Shannon Estuary Way a virtual trek along the Shannon Estuary shoreline and hinterland

Waveprints

author: williamjokeeffe@gmail.com

Ferry Bridge (1787) carrying the N69 over the Maigue, and gateway to West Limerick photo: Kildimo Community Council

The mouth of the Maigue – Carrigogunnell in the distance

the keep, Carrigogunnell

upside-down staircase, Carrigogunnell, a result of the demolition by gunpowder in 1691

as the upper estuary shoreline would have looked in 1691 [Healy&Hickey, Irish Geography 38, Jan.2005]

spirit level flooded polder at Mellon-Ringmoylan, new year 2016

dyke ridge at Ringmoylan, looking to Woodcock Hill

the pavilion at Mellon House (a welcome sight when glimpsed from the remoteness of Rinekirk Point) photo: Windsor Clive International

photo: A. O'Ciardha

Shannongrove House, Ringmoylan, early 1700's (the river bank would once have lapped the lawn)

moving inland: Dromore castle and lough, 2km west of Kildimo, off the N69

tower house ruin at Bolane, 1km west of Kildimo, off the N69

Killeen church at Cowpark, Kilcornan, just off the N69 note the unusual built-in bell cote (it allowed the bell to be rung from inside)

carved holy-water stoup and chancel window

Blue Lough, Curraghchase

Glenisca Lough, Curraghchase

Yellow Pool, Glenisca

Winter sedge, Curraghchase

Halloween Dusk: Knockfierna and Liskennett Hill, from Curraghchase woods

Evening Profile: Knockfierna, from the terrace at Curraghchase House

Milltown Lake, off the N69, north (1km west of Cowpark)

old Shannon Banks, near Bushyisland dyke

Bushyisland dyke, W of Ringmoylan: looking westwards to Beagh Castle in the distance

Bushy Island (the island gives its name to the townland)

Waller's Island (above) – an eroded glacial kame, off Bushyisland dyke

Bushy Island, western profile

Bushy Island sunset

views off Bushyisland dyke

Beagh piers and the view to Slieve Bernagh

Beagh Castle, northern elevation

Beagh Castle, western elevation

Ballinvoher foreland

Sliabh Bearnach under snow, from Ballinvoher

lag trá, Ballinvoher

sponge fossils, Ballinvoher

shingle beach, Ballinvoher

Rineanna Point, from Ballinvoher

Coney Island in the Fergus estuary, from Ballinvoher

Aughinish jetty and Beeves Rock lighthouse, from Ballinvoher Point

Ballycanauna Point and Aughinish, from Ballinvoher West

Ballycanauna Point at dusk, from Ballysteen Quay

wetland shore at Ballysteen Quay

deep end, Ballysteen Quay

bollard guard, Ballysteen Quay

Glenagauran shore, Ballysteen townland

Glenagauran Point: creek in foreground marks the boundary of the barony of Kenry

Gortnagranagher wetlands

Gortnagranagher Lough

This miniscule lough is tucked away in these wetlands at Moig North, midway between Askeaton and Ballysteen. The name is intriguing: Loch Ghort na gCrannchur = the lough of the field of the casting of lots. Gambling seems improbable for such a location, but crann-chur piseogach (Dineen), the divination of piseogs, or spells, is much more tempting, and one can well imagine our Celtic forebears casting offerings to spirit world into the waters at this spot.

Courtbrown Point, near the mouth of the Deel

rock formation at the mouth of the Deel

Desmond earldom: castle and banqueting hall at Askeaton

Askeaton: mediaeval tower at St Mary's Church

Askeaton's Hellfire Club, one of Maurice Craig's Classic Irish Houses of the Middle Size (1976), a volume now itself a classic and a collector's item. The building had two-storey Venetian windows, on the north and south gables, which feature Craig praised especially. The north window survived until recent years and might have been saved or even rebuilt, had the conservation works, now apparently stalled, begun in time. The surviving fragment of the south window is visible in this photo.

cloister at the Franciscan friary, Askeaton, upstream on the Deel estuary

crossing the Deel: Toomdeely mediaeval hall

wintering out, laid up boats at the Deel boatyard

Deel Boat Club marina: ruin of Shannonview House in the background

Holly Island inlet, Toomdeely West

Moreena Point, high water

Moreena Point, low water

Poulaweala inlet, Aughinish

Poulaweala Lough

Poulaweala salt pond

Foynes: Poultallin wood, Foynes Island sound

Foynes: reservoir above 'Árd an Óir'

Foynes: Poultallin strand, looking east

Foynes: Poultallin strand, looking west

tidal swell, Foynes Island sound

Foynes / Mount Trenchard: winter cascade on Boniska strand

greywacke stoup, Boniska strand

jetsam abstract, Boniska strand

woodland sump, Boniska strand

Mount Trenchard burial ground, Mary Spring-Rice gravestone inscription: 'the souls of the faithful are in God's hand'

Mount Trenchard burial ground: a Vere O'Brien memorial inscription, the work of the Cork sculptor, Seamus Murphy

sunset over Mount Trenchard Point

offshore vista: Poultallin foreland to Mount Trenchard

A diversion inland: the 'Black Hag' nunnery at Oldabbey, Shanagolden A much maligned lady, probably a religious recluse and herbalist; cailleach dhubh, in any case, is an old term in Irish for a nun.

dovecote at Oldabbey

The old boathouse, Loghill cove

Coalhill Point (Loghill)

Loghill-Kilteery: Killacolla, view to Mountshannon wood

Killacolla: shell midden

Killacolla: springtime woods

Loghill-Kilteery: Hiphall Point

Glin and Labasheeda Bay, from Furry Wood

The splendid memorial shield of the last Knight of Glin old Church of Ireland churchyard, Glin

study in blue and grey, Glin

vitrine, Glin

old hotel entrance door with cobweb fanlight, Glin note the Art Nouveau relief plasterwork

grey wisteria, Glin

corbel console, Glin

right-to-left: Tarbert- Glencloosagh Bay- Ardmore Point- Reenturk Point

from Glencloosagh Bay: Tarbert jetty

from Glencloosagh Bay: Tarbert and Moneypoint power stations

Colossi

Glencloosagh Bay, looking to Ardmore Point

Glencloosagh Bay, looking to the Clare shore

Glencloosagh Bay: the memorial at 'Mullally's Berth'

Ardmore Point

limestone pavement (Waveprints), Ardmore Point

WWII relic, Ardmore Point

remains of the 'Fort Shannon' battery, Ardmore Point: one of two gun emplacements

The escutcheon of the men who oversaw its construction: 7th Field Co., Corps of Engineers

command bunker

generator bunker (one of three)

searchlight remains (one of two – see the preceding 'relic')

Pillbox: note the rusticated stone-cladding camouflage

Ardmore Point from Ballylongford Bay

Ardmore heights from Reenturk Strand on Ballylongford Bay

Reenturk Strand

Reenturk Point

Ballylongford Bay, North Kerry

Saleen Creek & Quay, Ballylongford

Carrigafoyle from Saleen

Carrigafoyle Castle from Carrig Island

Carrig Island, Ballylongford Bay (oddly, the property of Trinity College Dublin)

Carrig Island SE shore

Winter wetlands, Carrig Island

Brent Geese flotilla, Carrig Island

Carrig Island lagoon

Carrig Island shoreline find (2014) – a late 19th cent. 'penny inkpot'

Poet's gate, Carrig Isle

Carrigafoyle Church (on the mainland), late 1400's

a curious hagioscope on the western gable end

a once graceful double-ogive stoup

Carrigafoyle Castle from the West the ruin and collapse are the result of the Elizabethan bombardment in 1580

...the Shannon estuary remains a dynamic frontier between the river and the ocean, one of our last wildernesses The quotation (italics added) is from the UCD School of Archaeology’s publication: 'People, place and time on the Shannon estuary' in: Aidan O’Sullivan and others, Ancient life on the Shannon estuary, Dublin, RIA, 2001 The Shannon Estuary foreshore is largely inaccessible and without a contiguous and continuous system of countryside public footpaths. The wilderness, as such, is none the worse for that, and a determined walker aided by close map reading may still enjoy any of the sights in the foregoing photographs – leaving nothing but footprints and taking nothing except, perhaps, more photos of this magically atmospheric region.

see also on ISSUU.COM: Shannon Estuary Trail