Guided Tours Ireland

19/06/2024

19/06/2024

This is the entrance to a colossal subterranean network, recently unearthed and estimated to be 12,000 years old. Stretching from the rugged landscapes of Scotland to the historic terrains of Turkey, this enigmatic passage spans a vast portion of Europe. What mysteries does this ancient underground labyrinth hold? Could these tunnels have been more than just routes for transportation—perhaps a hidden conduit for secret ceremonies or storied escapes?

18/06/2024

18/06/2024

Did you know, that as part of the Comber Earlies Food Festival this Saturday, 22 June, we are running a Historical Walking Tour?

by foot! 🥾

⏰ The tour runs from 11am until 12.30pm
🎟 and, it's only £6 per person!

Comber may be small in size but is big in terms of history! From tales of Titanic connections, to St Patrick and the Knights of John de Courcy, learn all about the town in this fascinating guided tour.

Find out more and book now 👉 https://bit.ly/3wjPSLn

Why not make a day of it and stay for lunch at our Comber Earlies event, enjoy all that the event offers in way of music, entertainment and Chef demonstrations, with Rachel Allen, Lotte Duncan and SERC Hospitality and Culinary Arts.

Online booking fees apply. Avoid the booking fee and buy direct through our Visitor Information Centres, in person or by phone.

✨ See our full range of experiences on offer in our place - bit.ly/ExperienceAND2024

Ts and Cs apply

Culture - Ards and North Down | Love local comber | Visit Belfast | Discover Northern Ireland

18/06/2024

Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.
«« PS »»

16/06/2024

DID YOU KNOW: In highland folklore it is said that before battle, each of the clansmen would lay a stone in a pile. Those who survived would return and remove their stone and the stones that remained would be built into a cairn to honour all who had fallen in battle.

16/06/2024

Ireland was once home to five provinces named Ulster, Munster, Connacht, Leinster and Meath.

The Irish word for province is 'cúige' which comes from the Irish word 'cúig' which of course means 'five.'

In ancient times, each province had its own laws and character.

Trefuilgnid, a mysterious spirit-man of Irish mythology, described the provinces thus:

"Ulster: To the North dwells battle, the only important battle being the one that is fought within, it is where we go to test ourselves and to grow.

Leinster: Prosperity lies to the east where we learn of and share the bounty of life.

Munster: Music lies to the south, where we heal and remember the great song that winds through all.

Meath: Sovereignty lies at the centre, where we are in good stewardship of the land and in right standing with our soul’s path, and the people around us.

And Connacht: Knowledge, counsels, stories, histories, teaching and education dwell to the west, the otherworld, where we soak in wisdom.

So it has always been and so it will be for all time.”

16/06/2024

A Sunday blessing from Soul of Skellig:

May He who dressed the seabirds with splendour, who shelters their young in the rock, clothe you with garments of salvation, feed you with His truth and keep you safe under the shadow of His wings, this day and always. Amen. 🙏

Soul of Skellig 2021
Image by DBreenPhotography

16/06/2024

"The Lake Isle of Innisfree" is a well-known poem by W.B. Yeats, first published in 1890. The poem reflects Yeats's longing for a simpler, more peaceful life away from the noise and chaos of urban existence.

● Key Themes and Analysis

1. Nature and Solitude
- Yeats expresses a desire to escape to the tranquility of Innisfree, emphasizing a close connection with nature. He envisions a life of simplicity and self-sufficiency, symbolized by the cabin, bean rows, and bee hives.

2. Peace and Stillness
- The poem highlights the contrast between the peaceful, slow-dropping serenity of Innisfree and the hectic life of the city. The repetition of "peace comes dropping slow" underscores the gradual, immersive experience of nature’s calm.

3. Imagery and Sensory Details
- Yeats uses vivid imagery to create a sense of place and atmosphere. Descriptions like "midnight's all a glimmer," "noon a purple glow," and "evening full of the linnet's wings" evoke the beauty and tranquility of Innisfree.

4. Inner Longing
- The poem reflects Yeats's inner yearning for peace and a return to nature. The repeated decision to "arise and go" signifies an enduring, heartfelt desire.

5. Contrast Between Urban and Rural Life
- The sounds of lake water lapping contrast with the urban setting's "roadway" and "pavements gray." This juxtaposition highlights the poet's sense of displacement in the city and his deep-seated connection to the natural world.

"The Lake Isle of Innisfree" remains a poignant expression of the human desire for harmony with nature and inner peace, themes that resonate universally.

16/06/2024

The Salmon of Knowledge

Here is the story of how Fionn MacCumhaill gained the knowledge of the world. And wouldn't it be a great thing to know it all? Still, knowledge and wisdom must be balanced, and this was known to the young man called Fionn, which means fair and bright. He was fleeing from the warriors who had murdered his father when he came upon the hiding place of the last of the old Fianna who refused to serve under the killers. He'd found them by means of the magical tokens stored in his father's crane skin bag, which he'd taken from the first man to strike at his father.

They were overjoyed to find him, and promised they would follow his lead, but he was only a youth and still too green a sapling. They sent him away to study poetry and learn the ways of the world from the poet and seer Finegas. Finegas had a reputation for being crafty in word and deed, as well as deep in the lore of the old Tuatha, and he'd made his home beside the river Boyne in the hopes of catching the salmon of knowledge.

This salmon was no ordinary fish, not at all, for it had eaten one acorn from each of the seven trees which grew beside the well of secrets, each bringing its own understanding.

Now Fionn was travelling under a false name, that of Deimne, as he was a marked man and hunted by grim warriors, the sons of Morna, throughout the land. And it was just as well since Finegas had been granted a prophecy years earlier - that he would find and catch the salmon, but he would not eat of it! Instead a young man called Fionn would take his part, and had he known as much he might have made an effort to turn aside the foretelling.

But Deimne he saw was a fine and pleasant young fellow and he let him stay, for he was useful about the house.

In return for instruction Deimne, as we shall call him, had taken over the service of his master's hut, and as he went about the household duties, drawing the water, lighting the fire, and carrying rushes for the floor and the beds, he thought over all the poet had taught him, and his mind dwelt on the rules of metre, the cunningness of words, and the need for a clean, brave mind.

But in his many thoughts he yet remembered the salmon of knowledge as eagerly as his master did. He already venerated Finegas for his great learning, his poetic skill, for a hundred reasons but, looking on him as the ordained eater of the Salmon of Knowledge, he venerated him to the edge of measure. Indeed, he loved as well as venerated this master because of his unfailing kindness, his patience, his readiness to teach, and his skill in teaching.

And one day Deimne asked Finegas about the salmon.

"Here is a question," he said. "How does this salmon get wisdom into his flesh?"

"There is a hazel bush overhanging a secret pool in a secret place. The Nuts of Knowledge drop from the Sacred Bush into the pool, and as they float, a salmon takes them in his mouth and eats them."

"It would be almost as easy," the boy responded, "if one were to set on the track of the Sacred Hazel and eat the nuts straight from the bush."

"That would be very easy," said the poet, "and yet it is not as easy as that, for the bush can only be found by its own knowledge, and that knowledge can only be got by eating the nuts, and the nuts can only be got by eating the salmon."

"We must wait for the salmon," said Deimne with frustration and yet acceptance of how things were.

Life continued for him in a round of timeless time, wherein days and nights were uneventful and were yet filled with interest. As the day packed its load of strength into his frame, so it added its store of knowledge to his mind, and each night sealed the twain, for it is in the night that we make secure what we have gathered in the day.

If he had told of these days he would have told of a succession of meals and sleeps, and of an endless conversation, from which his mind would now and again slip away to a solitude of its own, where, in large hazy atmospheres, it swung and drifted and reposed. Then he would be back again, and it was a pleasure for him to catch up on the thought that was forward and re-create for it all the matter he had missed.

But he could not often make these sleepy sallies, his master was too experienced a teacher to allow any such bright-faced, eager-eyed abstractions, and as the druid women had switched his legs around a tree, so Finegas chased his mind, demanding sense in his questions and understanding in his replies.

To ask questions can become the laziest and wobbliest occupation of a mind, but when you must yourself answer the problem that you have posed, you will meditate your question with care and frame it with precision.

Deimne's mind learned to jump in a bumpier field than that in which he had chased rabbits. And when he had asked his question, and given his own answer to it, Finegas would take the matter up and make clear to him where the query was badly formed or at what point the answer had begun to go astray, so that he came to understand by what successions a good question grows at last to a good answer.

And one day it came to pass that Finegas finally caught the salmon, and thinking himself safe from the prophecy he smiled and showed it to Deimne in a shallow wicker basket. Before getting a promise from the boy not to eat the tiniest piece as it was roasted, he took himself away for a short time.

Read more here: https://emeraldisle.ie/the-salmon-of-knowledge

16/06/2024

On this day, June 15, 1919, the first ever successful transatlantic flight crash-landed in Clifden, Co Galway, a beautiful part of the west of Ireland ☘️

John Alcock and Arthur Brown flew a modified World War I Vickers Vimy bomber from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Clifden, Ireland, a journey of 1,890 miles that took 16 hours and 27 minutes.

They won the £10,000 prize offered by the Daily Mail for the first non-stop transatlantic flight and both Alcock and Brown were knighted by King George V for their achievement.

A memorial stands at the site in Clifden to commemorate their landing, with the flight celebrated as a major milestone in the history of aviation and remembered for its pioneering spirit and the bravery of the pilots.

16/06/2024

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AUTHOR AND WRITER

AUTHOR vs WRITER

We often use the words author and writer interchangeably. But indeed both these words are quite different. A writer is a person who writes a book, article, or any literary piece, while an author is essentially the person who originates the idea, plot, or content of the work being written. At times, the author and writer can be the same person. In case of an autobiography, a person writes about the own life. So the author is expressing his own thoughts and ideas. But in cases like biographies, the writer is not the author. The ideas of thoughts of another are being written.

Though the difference may not seem to be much, depending on the situation, the difference can be more. If you are writing a novel or short story based on a plot developed by self, you get to be known as the author of the novel. And if you are penning down someone else’s ideas or stories, you will be known as the writer of the work. Being a writer is at times easier than being an author. The reason being that an author has to create, develop, and communicate an idea, while a writer has to only communicate somebody else’s idea. An author may be excused if the writing skills are not that competent. But an author must have exceptional writing skills to be dominant in the field. Writing skills include the command over the language and the expressiveness with the play of words. These skills can be obtained through constant writing and may be an inborn talent in some. Only a skilled writer is capable of portraying ideas, events, and pictures through the mere use of words.

When it comes to writing books, a person becomes an author only when the book is published. If your work is unpublished, and even if the idea is purely your own, you will still be considered as the person who wrote the work. And when your work is published you get to be known as the author of the work. So if you write a lot, but never get them published and out to the public, you remain a writer.

An author can get the work copyrighted under the copyright laws. This ensures that nobody else steals or uses the original idea as it is. So only the author is always associated with that particular idea or work. To be an author one must have the capability to think and express the thoughts. And a write must have the capability to understand and convey an idea correctly to the readers.

Summary

1. To be an author, the idea of your writing must be your own and you must get your work published.
2. An author must have a specific skill set but writer’s skill is suited to the job required.
3. You become an author when your books are published, but if your writings never publish, you remain a writer.
4. An author can get work copyrighted.

16/06/2024

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it."
~ Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."
"It is a sin to kill a mockingbird."
https://bit.ly/3OJt0LL

16/06/2024

“ Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”

- William Butler Yeats

-Born 159 years ago 13 June 1865

Happy Yeats Day!

14/06/2024

The Letterkenny sculpture has been immortalised in a new stamp series from An Post.

24/05/2024

George RR Martin confirms a new Game of Thrones spin off will be filmed in Belfast.

20/05/2024

20/05/2024

If you've ever made the mistake of planting mint in the ground (holds hand up sheepishly) then this is for you. Instead, plant your mint in a plant pot buried in the ground. Leave the top of the pot protruding above the soil to prevent the rhizomes from spreading and taking over your garden. Enjoy endless mint and refreshing mojitos all summer long! (We've got some more brilliant uses for mint in the comments)

20/05/2024

When 35-year-old Colonel Hugh Maguire married the widow Lady Elizabeth Cathcart in 1745, he no doubt believed he had landed a good catch. Although she had started out as the humble daughter of a London brewer, through her three previous marriages Elizabeth had considerably advanced her station in life. She later reflected that her first marriage had been to please her parents, her second had been for fortune, and her third had been for social rank. But at age 56, when she took as her fourth husband the dashing and handsome Irish officer Hugh, Elizabeth was head-over-heels in love. Still, with a humorous glance back at her life, she bought herself a wedding present—a ring inscribed “If I survive, I will have five.”

Unfortunately for Lady Elizabeth, Hugh’s true colors were revealed shortly after the knot was tied. After he had seized all of her money that he could find, Hugh demanded that his wife hand over to him her jewels and the deeds to her property. She refused. So, he demanded again, this time at gunpoint. Elizabeth again refused. Frustrated by her stubborn defiance, Hugh carried her off to Ireland and locked her up in an attic, promising to release her when she relented and handed over her assets. And there she would remain for over 20 years.

At the beginning of the ordeal, Elizabeth had concealed her jewels in her wig and sewn them into the hem of her petticoat. At some point in her imprisonment she bundled the jewels up and tossed them out of the attic window to a poor woman who was passing by, asking the woman to safeguard them for her. Year after lonely year, Elizabeth was kept locked in the attic, growing ever older and continuing to refuse her husband’s demands for her property.

Finally, at age 75, Elizabeth was weakened to the point that she could no longer resist. She told Hugh that the deeds were hidden behind a sliding panel in her home in Herefordshire. Hugh rushed off to England and found the panel, only to discover that it was secured by a rusty old lock. Impatient, he tried to break the lock with a large knife, cutting himself badly on the hand when the knife slipped. From the cut he developed blood poisoning and he died of lockjaw soon thereafter.

After Hugh’s demise, Lady Elizabeth was rescued from the attic. The man who found her said that she barely had enough clothes to cover her body, was wearing a red wig, and that “she looked scared, her understanding seemed stupefied; she said she scarcely knew one human creature from another.”

In time the Lady Cathcart recovered from her ordeal. She found and generously rewarded the woman who had faithfully kept her jewels for 20 years. And by age 80 she was again enjoying dancing and carriage rides. At age 90 it was said that Elizabeth “danced with all the sprightliness and gaiety of a young woman.” Elizabeth lived to age 97 and was buried alongside her first husband. She had survived number four (barely), but despite her earlier pledge, she never took a number five. She left her fortune to charities and to her servants.

Lady Elizabeth Cathcart (nee Elizabeth Malyn) and Colonel Hugh Maguire were married on May 18, 1745, two hundred seventy-nine years ago today.

18/05/2024

To all my female friends 50 years and up.

Most of us are ageing through the next phase of our lives. We're at the age where we see wrinkles, grey hair, and extra pounds.

We see cute 25-year-olds and reminisce.

But we were also 25, just as they will one day be our age. We aren't those "girls in their summer clothes" anymore. What they bring to the table with their youth and zest, we bring our wisdom and experience.

We have raised families, run households, paid the bills, dealt with diseases, sadness and everything else life has assigned us.
Some of us have lost those that we're nearest and dearest to us.

We are survivors.
We are warriors in the quiet.
We are women, like a fine wine or classic car.

Even if our bodies aren't what they once were, they carry our souls, our courage, and our strength. We shall enter this chapter in our lives with humility, grace, and pride over everything we have been through, and we should never feel bad about getting older.

It's a privilege that is denied to so many.

~unknown
Via Sisterhood connecting as one.

16/05/2024

15/05/2024

Your new favourite apple juice is now available to purchase in the coffee shop in large 750ml bottles 🍏