Teachín Tom 'Tom's Wee Home'

08/01/2025

“I can only dream…. but someday”

Falmore, Crohy Head, Mullaghmullan Peninsula, County Donegal, Ireland

Many parts of Ireland are surprisingly sparsely populated. Although once you arrive on this little peninsula in west Donegal, all becomes as evident as the nose on your face. It isn’t unusual to find a single cottage surrounded by ten acres of land or more, where there are more cattle than there are inhabitants to be found.

There is not much I can tell you about this little isolated cottage on the rocks near the shore, other than my own thoughts on it. If I had the choice tomorrow to live in a big modern apartment in a bustling city or this simple cottage in the silence of our countryside, then my honest answer would be “keep your city life as I’m staying right here” Don’t get me wrong as there is nothing wrong with city life and millions of folk love living in their cities. It’s just that I’m a true country bumpkin 😄 and enjoy a much slower pace of life.

I spend so much time photographing these Irish cottages but can only dream that someday I may have a little cottage retreat like this of my very own 🙏 Even if only to visit that odd time when my mind needs to destress, and my body needs a good auld rest.

Just imagine waking each morning on this stunning unchanged shore to the sound of crashing waves and sea birds above. Long strolls accompanied by my dog in cool sea breezes and turf fires afterwards to warm our spirits right back up again… pure bliss 💚

08/01/2025

Happy Nollaig na mBan to you all🩷❤.

Women's Christmas - it's a great excuse to kick back, let the lads make the dinner and celebrate with a few girls. A nice way to finish the Christmas season and start the new year!

06/01/2025

Another smashing 5***** rating from guests who joined us for New Year. Wishing them all the best for 2025.

03/01/2025

We were blessed over the Christmas season with some very lovely guests. Great to see our wee place has become a "home from home" for so many of our guests. Lee and his Mum were a pleasure to meet.
Wishing all our guests every best wish for 2025
Karina and John.

02/01/2025

Shocking

The incident happened between 10pm and 11pm on December 31

28/12/2024

Kamal Adwan in Beit Lahia was partially destroyed and critical patients are at grave risk, the UN body says

28/12/2024

5 stars from our latest guests. Delighted!

12/12/2024

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! "

Here at Teachín Tom, the festive season is now in full swing, with Christmas shoppers from across Ireland visiting Strabane for their gifts and party essentials, and treating themselves to an overnight stay in our cosy wee apartment.
Not many sleeps now! Merry Christmas everyone!

08/12/2024

Crá is the first Irish language drama shown on prime-time BBC Northern Ireland and is pioneering the new TV genre

01/12/2024

In Ireland, we are just lucky to find a toilet. Maybe just have the toilets for everybody?

01/12/2024

*Man realised they'd have to share the world, so decided to build it in their own image**

"Life begins in the womb, not the rib. Women are the true bearers of life, yet patriarchy has rewritten the narrative to elevate the father as the life-giver. It's time to reclaim the truth."

28/11/2024

Local soccer star shining on the big stage. Conor Bradley showed massive talent last night.

The young Liverpool full-back produced a brilliant tackle to deny the Real Madrid star in the night’s defining image

20/11/2024

Later Expansion at the Gaol -
From as early as 1836 the Inspectors General were advocating that another addition should be built onto the Gaol...

Visit us today and learn what life was like for those unfortunate enough to have to spend time here



https://www.wicklowshistoricgaol.com/

16/11/2024

🏆 Comhghairdeas arís to Katie Taylor 🇮🇪 🥊

🌎 World Champion and Pride of Ireland ☘️

Mnásome! 💚 🥊

14/11/2024

Jeremiah Curtin went to the Claddagh in Galway in 1887 to collect old Irish myths and folklore.

He was not disappointed by the willingness of the people to help but was struck by the conditions in which they were forced to live:

'After a few days I went to Galway. The interesting part of the town for me is the Claddagh.

Till recent times the Claddagh fishermen governed themselves. In the old time they had their own king.

I found an assemblage of small stone huts in all stages of decay. They were near together and built, without regularity, wherever there was a sufficiently large plot of land.

The second man I met was a sailor. I asked if he knew an old man who could tell stories.He said that he did and he conducted me to one of the houses where I found an aged couple sitting by a turf fire, their morning meal, on a chair, in front of them.

The meal consisted of a bowl of tea and some bread the woman had baked on the coals. They welcomed me pleasantly, and the old man told me a long myth.

The following day there was a horsefair. It was held on the strand of the sea, but the streets of Galway were crowded till a late hour of the night.

People had come from villages forty or even sixty miles away. I had a good opportunity to see the different types of Irish in County Galway.

Among the people were men dressed as was usual a hundred years ago, in knee pants and tail coats trimmed with brass buttons; the women wore immense cloaks made of longwool.

I spent a week in Galway working each day, from morning till evening, with old men at the Claddagh.

The trials of myth collecting were intensified by the misery of the people and the terrible conditions in which they lived.

Each house was, from necessity, a pigpen. If a pig was kept at all, it had to live with the family. In the house where I got the best myths, two pigs lived under the bed which was a high box affair, with something on top which answered for bedding.

When the pigs were hungry, there was a fierce squealing. The woman tried to quiet them, but evidently they were not accustomed to confinement.

They got desperate, broke into the room, and began to lick the pots and kettles which stood around the fireplace.'

For more like this, see my book 'The Little History of Galway.' https://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-History-Galway-Colm-Wallace/dp/1803997079?dplnkId

Pictured is the Claddagh, just west of the River Corrib.

14/11/2024

A stunning, surreal landscape to visit in County Clare.

‘The Burren Coastal Route’

Ailladie, Ballyryan, County Clare, Ireland

This long road known as ‘The Burren Coastal Route’ is carved into the very edge of the rocky limestone Burren. It runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean and is easily one of the most stunning scenic roads in Ireland if not the world! To the bottom of this road can be seen the 30m vertical cliff face known as “Mirror Wall” which is famous amongst rock climbers.

What I find most fascinating about this area is the sheer number of ancient stone ring forts, circles, tombs and monuments built into the hillside on the right. You can clearly see 2 large ring forts on the slope of this rocky Burren hill, however if you look very closely there are many more hidden across this area. I counted at least 11 ring forts in this scene.

These curious looking mountains and hills that make up The Burren are made from solid limestone. It’s hard to imagine but this was all at the bottom of a warm tropical sea 350 million years ago! These grey limestone Hills were created over millions of years of sediments and organic material sinking from the ocean's surface then solidifying into rock limestone on the seafloor, creating this now exposed fossilised limestone seabed.

Due to tectonic plate movement in our earth’s crust, this ancient seabed was gradually pushed upwards into the sky! Nature has since slowly eroded away and smoothed this ancient seabed into these beautifully curved layers of stepped rock, which today is known as The Burren National Park.

She may be the most patient & slowest working artist known… but Nature is the grand sculptor of our planet 🌎