Strandhill

Auriel and Adrian meet us in the morning for a walking tour out at Strandhill, a few miles west of Sligo. Auriel gave a little presentation at our concert the night before, but unfortunately lost her audience’s attention by reading her material, pausing only occasionally to look up and actually talk to the audience.  

The morning’s walk was along the beach was under the shadow of Knocknarea, the hill near Sligo with a huge cairn atop, said to be the final resting place of Queen Maeve, a warrior queen of the Connacht province in Irish mythology, prodigious in ambition, battle and bed.

  
Auriel’s presentation includes history, geology, and archaeology, but again is largely read, supplemented by some handouts.  Adrian, who is newer to the the tour guiding business, is strong in the mythology, tales, and stories of the land’s connection to events.  He mingles with the crowd, while Auriel tends to hare off down the track, waiting for people to catch up.  

Strandhill seems to be a popular beach community, with a couple of trailer and RV parks along the shore.  It features summertime activities, including a music festival and a Warrior’s Run up Knocknarea and back, and surfing.  The walk goes over the dunes along the shore out to a church ruin and graveyard, across from Coney Island, once inhabited by many families and rabbits (coneys) but now just rabbits. It is said that a ship captain from Sligo named the Coney Island off Brooklyn New York after this Coney Island due to the high rabbit population.  At our furthest point on the walk a squall hits and we find ourselves walking back to the bus in rain and sleet and wind that abate in favor of sun by the time we get back to the assembly point.