The Most Southerly Thatched building in Ireland

Only a few hundred yards from the North Harbour on Cape Clear Island off the southwest coast of Ireland lies this unique thatched barn. Yet few visitors ever see it. I've been to the island many times birdwatching. It was only this year when I went to visit the O'Driscoll castle that I noticed this barn. It is the only thatched building left on the island and therefore is the most southerly thatched barn or building in Ireland. Curious to find out how the thatch was fixed, I looked in and discovered that rope had been used. The rope was coiled around the roofing timbers and over each bundle of thatch. Covered in old fish netting this unique structure probably won't last much longer.

Canoeing the R.Flesk, Co.Kerry

Well, another Sunday and after yet another wet week I got the canoe out again.
The lower R. Flesk is around grade II but there's plenty of water to be had. It's about a 65 miles journey from our house.

Left the canoe at the start, drove to Killarny and parked the car at the bridge before it enters the lake and ran the six miles back to the canoe. Got changed into canoeing gear and paddled off. Two and a half hours later and I was at the bridge and ready to go home. No capsizes but one slight problem when the thwart I was kneeling against broke and nearly caused an upset. Didn't see another paddler on the river.

I've been busy!

I've been a bit busy lately. The weather has been unseasonally poor, rain, rain, more rain and mist. Oh, and I had a week's guiding work which was with a group of seven on Sherkin, Heir & Cape Clear islands off the southwest coast here in Cork Co. I've been making and designing a couple of web-sites which will cater for two of my many interests. One devoted to drystone walls of the South West or Ireland and another for hedgelaying. I've done the walls one which you can view here . My hedgelaying one will follow soon.

Milking the cows - the hardest skill

My neighbour Richard is also my good friend. I've watched him milk his 60 cows for several years. As I've lived in the country most of my life I asked him if he'd teach me. So for three weeks morning & night I turned up and helped. Its the hardest job I've ever had to learn. Far harder than learning employment law or learning an eskimo roll in a kayak for example.
This is what you have to do:-

• Get the cows in from the field. - move electric fence so cows have access to fresh grass.
  
• Clean all the milking equipment
• Milk & feed the cows
• Clean all the milking equipment
  
• Return them to the field.

Now you might think this is easy but nothing is as simple as it sounds. Get the cows in sounds easy and it is just about the simplest of procedures, provided the cows co-operate as you usher them from the field. A trained dog helps.

But, cleaning the equipment! First you turn on the pumps, Then flush sterilising solution through all the parts of the milking system. There are a number of precautions to be made prior to this. The most important is to make sure that the flushed water does not enter the milk refrigeration tank. This could ruin the milk already in there, perhaps five days worth.

Now you've done that you need to flush fresh water through the system to clean out the sterilising solution. The switches & valves must all be in the correct positions to do this differently at each stage.

The cows are milked in two rows of stalls each row having 7 bays. You are stood in a well some two or three feet below their rear ends. Yes it can - and it does get messy as you cannot house train a cow!! The clusters, which go on the cow's teats are attached to a glass receiving bowl attached above your head and this in turn is attached to various other tubes all performing different functions. one of the most important is the vacuum suction. All this equipment is readied for use. There are yet more switches here too!

Now you have to get seven cows into the bays. This involves ushering enough cows in at the same time ensuring the remaining cows are kept locked out.

Then you attach the clusters X4 to each cow in turn. This takes practice as the cow may not like your amateur attempts and kick out. Under no circumstances can you make a mistake. Their legs are at face height! (but you are protected by steel bars) The last thing you want to happen is drop a cluster onto the ground. If you don't attach a cluster properly it will drop off. If you don't notice then the entire lot may fall off due to the drop in the vacuum assisted suction. You quickly work along the ranks of cows and as each one is about to be milked you pull a handle suspended above your head and this drops feed into a trough in each stall. By the time you've got through one side of the two rows the cows you started to milk first will have finished, so you pump the milk to the tank and attach to clusters to the cow now waiting milking in the second row.

Once each row has been milked they are released into a separate holding pen until they can all be released into another part of the field. Whilst you are doing this you get another seven cows in the vacated row of stalls.

This is repeated until all the cows have been done.

You then have to connect all the milking machines together and pump clean the holding tanks, clusters everything else, flush with steriliser, switch everything off and hose everything down to remove all the s***t and urine, which hopefully missed you as you were stood below their rear ends.

Up until Sunday I'd always done this with Richard. But this Sunday he was away and was late back. It was time to start the milking myself. Everything went well. I doubled checked against my numerous notes. I got the first lot of cows in, the second row in - without being crushed. The first row I completed and released. I started to attach the clusters on the second row onto one poor cow, when one of clusters fell off to the ground. Disaster! as it hit the ground it sucked up S***t with a loud slurping sound. Shit! This had not happened before and I was at a loss what to do. I didn't know how to empty the glass receiving bowl other than direct into the main refrigeration tank. To do so here would have been a disaster. Nor is it possible to not use the now soiled bay. The cows simply automatically go to every vacant bay in turn and there is absolutely no way you can force two ton of beef to leave the stall it has just entered as it will be sandwiched by several other unwilling and unco-operative cows. Nor could I only milk one row at a time for the simple reason that the milking machines are shared by both two rows.

Whilst I was panicking the cows were getting frustrated and bellowing. Others waiting their turn to milk were depositing more crap and urine on the floor. This never happened to Richard. Help!!

Just as I was requesting divine intervention a face appeared at the door!! Richard! Saved!. He quickly showed me how to deposit the now dirty milk onto the floor by a so far unused switch, we pumped fresh water from a bucket via the dirty clusters until everything was clean again.

Three weeks learning and I released that this was going to be my last attempt. It's too hard for me!

Piss Pot

This wonderful image I captured in Australia. Sydney 2006. As you would guess it was a part of a art exhibition where I captured the melting ice-cream van

Wollemi Pine

Many people like to have their picture taken with the latest film star or minor celebrity, but me? I like my picture with real rarities. This is me with a Wollemi Pine. Discovered only a few years ago in NSW Australia, this tree was thought to be extinct. There are only a few hundred in the wild, and all in one group, but luckily for us - and the trees - they are easy to propagate. I could have afforded to take this one home ($60aus) but it would not fit in my case. I suspect it would do well here in the SW of Eire. I have met many remarkable trees in my time but this is the rarest. I just hope that whoever buys one of these does not put it in their garden in front of their window, only to have to cut it down several years later when it blocks the view as all trees will if planted in the wrong place. This specimen was photographed at Mount Annan botanical gardens near Sydney Australia in 2006.

Tour Guide

Just spent a week working as a walking tour-guide for South West Walks Ireland. Only two on the walk. another never turned up even though they paid!

As you can see there is always a welcome for dog owners in Ireland. This is on Bear Island off the SW coast of Ireland, Co.Cork. And this is on the Beara Way, a signposted walking route!


Here we have the real MacCarthy's bar which is on the front cover of the book by the same name written by Pete McCarthy. This is in Castletownbere on the Beara Penninsular, Co.Cork



The result of all that publicity means the place is in every guide book going. A must place to visit. (Its pretty ordinary inside and sells the usual Irish offering of G.........ess & H.........n larger)

A rather wet day on our visit (17th June 2008)




And here is just about the most southwesterly village you can get in Europe - Allihies. This place was once a thriving mining town in the 1800's until eventually closing in the 1960's. Many of the miners were from Cornwall in the UK and English names are frequent here.

Walking 14km - 18km on foot each day is a good way to keep fit and often gets me to places I don't normally choose to walk. Being a tour guide is a great way to meet new faces, listen to how other people live and share your knowledge of Ireland. If there is a downside, then it's not particularly well paid, you don't 'clock-off' at 5pm and you may not particularly want to walk six days in a row but .... you get a wonderful hotel room and the same excellent food as your guests. All in all I'm not complaining.