DAY SEVEN
FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2019
THE GREAT FAMINE, AN ANCIENT SITE, AND A LOCAL BAND
Today we spent some time with one of the most somber times in Irish history: the Great Famine of 1845–1849 that cost a million people their lives and forced another million+ to emigrate. The small town of Skibbereen was one of the hardest hit, and today is home to a heritage center designed to educate visitors about the tragedy.
Led by a wonderful guide, Terri, we learned about the blight that led to the rotting of potato crops in 1845, creating a devastating ripple effect among Ireland’s poor who relied on the potato for sustenance. While this caused the Great Famine to begin with, it was exacerbated by a laissez-faire response from the British government, who did not respond to this humanitarian crisis with the help it needed, offering minimal aid and forcing so many in Ireland to emigrate or risk death by starvation and disease. This clearly intensified the grudge felt by many Irish towards British rule that still echoes today.
Worth pointing out - because this was said to me twice on the trip, once by my taxi driver Gerry in Belfast, and once by our Inishfree tour guide Billy: the Irish all have friends who live in the UK and feel no animosity towards them as people. It’s specifically an ingrained political animosity.
We then had some time to stroll around the town of Skibbereen before jumping back on the bus to continue on our way.
Our next stop was the very moving Abbeystrowry Cemetery, home in part to a mass grave for 8,000-10,000 (!) unidentified famine victims. Terri had told us at the Heritage Centre that people at the time were so hungry and filled with such despair that they literally crawled to these mass graves waiting to die. Heartbreaking.
We walked around the cemetery a bit in silence, reflecting on the tragedy, before Harmonious Wail treated us to a meaningful performance within the ruins of a small church on the site.
Thank you to my fellow traveler Bob Suchor for grabbing this photo… I got caught up in the music and realized after the fact that I forgot to take a pic. It was a personally meaningful moment for Wail, and therefore for us, so I’m glad it was captured for the memory.
After leaving the cemetery, we headed to the small town of Glandore to grab lunch at a charming little restaurant with outdoor seating overlooking a very picturesque lake.
Staying in Glandore, we next headed to one of the ancient megalithic sites in the area, the Drombeg Stone Circle. This Bronze Age site is a “recumbent stone circle,” meaning that it has a large stone lying on its side (flanked by the two largest “portal stones” when looking from the far side of the circle), and was likely associated with rituals involving the moon and moonlight. At the same site is a cooking place, where the ancient Druids boiled water by adding hot stones to a natural well.
You can see from the pentagram placed in the center of the circle and the variety of objects on the recumbent stone that this is still very much a spiritual place for a lot of people. I get it. There’s a certain profundity that comes from standing in a place that has barely changed in thousands of years and has carried such meaning for humans throughout history.
This is a great time to talk about our amazing guide Billy Mag Fhloinn. He is so passionate about Ireland and its history, and with a PhD in Irish folklore and a degree in archaeology in his back pocket, we were treated to smart and engaging commentary at all of these ancient and historic sites, along with entertaining stories on the bus rides. I think all of us realize how lucky we were to have him with us for the entire tour!
While I’ve had no trouble remembering the personal details of our trip for these recaps, I’ve been looking up a bunch of the facts on the historical sites to refresh my memory, and I just know I’m going to write something here that Billy clearly disproved in one of his talks, haha. (Seriously, if any of this stuff is wrong, someone please tell me and I’ll update!)
Leaving Glandore, we headed back to the hotel for some time to rest, then had our first of three group dinners, followed by a private concert by Greenshine, a local folk trio made up of Mary Greene, Noel Shine, and their daughter Ellie.
Strings, harmonies, and laid back performances… I could listen to them all day. We were (understandably) asked not to record, but to share a bit of their music —thank you YouTube— this is the beautiful original song they opened with that hooked me immediately.
One more for good measure, because I had this song stuck in my head for like three days after their performance. Ear worm warning.
Finally, to finish out the night, a bunch of us took our post-music high to the hotel bar and stayed up with some whiskey and Guinness and good conversation… the perfect way to get to know our fellow travelers a little better. And the beginning of mostly-non-drinking me attempting to be a drinker for the next week. It’s important to immerse yourself in local culture. 😄