Happy Christmas



Robert Cresswell's 1956 image of the kitchen at Cloonasee

 In 1956 Robert Cresswell, an anthropologist, lived on this farm for a year and completed a major photographic study of farming life around Kinvara.

The two room, corrugated iron roofed cottage that he stayed in, with no running water or electricity, has since been renovated. The original fireplace is the only part that remains (although stripped of its gloss paint showing the beautiul original cut stone finish.)

In 2010 Robert Cresswell donated his archive to the nation and the photographs can be viewed at Robert Cresswell photographs. It is a wonderful and valuable resource, especially the colour kodachrome slides which were very high tech at the time.

Since my last post I have been submerged in the tidal wave of work for design and tender of the nature centre.  I have handed over my voluntary job at Irish Therapy dogs to the new Galway rep Becky,  I havn't done any work with the young pony in the last month, there has been no zumba, qi gong or running and I have been unable to get time to write my blog.

We have decided on the name 'Burren Botanic' as it will focus on the rare and unusual flora of the Burren that will be viewed on the nature trail. We hope to begin work in the Spring.

To try and stay in budget we will be doing the barn conversion with direct labour so every item has to be priced for the Galway rural development board meeting at the end of January. We have to get three quotes for everything....decisions, decisions... With Christmas approaching the pressure was on but as from today there is no point attempting to work on it until after the holidays as the country will be closed for business.

I want to wish my readers a very happy Christmas and to thank everyone for their support over the last year. It has been a very enriching experience engaging with such a positive and interesting audience.

I hope to pick up my writing at a later stage and any of my readers who would like to keep track of progress on the nature centre please be our friend us on facebook at 'burren botanic' and if you ever land in Kinvara come and visit the 'Burren Botanic' nature centre and farm cafe.

Opening soon!

The website address will be http://www.burrenbotanic.com/ -hosting will begin in January and I will open up a twitter account asap.

By my sister Caroline Assheton

Have  a COOL YULE

Nice November

Last leaf

I was up Abbey Hill on Saturday and everyone I met, scampering across the rocks like goats, had a beaming smile. It was a lovely sunny day; November has been mild, unlike the ice and snow of last year.

I am going to visit my relations in London on Saturday and will visit the highly rated London Wetland Centre. It is a 105 acre wildlife sanctuary in the middle of London with a café and adventure play area. I intend to steal their best ideas for the Kinvara Nature Park. The only update on the project this week is that I was talking to a lady from the fisheries board who said there could be rare eels in the turlough, I have just been down to look under stones with no success! There were 13 wild duck which was a nice sight.

I have leant over Sunshine, the 3 yr old pony now and he seems happy to accept my weight, his mouth is made and the next step is to ride him. I normally sit up on them in the stable first but I would appreciate any sharing of ideas from ranchers reading this as although we have ‘joined up’ a bit (see video) he is extremely active and can be very wild.

News from Austria is that the grey pony Floyd has been sold on and is going really well for his new owner show jumping.

My poor cow, 79, who got cut at the TB test in September, has never recovered. The small cut became infected and despite two strong courses of antibiotics the infection only got worse. It became an abscess on the joint at the top of her hind leg (the equivalent to our knee) I changed tactics and put her on the recommended homeopathic remedy, silica, and drained it and washed it out with salt and water and everything that was suggested from cider vinegar to tea tree to cayenne pepper. The infection seems to have gone but she hasn’t put that foot on the ground for two months now and the whole muscle of her hind quarters has wasted away. She is eating well in the stable but doesn’t seem to be improving and this morning spent a couple of hours trying to get up. The vet says the joint has seized from a deep infection and she should go to the knackers. She is not in calf which is a good thing and I don’t want her to suffer. Martina, my qi gong instructor is going to do bioenergy on the leg on Friday, but that is her last chance and if it works it will be a miracle. It looks like I will be making that call. She is 12 years old which is a good age for a cow but she has been such a good patient I hate to send her off to the factory.

I was at the Organic Farmers and Growers Association AGM on Sunday and apart from sharing a table with Trevor Sargent (former green party minister for food and horticulture) which was interesting, I also came up with a great idea with the elderly lady sitting next to me. To put eco-pods on our farms (these are timber egg shaped permanent tent like things) and offer people a night on an organic farm with a basket of food to cook! We are going to plot all the organic farms on the map of Ireland and see if we can get a route for bicyclists with a pod roughly every 40 miles. They can come in and get dry by the fire if its raining!

I won’t be posting next week.

Jim McKee's exhibition 'from the hearth' and funding available for Kinvara Nature Park

The Bee Orchid, one of the Burren flowers found on the farm

 Before I left for the meeting with Galway Rural Development last week I went down to the barn to feed the animals. The young doe hare sat up in the long grass and lolloped off into the wintery sun. I knew it was my lucky day. In August we were topping the fields with the tractor (cutting thistles) and my husband came in with a baby hare that had narrowly escaped the blades. It was only a couple of weeks old and so soft and adorable my 7 year old daughter fell in love with it and desperately wanted to keep it. She put her in with the guinea pigs that night but after researching on the internet it seems that the mother hare leaves her young dotted around in different places by themselves for safety sake and most likely would come looking for her. So with many tears we left her back next to the old boat to take her chance in the wild. Sure enough a couple of weeks later I spotted mother and daughter haring around together!

The meeting was a great success. The Kinvara Nature Park ticks all the right boxes for funding and although there is work to be done on the business plan it will go to the board in January and should qualify for the full amount at 50%. We are over the moon as they are the only people with any money and having their support also means a lot of other back up; mentoring, employment grants etc. The biodiversity officer is coming to assess the farm and they will be promoting it as an eco-tourism project. I am really looking forward to seeing the results from the turlough as she is a specialist in them. The turlough is a fresh water lake on the farm which   drains twice a day as it is connected to the underground Blackwater river that disperses at the foot of Dunguaire castle in Kinvara. The tide pushes the river back up into the swallow holes twice a day and this could lead to some unusual species.

Having got such a great response from Jim Mckee’s music a couple of weeks ago I have posted a video below of his exhibition of paintings in the Kenny gallery in Galway. What an abundance of creativity….

I have my own creative person in the house, 5 yrs old and totally wearing me out at the moment. Her ‘projects’ are so numerous it is impossible to keep the house in order. In the last week alone we have had: crayons unwrapped and put in a bun tray in the oven to make new colours and shapes, a penguin made from

scrunched up balls of newspaper and about a mile of sellotape, Christmas decorations made of wet loo paper wrapped around plastic bottles, lots of objects wrapped in cling film and many different items made out of wool and beads.

She has tied all her clothes together and hung them over her bed in a camp and has turned a large pink ball of wool into about 50 small balls. She wants to open a stall on the pavement in front of Geraldine’s knitting shop in the village to compete in the wool trade. Many tantrums ensue when her efforts do not go to plan, her wool gets knotted or she is told that Geraldine might not appreciate a wool stand in front of her window. Let’s hope it all gets channelled in the right direction eventually and maybe even an exhibition in the Kenny gallery!

Searching for finance for the Kinvara Nature Park



Old Irish 3 penny coin



  The original business plan for the Kinvara Nature Park written in 2007 took 4 months to complete. Now that the project is active again I have had to update it in the last week. It has changed from a new 'state of the art' sustainably built, ecocentre to a conversion of the existing barn. It reflects the fact that everyone's aspirations have shrunk. The good thing is that building and labour costs have drastically dropped in 4 years. The bad news is that finance is as scarce as hen's teeth!

It has been early starts to try and get it done before the kids get up as they have been on midterm break. Last Tuesday I had a meeting with the Galway City and County Enterprise Board. I brought the two girls with me and they grilled the receptionist about Santa Claus as I was talking to Breda Fox the chief executive.

I didn't expect any joy from GCCEB as I had heard they had very little funding but as they supported the original feasability study I wanted to approach them first. Our only real chance is with Galway Rural Development, word has it that they have only used 30% of their funding and must use it by December or they lose their quota. Breda Fox is also on the board of GRD and is going to recommend the project. The meeting is at midday today and will  determine the future of the project. They won't need much convincing that facilities are needed around Kinvara but it all depends on whether we tick all the right boxes.

I have also been working on a new logo. It is a line drawing of that mythical Irish animal the hare. I tried to post it but it didn't work so above is the lovely old Irish 3p coin with the hare design.

The concept of the nature centre is to provide an experience of the Burren flora and fauna (including the famous rare wild alpine flowers and orchids) on the nature trail around the farm with information points linking to seasonal exhibits at the centre. The barn will also have an artisan farm cafe with seasonal fresh food to keep the adults happy and indoor and outdoor adventure play equipment for children.

The idea is to motivate children around the nature walk with zip wires and tree houses to play in and information boards to collect information from. It would also be an ideal introduction for hikers wishing to experience the Burren and all its natural wealth and beauty. There have been a few initiatives for education in the Burren such as the Burren centre in Kilfenora which has a great exhibition but it is all done through photographs and film rather than experiencing and connecting with nature and the stone. There are also plenty of guided walks in the hills which are wonderful for active people. The nature centre would really be just a taster of all the Burren has to offer and what better place to start than Kinvara, the 'gateway to the Burren'. Any suggestions as to what visitors would like would be welcome.

BBC2 has been doing a beautifully filmed documentary 'Monty Halls great escapes' He has been in Connemara, where the scenery is looking magical. See below the amazing footage of diving with conger eels in the first episode. This week he was was swimming and trying to tag basking sharks off Malin head.

Michael D returns to Galway and a proper scare at Halloween

President Michael D Higgins opens the Cruinniu na Mbad festival 2011, Kinvara.

5000 people greeted our new president Michael D Higgins in Galway city on Sunday. And there are alot of smiling faces in Kinvara .

Halloween went well, if you judge it by the mountainous pile of sweets the girls managed to accumulate trick or treating. They dressed as a witch and her cat. My seven year old wore her rosary beads with the witch costume, which I thought was edgy (and got a few disapproving looks).

‘It’s my death power’

When my son was 15 he wanted to go and hang around the village with his friends on Halloween night. It’s a tricky age, too cool to trick or treat but too young to party in the pubs. None of the parents would allow it, they had got in trouble with bangers the year before, so the four boys were collected and ended up sulking in our house.

‘Why don’t you watch a scary movie?’

‘Boring’…moan moan…’

‘This is rubbish’…grumble grumble.

Then they had the bright idea of going to sleep down the field in a single skin tent. It was actually a kind of garden gazebo, totally useless in windy, wet, late October. They probably wanted to sneak  into the village when we were asleep.

I sent our neighbour Sean a text

‘The boys are in a tent in the field across from you, go and freak them out’

He took up the challenge with great gusto dressing up completely in black with a long white ghoulish mask.

He sneaked over the wall. He could see the light of a torch in the tent and hear the boys on their mobile phones acting cool.

‘Yeah…. we’re in a tent….’

Sean tossed a stone onto the roof. They fell silent

‘What was that?’

‘Probably just a bird shiteing…’

Sean crouched down beside a rock, hiding his head.

My son appeared out of the tent with a dim torch.

‘Hey lads it’s a badger’

They crept over towards him, peering at the ground.

Then he threw the torch at Sean (lucky it wasn’t a rock)

Sean lifted up his head and started dragging himself across the ground towards them, moaning.

They screamed and four black silhouettes were last seen running as fast as they could over the horizon.

My mobile rang ‘Mum, mum’ pant, pant, ‘someone was at our tent’

They all agreed it was ‘legend’

A proper scare at Halloween.

Planning was granted for the nature centre. We can’t believe our luck. I rang the appeals board on what I thought was the last day and asked if anything was in. They said that an appeal was in the inbox that morning (our objector always leaves it until the last day to drag out things as much as possible) but that the appeal period had ended at 5.30pm the previous day, so it was being sent back as invalid. We can’t believe our luck. Its back to the enterprise board tomorrow. They funded the original feasibility study in 2007, hopefully there might be some support available.

The Berwick and Whooper swans are coming in from Greenland to overwinter on the turloughs. Its lovely to hear their wings whooping above as they fly low, and look up to see their beautiful long necks stretched, searching for a nice calm stretch of water to land on .

Michael D returns to Galway 

the lad with the long ears



Irish Donkeys Finlay and Beartlai



There is something special about a donkey. It’s their naughty nature and those adorable ears.

When I first went to Ballinasloe fair in 1987 the price of a donkey was 5 punts. If I had rented a big field and bought them all up I would be a donkey tycoon today! The place was flooded with them. No longer needed to pull the little orange donkey carts full of turf, people had got fed up of looking at them standing about in the field, and loaded them up into their traillers to sell at the fairs. Tragically most of them ended up on the boat to France for salami or in a truck destined for the horse abattoir to feed the lions in Dublin zoo.

They then became quite scarce and it is much rarer now to see ‘the lad with the long ears’ leaning out over a gate. In the Celtic tiger years the price of a donkey reached 1000 euro. Now that common sense has been restored to Ireland they are advertised on the Done Deal trading website for between 50 and 200 euro.

Interestingly donkeys, who seem to be a symbol of rural Ireland, were only introduced during the Napoleonic wars, around 1800, when many horses were bought up to be used in the war and replaced with donkeys imported from Spain.

I met Finlay and Bartlai (above) this week and they are such characters they stole my heart. Finlay was put into his shed lately to await the farrier who was coming to trim his hooves. He managed to levitate and jump out of a small window. That is only one of his many amazing achievements! They really are charming and are meant to bring luck to a farm. I think we will have to go shopping.

We have had our own fair share of luck this week with my husband securing one of those illusive Irish jobs; he will be looking after a fleet of buses in Galway city. It became available because unfortunately the Brazilian mechanic who had worked there for the last few years was unable to renew his work permit. The government has clamped down on issuing permits for non nationals. What is also good is he starts at 7.30 and will therefore avoid sitting in the famous Galway rush hour traffic for hours every day.

I have been working on the young pony every day and he has stopped looking as if he is constantly under threat of attack by a mountain lion. I was very excited when he started to walk around at my shoulder, turning right and left and halting when I stop, even backing up if I walk backwards. But although he turns towards me now from the outside of the ring he refuses to approach me more than a step or two and I have to walk in towards him. So I think that is cheating a bit and I am really joining up with him rather than him with me?

See the donkey sanctuary

high winds and shipwrecks in the wild west

3 year old Connemara cross

There are high winds and a strange, warm, misty rain like the end of the world. It is shipwreck weather, with two Danish sailors rescued off the coast of Cork in gale force winds and a haul of silver worth 127 million found lately off the coast of Galway. We have been cowering inside by the fire most of the week.

I have made some progress with the three year old pony and can now get him out to the arena and back into his stable. I had to divide the arena into two with white electric tape to keep him away from the gate and he is now lunging on both reins and turning when asked. He is also happily wearing the breaking tack and side reins. The first day he felt the girth around him he catapulted his two back heels high into the sky and I thanked the Almighty that I wasn’t on board. The quality and athleticism of the Connemara pony originates from Spanish bloodlines. When the Armada was wrecked of the Irish shore, the white Spanish horses (something like today’s Lipizzaners swam in and bred with the tough little native ponies. A Spanish person also washed up on Island Eddie, the tiny little Island in Kinvara bay and the family became the Corless’ (Originally Carlos).

As he is so wild when you take him out of the stable I decided to try the Monty Roberts technique on him. I you tubed Monty doing his famous ‘join up’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Dx91mH2voo

The horse is meant to run around and the human chases him. You keep your body square to the horse and keep looking him in the eye. We did that very well. I kept looking, he kept running. Eventually the horse starts to flick his inside ear towards the human. Amazingly this did happen after a few minutes. Then he is meant to slightly turn his head towards you as he goes around. He did as predicted- how easy was this… He should then start licking and chewing, like a foal and drop his head in a sign of submission. I couldn’t believe it when he started doing exactly. At that point you are meant to become passive and turn away at a 45 degree angle and drop your gaze to the ground. He should then walk over to you and start following you around like a dog and you can put the saddle on and jump up with a bond that will never be broken as he is so desperate to be your friend, you can ride him bareback, backwards etc etc and he will willingly do whatever you desire.

Only he didn’t walk over to me. I kept repeating all the steps but when he is meant to ‘join up’ he makes it quite clear that I am an impostor and he does not want to be part of my herd. He stands cemented to the ground shaking and looking terrified. I tried standing and waiting, walking away, putting the rope on him and pulling him towards me. No way José. No join up! I feel flawed. He did the horse bit right, it was the human that couldn’t speak the right language. I had visions of him following me around, with ribbons in his long black mane, bowing and lying down like a circus pony. He obviously has different ideas, mostly about getting back into the field and eating grass with his REAL friends. Maybe trying to join up with the whole world collapsing around us in a hurricane was a bit ambitious; I am trying not to take it personally