Today’s blog
Lynn Murphy Mark
Ireland
I have a little network of friends/family who are all about recommending things to watch on TV. Lately I’ve been watching shows filmed in Ireland. “Bodkin” , found on Netflix, is my latest choice. It is set in a not-real town named Bodkin, on the west coast of Ireland. It is both humorous and a big mystery. In the process of bringing the story to life, the characters demonstrate the Irish tendency to be both joyful and sad at once. It features sweeping scenes of the gorgeous green landscape that explains the term “Emerald Isle”. Plenty of pub scenes and the music to be found in every one, are part of the story’s background. Besides the good story, I was surprised to learn that the executive producers are Barack and Michelle Obama! All the more reason to watch.
2009 was a very big year for me. I accomplished four things: I turned 60, moved to Santa Fe, went to New York City to an Aretha Franklin concert, and took my kids with me for 10 days in Ireland. That trip will always be a wonderful memory and I would love to repeat the experience some day in the not too distant future. My wonderful, brave friend Katie spent three months living in two towns on the west coast, fulfilling a dream of her own. She has great stories to tell, from the land where storytelling is an art.
The kids and I stayed in Dublin for a few days, living in the dorm of Trinity University. It was a sweet accommodation and we spent several hours visiting the Book of Kells, located in the Trinity library. It is a magnificent illuminated manuscript from about 800 CE. “The work is commonly regarded as the greatest illuminated manuscript of any era owing to the beauty of the artwork and this, no doubt, had to do with the purpose it was made for. Scholars have concluded that the book was created for use during the celebration of the mass but most likely was not read from so much as shown to the congregation.” (World History Encyclopedia). I can’t begin to describe the intricate art work and the colors, still bright after 1,200 years.
One of the most unscheduled gifts was handed to the three of us one day when we were driving through the landscape looking for an opportunity to visit some undeveloped passage tombs. We drove to Carrowkeel, home of mounds of stone passage tombs. We could only drive so far on a gravel road. The rest of the journey involved a hike up to the flat top of a hill that overlooked patches of different green shades of surrounding fields and a big lake. We learned that the tombs were built around 3500 BC, making them older than some pyramids in Egypt.
There was no one in attendance. I would imagine that the Irish government by now has put in some means to keep vandals from taking stones as souvenirs. All we did was admire the handiwork. The kids carefully climbed in a narrow opening of one of the tombs. Ted took a picture from the back of the passage of the light at the mouth of the tomb. That’s all we took in addition to other pictures of the ancient setting.
We drove along the wild and rocky coast of Western Ireland up to County Donegal, where our Murphy ancestors are from. We found the small town of Pettigoe, where at least one ancestor was from. Of course we had to have lunch in the local pub, and raise a glass of Guiness to our past. I developed a taste for that dark brew with all of its nutrient value. It reflects what I believe about Ireland – it is dark and brooding sometimes, but it is mostly delicious and sturdy.