waters

One of the places loved in Ireland is here at the Meeting of the Waters  where the Avonmore and Beag Rivers come together and become the Avoca River.  The day was boiling hot and people were picnicking and relaxing by the cooling waters but two families

decided to set out on a mini-adventure.

 and cross to the other side.

I don't know why they took their trainer off and opted to go barefooted over the rocky bottom, ouch, but some managed better than others in navigating both the discomfort and currents

and reached the other side, of course they then had to gingerly return the same way.

The fame of the Meeting of the Waters is because of a poem of friendship and love written by Thomas Moore in the summer of 1807, later put to music. Moore would find the place very different today then when he was inspired by a place of tranquility

Meeting of the Waters, Vale of Avoca, postcard from the Library of Congress

but this old postcard from the 1890s might give a flavour.  It quotes the beginning of the poem/song:

There is not in this wide world and valley so sweet
As that vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet!
Oh the last days of feeling and life must depart
Ere the bloom of that valley shall fade from my heart.

I must admit the only Moore poem and song I was familiar with was The Last Rose of Summer but this confluence of the waters with their memorial to Thomas Moore introduced me to another one -
Here sung by ANÚNA, Ireland's National Choir and arranged by the soloist Michael McGlynn accompanied by the RTE National Symphony orchestra and Finnish violinist Linda Lampenius 

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at M here 

Irish Lighthouses

The Poolbeg Lighthouse, one of a trio of lighthouses leading into Dublin Harbour, is painted red to indicate starboard.   The lighthouse perches on the end of the 4K long Great South Wall and if one wanted to watch the ships go by from this vantage point I am told it is a 40 minute walk.

As you may be able to see there are few people having made the walk enjoying a beautiful day and taking in the view.

Travelling south Wicklow Lighthouse's portrait is one of a variety of scenes that brighten up the side of  a warehouse on the harbour's North Quay.

Here is the real thing, built in 1884, it sits at the entrance to Wicklow Harbour on the East Pier. The cargo ship (GEC Cosmo) despite appearances it actually reversing out of the harbour after unloading timber.  People who can reverse well always impress me so I enjoyed a sit in the sunshine and watched as it smoothly left the harbour and then turned in the open sea and went on its way. While I was up on the sea wall I discovered the lighthouse had an intriguing secret when I walked around the back

The romantic "Will you Marry Me?" M.  Wouldn't we all like to know the story behind this.  

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at L here

 

Fishing

I'm continuing my nautical theme from last week but this time watching the fishing boats come home. Here the Fran Leon III is entering Wicklow Harbour on the south east coast of Ireland, the last of the fleet to come into port.

 The day was hot and hazy with the sea like glass, the only ripple on the water was from the ship's wake.

The other fishing boats had already tied up

and the catch had been sealed and stacked ready to be taken away.

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week anchored at F here