A step back in time...

My Irish Folklore and Ethnography class traveled to Inisheer (Inis Oirr), the smallest of the three Aran Islands on Thursday.  After arriving late at the single hostel, we went to the public house next door for a night full of sing along's. It was traditional Irish craic.  The nurse who traveled with our class was at the pub and heard someone say my name and remarked, "Mollie? I know a song about a Molly."  She sang it for me and it was one of the most beautiful moments of my life.  My classmates and I watched and listened with awe.  Here's a link to the song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ul-3mspEFg&feature=related.

We had the next day wholly to ourselves so we could explore the island however we wanted.  Naturally, I woke up early and caught the last bits of fog burning off, and laid out on a cliff and read and wrote.  There was a point when I thought, if I were ever going to see a selkie, this is the place I'll see it.

where the selkies must live.

As I made my way around the island and continued to take pictures I could not help but thinking about how silly it seemed, because pictures truly cannot capture the spirit of the island. It truly is simple living.  The island's total full-time population is only 300 people and it did not receive electricity until 1972!  Though I have already noticed that the people in Ireland are generally more friendly, the people of Inis Oirr were even nicer.  Everyone said hello to me, and a woman even stopped her car to invite me to a concert that was taking place that night.  Life definitely moved slower and it was quiet.  It is very rare to have a moment when the sounds of cars on a freeway or machinery are humming in the background, but there were truly moments when the ocean was the only noise I could hear.  I could hear cows mooing and horses neighing and that made the Island more beautiful. Though I am a bit embarrassed to admit it, at one point I was moved to tears because of the vast, beautiful landscape that laid ahead of me, and the fact that I was the only human in sight.  This is a feeling that so few of us are able to experience regularly, this purity and beauty, that it was overwhelming.  

After taking a nap on the seashore, I continued to circumvent the Island.  I came across a shipwreck that I later learned was "The Plassey" which was wrecked  on the island in 1960.

Inis Oirr is also home to the ruins of O'Briens castle which was erected in the 14th century and was later taken over by the O'Flaherty's in 1582.

The most amazing part of the island was the extent to which it was covered with stone walls.  The importance of land in early Ireland forced farmers to partition the land scrupulously.  The island now looks like a huge maze of small patches of land.  It was the craziest thing because I could be walking a good 15 minutes through these different plots with nothing but grass and rocks in them, and then discover one small plot with a horse or cows in them, in the middle of nowhere.  At one point I veered from the marked path and began climbing over the different walls, but for fear of being attacked by a horse I got back on the trail. Right now, I am most interested in Irish architecture.  We've learned about the building of homes in my class, and thatch roofs already blow my mind, but these stone walls are outrageous! I can't begin to fathom how these walls have withstood the elements for hundreds of years.  They are built without mortar or cement, only by placing rocks upon one another.  Another reason for the many walls was that the land was so rocky that it was almost impossible to farm.  Therefore, farmers removed the rocks and began piling them on eachother.  It truly is breathtaking but mind-boggling at the same time. 

I'm pretty sure this is the beginning of a new wall.

Like I said, the beauty of the island can't be captured by photos or even words.  I would love to spend an extended period of time on the island.  It was the perfect place to write.  It was meditative and quiet, and it made me proud to be Irish.  I would suggest traveling to Inis Oirr to anyone who is looking to feel Ireland in a way that can't be felt in any other part of the country.

-Mollie

Last stop for the Titanic: Cobh!

Last week a few friends and I took a ferry over to Cobh (pronounced "Cove" and translated from Irish to literally mean just that).  Though it is a tiny seaport town, it has a lot of historical significance which makes it a popular tourist spot.  So popular, in fact, that many of the shops accept US Dollars.  We arrived at the Heritage Center that houses an historical display about the 2.5 million emigrants from the port since 1849.  Annie Moore,   left from Cobh with her two younger brothers, and was the first ever immigrant to be registered at Ellis Island the day it opened, January 1st, 1892.  It's an overwhelming feeling to be in the location where millions of people left their lives in a country that I chose to spend a semester in, in order to start new lives of their own.

Statue of Annie Moore and her younger brothers.

After eating a banana and Nutella crepe from the farmer's market, we walked to the tourist center to catch a "Titanic Tour." The only people on the tour were myself and the four other American's I went to Cobh with and our tour guide was Phil--an old Irish man who had lived in Cobh for his whole life.  Though we were under the impression the tour would focus on the impact the Titanic on the small town, but it ended up being an extensive walking tour of the whole city! It was perfect because Phil gave us an incredible insider's view of everything, from the beautiful town hall that was taken over by a Chinese family and is now currently a Chinese restaurant (Phil was not happy) to the traumatic events that the residents of Cobh have been through.

Not only was Cobh the last port of call of the Titanic before it sank (I saw the area where first-class and working class passengers were split up and led onto the ship), but Cobh was also the last port of call for the Lusitania before it was sunk off the coast of Kinsale by a German U-Boat in 1915.  1198 passengers died, and 700 were rescued.  Victims of the attack were brought back to Cobh and bodies were lined up in piles along the main street.   The small town has been a marker for many important historical events.

Overlooking the town.

Phil also brought us to St. Colman's Cathedral, another beautiful church in the country.  It's presence on the top of the hill dominated the town.   I loved Phil so much.  He was obviously an important man in the town because nearly every person we passed said hello to him.  It reminded me of what it would be like if my grandpa gave tours of Windsor Locks.  Phil and I also bonded about my Irish heritage.  He was excited my name was Mollie ("a good Irish name!) and then when I told him my last name he immediately said "must be from the Kilkenny area."  He was spot on.

The tour ended in a pub with a complimentary pint or sparkling lemonade (that's what Phil called Sprite!!) Spending the day in Cobh with a genuine Irish man who was incredibly proud of his small town was truly unforgettable.

Deck of Card street named because like a deck of cards, if one house toppled,, all the others would follow!

Phil!

-Mollie