Alan Skeoch

Month: September 2021

  • Fwd: EPISODE 438 IRISH PICTURES AND STORIES… COWS WERE A NIGHTMARE




    NOTE TO MY READERS:   I WILL BE OFF LINE FOR SEVERAL DAYS I FEAR.  COMPUTER PROBLEMS BIG TIME.
    SO THERE WILL BE NO MORE EPISODES FOR A SHORT TIME.

     EPISODE 438     IRISH PICTURES AND STORIES…  COWS WERE A NIGHTMARE…THEY ATE OUR BASE LINE


    GROUP 9    CURIOUS CATTLE … LOTS OF PROBLEMS … ATE OUR BASE LINE






    OUR biggest problems in Ireland were the herds of cattle.  The cattle were curious and omniverous.  And stupid!  They thought our copper base line looked good to eat.
    And practically every day we had a sudden cessation of signals as a cow chomped through the yellow sheathed base line and
    then gobbled up a few feet of wire before regurgitating the wire in round balls about the size of baseballs.   When the signals
    stopped we had to send crews to find the cut and repair the line.   This happened often.  Sometimes several times in a day.

    The farmers were angry naturally.  Some claimed their cattle were knocked out  by the live wire.  I do not believe that
    happened…never saw a flattened cow.   But we found lots of balls of copper wire that had been vomitted.   I think someone
    paid the farmers for damages…but I don’t know if it was Dr. Stam or the Irish government.

    Sometimes breaks in the line were caused by cars and trucks but most of the time it was cattle.   

    In the Canadian wilderness we rarely had problems like this.  Moose, deer, wolves, wolverines did not like a diet of copper wire it seems.
    Red squirrels might nibble a bit.

    CALF CONVERSATION

    “MY that long line of yellow spaghetti looks edible.”
    “Ouch…bit of a sting to it.””
    “Let’s gobble up a chunk.”
    “Look at mom…over there…she’s vomiting the yellow stuff in big balls.”
    “Spit it out”
    “Here comes one of  the lads with a big roll of spaghetti on his back.”
    “He’s not chewing.”
    “Let’s take a chomp just for the hell of it.”
    “Wait until he moves along.”
    “Now!”
    “Ouch…hot…stings”
    “Here comes the lad running back here yelling like a damn fool.”
    “Look innocent…look like you are not interested in spaghetti.”
    “Too many hot chill peppers in the spaghetti.”



    Our base line was a mile or more in length.  Straight of course which meant the cable was put down on many Irish fields where cattle

    roamed/

    Calves were just as curious as their mothers but  not as hungry for swaths of our base line cable.

    GROUP  10    THE CASE OF THE COW THAT DISAPPEARED A CENTURY AGO

    We heard quit a few stories about ghosts and mysterious happenings.  It seems the 19th century miners, some of them, spread a story
    about ghosts in part of the mine.  Apparently that was intended to keep curious people away from a ‘high grading’ operation where
    rich chunks of copper ore were hidden.  True or not?  Who knows.  John Hogan told tales of such High grading in Canada.  And a
    few years later I worked in the Yukon where and immense amount of silver ore was stolen from an abandoned part of the Elsa mine.
    (see Episode – Fell from the Moon).

    One story told to me by Barney Dwan and others turned out to be true. We had a large anomaly when working an area near the Mahon river
    … a small valley (boreen is the Irish term I think) angles away from the river.  Let me say what happened in dialogue form.

    “Alan, there is an old story about this boreen.?”
    “Ghost story?””
    “No…just a story passed down from the old times…the mining days…the 1870’s or later”
    “Interesting story?”
    “Apparently there was a mine entrance up here long ago and a cow
    wandered in and got stuck so the farmer filled in the opening with trash and dirt.”
    “About where we got the high readings?””
    “Yes, that’s why I thought you might be interested.”
    “Do you know the exact spot?”
    “I do…right over there where the  gorse patch grows.”
    “Let me see what Dr. Stam thinks.”

    “We could dig out the hole.  We are already digging trenches down to bedrock where we have
    got high readings.”  
    ” The story may or may not be true.”
    “Let’s just hire a man ….have him dig out that patch of Gorse.”
    “Sort of secretly?”
    “Yes,  I don’t know what Norm Paterson would think of us spending money on a story that is 100 years old.”


    The patch of Gorse was about 4 times larger than this patch.  It seemed to be a waste of good farm land.  Not used as a fence line.
    Just a patch on a slope.

    The floor of  the adit after the draining ceased was covered with pieces of timber. This was the first skull we found…a young calf perhaps.

    Why was the skull here?






    This may or may not be the boreen.  The location was very nondescript;   Look in the far distance where a patch of Gorse is growing
    on the valley slope…tiny in the distance.  The location was much like that.



    Here we are inside the hillside adit.  Barney and John Hogan (whose picture is not flattering) … both are studying the wet sides of the

    adit looking for oxidized green copper staining.   If I remember correctly  this bit of exploration helped Dr. Stam determine

    the workings were so badly faulted that there was no point trying to reopen the mines.  A great disappointment to the local people
    who were hoping Bonmahon would see boom times again.




    This is NOT the Irish adit I am describing. Later in the 1960’s the company sent me to the Yukon territory where we entered this abandoned

    mine site which was half filled with ice. These ice crystals formed in the absolute stillness.   The Irish adit that we broke
    into never froze but filled completely with water.  Pressure. No release of that pressure until our man opened the adit with his pick.  That last
    swing of the pick triggered a deluge and a roaring noise as the water gushed forth.  Our man ran.  It took three days to drain
    the adit before John Hogan, Dr. Stam, Barney Dwan and I entered.   And that is when we made a big discovery.


    There she lay.   The cow.  At least her bones.  Her head  especially.   Some bones must have washed out as the adit drained but

    her head and other bones were trapped in the mud and pieces of water logged timber.  So the story must be true.   The cow wandered
    into the adit…got her hips sick…could not turn around…and died or was humanely killed there.   Something like
    that.   A kernel of truth…the skull.

    GROUP 11    THE FOLK MUSEUM OF SOUTHERN IRELAND

    Several years later, Marjorie and I toured the southern counties of Ireland and were given an escorted tour
    of this folk museum…agricultural machines were a big interest…at least to me.   

    When that dead cow was
    alive the machines below were brand new.  And the farms were small except for those owned by the huge estates
    whose owners were often English.   The great disparities in wealth were a prime cause of the civil war that raged
    in Ireland in the 1920’s.  Many big estate homes…almost castles…were put to the torch.














    END OF PART 3:  NEXT EPISODE WILL BE  A) THE CLIFFS OF MOHER   B) EXPLORING OLD MINE ADITS ON HANDS AND KNEES


  • Fwd: EPISODE 438 IRISH PICTURES AND STORIES… COWS WERE A NIGHTMARE




    NOTE TO MY READERS:   I WILL BE OFF LINE FOR SEVERAL DAYS I FEAR.  COMPUTER PROBLEMS BIG TIME.
    SO THERE WILL BE NO MORE EPISODES FOR A SHORT TIME.

     EPISODE 438     IRISH PICTURES AND STORIES…  COWS WERE A NIGHTMARE…THEY ATE OUR BASE LINE


    GROUP 9    CURIOUS CATTLE … LOTS OF PROBLEMS … ATE OUR BASE LINE






    OUR biggest problems in Ireland were the herds of cattle.  The cattle were curious and omniverous.  And stupid!  They thought our copper base line looked good to eat.
    And practically every day we had a sudden cessation of signals as a cow chomped through the yellow sheathed base line and
    then gobbled up a few feet of wire before regurgitating the wire in round balls about the size of baseballs.   When the signals
    stopped we had to send crews to find the cut and repair the line.   This happened often.  Sometimes several times in a day.

    The farmers were angry naturally.  Some claimed their cattle were knocked out  by the live wire.  I do not believe that
    happened…never saw a flattened cow.   But we found lots of balls of copper wire that had been vomitted.   I think someone
    paid the farmers for damages…but I don’t know if it was Dr. Stam or the Irish government.

    Sometimes breaks in the line were caused by cars and trucks but most of the time it was cattle.   

    In the Canadian wilderness we rarely had problems like this.  Moose, deer, wolves, wolverines did not like a diet of copper wire it seems.
    Red squirrels might nibble a bit.

    CALF CONVERSATION

    “MY that long line of yellow spaghetti looks edible.”
    “Ouch…bit of a sting to it.””
    “Let’s gobble up a chunk.”
    “Look at mom…over there…she’s vomiting the yellow stuff in big balls.”
    “Spit it out”
    “Here comes one of  the lads with a big roll of spaghetti on his back.”
    “He’s not chewing.”
    “Let’s take a chomp just for the hell of it.”
    “Wait until he moves along.”
    “Now!”
    “Ouch…hot…stings”
    “Here comes the lad running back here yelling like a damn fool.”
    “Look innocent…look like you are not interested in spaghetti.”
    “Too many hot chill peppers in the spaghetti.”



    Our base line was a mile or more in length.  Straight of course which meant the cable was put down on many Irish fields where cattle

    roamed/

    Calves were just as curious as their mothers but  not as hungry for swaths of our base line cable.

    GROUP  10    THE CASE OF THE COW THAT DISAPPEARED A CENTURY AGO

    We heard quit a few stories about ghosts and mysterious happenings.  It seems the 19th century miners, some of them, spread a story
    about ghosts in part of the mine.  Apparently that was intended to keep curious people away from a ‘high grading’ operation where
    rich chunks of copper ore were hidden.  True or not?  Who knows.  John Hogan told tales of such High grading in Canada.  And a
    few years later I worked in the Yukon where and immense amount of silver ore was stolen from an abandoned part of the Elsa mine.
    (see Episode – Fell from the Moon).

    One story told to me by Barney Dwan and others turned out to be true. We had a large anomaly when working an area near the Mahon river
    … a small valley (boreen is the Irish term I think) angles away from the river.  Let me say what happened in dialogue form.

    “Alan, there is an old story about this boreen.?”
    “Ghost story?””
    “No…just a story passed down from the old times…the mining days…the 1870’s or later”
    “Interesting story?”
    “Apparently there was a mine entrance up here long ago and a cow
    wandered in and got stuck so the farmer filled in the opening with trash and dirt.”
    “About where we got the high readings?””
    “Yes, that’s why I thought you might be interested.”
    “Do you know the exact spot?”
    “I do…right over there where the  gorse patch grows.”
    “Let me see what Dr. Stam thinks.”

    “We could dig out the hole.  We are already digging trenches down to bedrock where we have
    got high readings.”  
    ” The story may or may not be true.”
    “Let’s just hire a man ….have him dig out that patch of Gorse.”
    “Sort of secretly?”
    “Yes,  I don’t know what Norm Paterson would think of us spending money on a story that is 100 years old.”


    The patch of Gorse was about 4 times larger than this patch.  It seemed to be a waste of good farm land.  Not used as a fence line.
    Just a patch on a slope.

    The floor of  the adit after the draining ceased was covered with pieces of timber. This was the first skull we found…a young calf perhaps.

    Why was the skull here?






    This may or may not be the boreen.  The location was very nondescript;   Look in the far distance where a patch of Gorse is growing
    on the valley slope…tiny in the distance.  The location was much like that.



    Here we are inside the hillside adit.  Barney and John Hogan (whose picture is not flattering) … both are studying the wet sides of the

    adit looking for oxidized green copper staining.   If I remember correctly  this bit of exploration helped Dr. Stam determine

    the workings were so badly faulted that there was no point trying to reopen the mines.  A great disappointment to the local people
    who were hoping Bonmahon would see boom times again.




    This is NOT the Irish adit I am describing. Later in the 1960’s the company sent me to the Yukon territory where we entered this abandoned

    mine site which was half filled with ice. These ice crystals formed in the absolute stillness.   The Irish adit that we broke
    into never froze but filled completely with water.  Pressure. No release of that pressure until our man opened the adit with his pick.  That last
    swing of the pick triggered a deluge and a roaring noise as the water gushed forth.  Our man ran.  It took three days to drain
    the adit before John Hogan, Dr. Stam, Barney Dwan and I entered.   And that is when we made a big discovery.


    There she lay.   The cow.  At least her bones.  Her head  especially.   Some bones must have washed out as the adit drained but

    her head and other bones were trapped in the mud and pieces of water logged timber.  So the story must be true.   The cow wandered
    into the adit…got her hips sick…could not turn around…and died or was humanely killed there.   Something like
    that.   A kernel of truth…the skull.

    GROUP 11    THE FOLK MUSEUM OF SOUTHERN IRELAND

    Several years later, Marjorie and I toured the southern counties of Ireland and were given an escorted tour
    of this folk museum…agricultural machines were a big interest…at least to me.   

    When that dead cow was
    alive the machines below were brand new.  And the farms were small except for those owned by the huge estates
    whose owners were often English.   The great disparities in wealth were a prime cause of the civil war that raged
    in Ireland in the 1920’s.  Many big estate homes…almost castles…were put to the torch.














    END OF PART 3:  NEXT EPISODE WILL BE  A) THE CLIFFS OF MOHER   B) EXPLORING OLD MINE ADITS ON HANDS AND KNEES


  • EPISODE 437 FUNGUS DISEASE…OR DINOSAUR HANDS

    EPISODE 437   FUNGUS DISEASE OR DINOSAUR HANDS


    alan skeoch
    end sept. 2021

    Marjorie and I have avoided  the pandemic so far but we have picked up some
    weird disease that is changing our bodies beginning with our hands.  Warning
    to readers…be careful what you touch.   And never ever shake hands.  Even
    touching elbows may be dangerous.




  • EPISODE 435 IRELAND PICS #2


    EPISODE 435   IRELAND PICS  AND STORIES #2 

    alan skeoch
    sept. 2021

    GROUP NUMBER 7:     MEMORY TEST  AFTER 61 YEARS:   SHORT PRIMER ON THE TURAM….A SWEDISH GEOPHYSICAL SYSTEM TO FIND UNKNOWN PHENOMENA (ANOMALIES)
                                        USING ELECTRO-MAGNETISM


    Farmers were not too pleased to discover our crew tramping down barley.  This side view shows
    the discomfort of Turam exploration .. battery pack on my back, heavy copper coil on my right leg,  console on
    my stomach, earphones on my head…and, unseen, a notebook to record readings every hundred feet.  
    In the distance is our lead man who also had a copper coil hanging from his belt.  We were able to
    detect anomalies…unusual blips beneath us.  Our motor generator was hooked to a  mile long copper wire base line 
    that was grounded at both ends setting up a loop emitting readable signals.  At least that is how
    I would explain the system.

    This is Barney Dwan laying our base line which was usually a mile or more in length with
    3,000 foot “lines” set up at right angles to the base line.   This base line was a pain in the ass
    in Ireland. But absolutely necessary. The reason?  was at times funny …. at other times troubling…and always frustrating. Why?
    The cows…yes, the cows were our biggest problem.
    At one end of the base line set up our motor generator after driving grounding rods a couple of feet into the earth.  The set up
    pictured above was not a good one.  Loose sand meant weak signals.   
    we also used a volt meter to make sure the base line was working as it should.  The base line broke so often in Ireland  that
    we hired extra men just to patrol the line and ensure the generator was fine.

    DANGER SIGN.   The Irish government insisted we get this danger sign in both Irish and english.  That was difficult but I managed
    to find a sign painter n Dublin.  The Irish cattle could not read the sign so many of them got a rude shock…some were knocked
    over according to some Irish farmers. I never saw that happen.

    SCIENTFIC EXPLANATION OF TURAM
    The Turam method is one of the oldest geophysical electro-magnetic methods used for mineral exploration, devised by Erik Helmer Lars Hedstrom in 1937.[1] Its name is derived from Swedish “TU” (two) and “RAM” (frame), referring to the two receiving coils.

    Method[edit]

    An insulated cable a few hundred meters to several kilometers long is laid parallel to the geological strike direction. The cable is either grounded at both ends or laid out in a large loop, and energized at low frequencies (less than 1 kHz). Two receiving coils are moved on lines outside of and perpendicular to the long side of the loop or grounded cable and two components of the resultant field are measured. The primary field generated by the large loop or cable interacts with the soil and subsoil and with a conductive body if present which could be a mineral and creates a resultant electromagnetic field. The electromagnetic field is measured according to two values: the Field Strength Ratio and the Phase Difference occurring between the two receiving coils . It is a fixed source horizontal loop method. Separation of the two moving coils is usually from 10 to 30 metres. Using an AC bridge (also called compensator bridge), Field Strength Ratio is measured in percent and Phase Difference in degrees. In-phase (Real) and quadrature (Imaginary) values can be calculated from these data. Observed field strength ratio readings are used to calculate reduced ratios using a formula determined by the loop size and shape or the grounded wire length and the position of the receiving coils relative to the loop or grounded wire. The Turam method is a frequency domain method and in a way is the precursor of the time domain fixed loop methods. It is claimed to have detected large flat lying conductors to a depth of 400 metres.

    References[edit]

    1. ^ 1937, Hedstrom, E.H. Phase Measurements in Electrical Prospecting. AIME Tech. Publ. 827

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    This young boy was severely handicapped due to a blow on his head when he was young.  He was the perfect guard for our motor generator.  Cute
    to see how much he loved the job.


    GROUP NUMBER 8    THE IRON LADY… THE KENNEDY FAMILY…OUR HOSTS IN BONMAHON



    Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy in front of their (her) general store…only store inthe village.  She rented the
    floor above the store to us for the summer…bed rooms and huge sitting room.  We dined in a small
    dining room on the main floor.  Mrs. Kennedy made my lunch everyday.  For the first few days I found lobster sandwiches in
    my bucket.  Never had lobster before.  

    “What is this sandwich, Barney?”
    “Lobster.”
    “Never  had that before…couldn’t she make peanut butter and jelly?
    “Ask her…Mrs. Kennedy thinks lobster is special.”
    “Could you make peanut butter sandwiches, Mrs. Kennedy, please.”
    “Peanut butter…never heard of it, Master Skeoch…I will get some from Waterford or Dublin…order it.”
    (She called me Master Skeoch for some reason…flattering)

    Mrs. Kennedy was the leading lady in Bonmahon.  A very determined lady.  She had strong opinions on most things
    including the two pubs down the road from her store.   Mr. Kennedy rarely spoke.  He ran the farm behind the store.  I was
    never sure how much acreage…  He was a quiet…very pleasant..man whose wife was
    the driving force in the family.


    Mrs Kennedy did not drink nor did Mr. Kennedy.   She quietly accepted the fact that John Hogan and I got in the habit of downing a pint or
    two of Guinness at Kirwin’s pub.    She let it be known, however, that a previous group of Canadians had caused a lot of trouble
    by hard drinking.   We were not hard drinkers.  Yes, we were afraid of Mrs. Kennedy as were others in the village. 
    She was the ‘Margaret Thatcher’  of Bonmahon…the “iron lady”.   She was also a very nice woman as you can tell from
    the smile on her daughters face.



    Gerald was the family charmer. Their son was overjoyed to have us living in the house with
    him.  He was a very busy little boy despite his handicap.   My room had a thin wall so I could hear
    Mr. Kennedy every evening trying to teach Gerald to read.  I was deeply touched.  Gerald had a
    guard that looked after  him…a black Labrador dog who was very gentle even allowing Gerald
    to ride him.   On one occasion I saw Gerald bite the dog on the ear.  Not maliciously really.  The
    dog knew that and did not flinch.  The dog was trained to keep Gerald from the sea.  Gerald could
    walk in the shallows up to his ankles.  beyond that and the dog would push…”herd” is a better word…the
    dog would gently herd Gerald back to shore.   People who have handicapped children often have touching
    heart warming lives.   The Kennedy’s never once mentioned Gerald’s handicap. He was a ray of sunshine in our lives.



    Mr.Kenned was very proud of his potato crop grown on the former enclosed yard that led to the old stables.  They kept no farm animals…except
    for Gerald’s Labrador dog.


    GROUP NMBER 8



    I could be wrong but I believed this indented land was once the original coast road that ran along only a few feet from the
    cliff face.  In the evenings Many Bonmahon residents strolled along places like this.  I got in the habit of doing that as well..always
    meeting local people.  It was very hard to talk to each other however due to the local dialect.  




    Barney Dwan and I got along like a house on fire.  He was my right hand man.   In the evenings he planned some very dangerous
    but exciting explorations of the old mine adits.  In the photo he is resting near an almost hidden mine adit.

    something rare in this photo…a fence along the cliff face.  Below, at sea level, is one reason for the fence…dead animals.


    IN order to fit in I bought a cloth cap and an ‘over the head’ shirt that the locals wore.  I was beginning to feel Irish…like John Wayne in the Quiet Man



    Some animals fell off the cliffs.


    This old mine opening was at sea level.  Deep below The miners tunnelled under the sea for some distance. Very dangerous.  Sea water
    and fresh water leaked into the stopes requiring a pumping system.   Once the mine was abandoned the sea water filled
    the deep workings which means the old mine could be reclaimed by water pumps.  The sea keeps Knockmahon copper
    mine intact.


    This was the adit we used most of the time.  Sometimes we had to crawl on our hands and knees at other times we could
    stand in a kind of crouch.  The walls were beautiful  painted with the green of oxidized chalco pyrite and also a bright pink
    in places.   More about that later.

    MORE COMING NEXT EPISODE


  • EPISODE 433 BONMAHON, IRELAND, AS SEEN IN 1960…and subsequent visits to rural ireland

    EPISODE433  BONMAHON, IRELAND, AS SEEN IN 1960 (Could the old Knockmahon mine be opened?)

    alan skeoch
    Sept. 2021


    NOTE: THESE EPISODES WILL PRESENT AN UNUSUAL SERIES OF PICTURES
    OF SOUTHERN IRELAND, EIRE.  OUR CANADIAN MINING EXPLORATION CREW
    WAS BASED IN THE TINY VILLAGE OF BONMAHON, WESTERN EDGE OF
    COUNTY WATERFORD.   SUMMMER 1960

    Group One:  The Nature of our job…THE TURAM GEOPHYSICAL INSTRUMENT

    I HAD TO WAIT 13 DAYS IN DUBLIN FOR OUR CRATED TURAM TO ARRIVE.  Count the crates…7 big crates plus smalls.
    That is a lot of equipment to keep in operating order.  Lots of things happened .
    TURAM OPERATED IN 1959 ON THE BARREN LANDS OF WESTERN ALASKA.   IRELAND WAS NOT ALASKA.

    This is the Turam console … the receiver.   The long white thing is a vertical coil of copper wire which was very heavy like a third leg
    with no boot.  Bashed my ankles.  Back in Toronto in 1960, Dr. Paterson wondered why we needed so many employees in
    Ireland.  You can see the difference below.  Ireland was not Alaska.  Irish farms had tiny fields with fences made of stones covered
    with Gorse.  Gorse?  Think of death by a thousand cuts and you will get an image of what it was like to climb oner Irish
    fencerows.  I needed Andy Dwan just to lift me through.   In Alaska there was worry about Kodiak bears but we were armed
    with 30-06 rifles and had helicopters to move about.  In Ireland we worried about pigs and Gorse and ticks and farmers whose cattle
    we stunned with electricity. 



    This is a Gorse hedgerow.   Lovely yellow flowers encased in a bed of countless needles.  Perfect places for hedgehogs to
    live but  Hell to try and penetrate.   Our grids had to be dead accurate…straight.  We had to climb through these damn hedges
    somehow…to slice holes..precise, arrow straight no matter what the resistance .


    In this picture Barney Dwan is showing the way through a rotodendron forests on a large Irish estate.  “Try not to cut the plants…the
    owner of the estate is not happy we are here.”


    Need I say more.  Ireland was not Alaska.   But there were similarities when crossing rivers or streams.


    GROUP 2      THE IRISH HEDGE CLIPPING CREW…a job aided with Guinness.



    Imagine this: “Here’s a few half pints of Guinness lads. Can I take your picture?”
    THESE fellows were hired to slash the thorny Gorse (like brier only worse) hedges that intruded into the roads of Ireland.  I think It was
    a make work program to relieve Irish unemployment . They used hand tools that dated back centuries.
    If I remember correctly we bought the boys a bunch of Guinness bottles to make the job easier. Quite a
    cross section of ages.  All giving looks of good will.  Can’t imagine handing out beer to DHO employees
    beside our highways.   I should not have done that.

    Look at those beautiful hedges behind them…but do not touch …thorns like needles by the thousands.

    GROUP THREE:   HURLING ON AN IRISH BEACH WITH A VERY FRIENDLY LITTLE BOY



    This picture was taken many years after my job in 1960…decades later..in the 1970’s when Marjorie and I took our boys, Kevin and
    Andrew on  a tour of Bonmahon and region.    The friendly gesture of this young boy was heart warming.  He handed his hurling
    stick to Andrew and a game began.  Hurling is much like lacrosse only the weapon is harder should a player get a good whack
    At your knee.

    In 1960, the lads took me to an evening hurling match played on a farm field.  Quite a crowd gathered as the two teams beat a 
    little ball back an forth.  I remember the toilet best.  At the far end of the field several sheets of corrugated iron had been
    erected as the backboards of a simple urinal.  I do not remember any facilities for women.

    GROUP FOUR:   THE IRISH “BEE HIVE “ HOMES…ANCIENT TIMES ON THE DINGLE


    IRISH BEHIVE HUTS  (freestone, no masonary)


    BEE HIVE HUTS FOR IRISH MONKS

    On a drive around the Dingle on the southwest corner of Ireland there are a number of these stone buildings where
    long ago Irish monks lived and contemplated things spiritual…or so it was believed.  Place yourself in these stone
    structures…no cement , just the careful placing of stone.   The long stones on the roof were placed should repairs
    be necessary I suppose.  ImagineTaking a few days to marvel at our place in the cosmos. Sitting in a bee hive stone hut
    marvelling at our tenuous presence on this planet is not a bad idea.   Some decision makers might be advised to do that today.
     Most of us crawling into a bee hive hut would  fear the roof collapse and think of little else.



    ‘It is worth remembering though that the beehive hut may have had uses other than as a monastic cell. Peter Harbinson [6] makes this interesting suggestion in a discussion of pilgrimage sites associated with Saint Brendan:
    By far the greatest concentration of these clocháin in Ireland is on the Dingle Peninsula, and almost all are found west of Mount Brandon.. the fact that these huts are found in such great numbers to the west of Brandon, yet are very much rarer in other parts of Kerry and elsewhere throughout the country, strongly suggests that these clocháin were the temporary habitations of pilgrims waiting for sufficiently clement weather to climb Mount Brandon. In a similar vein, one can explain those in the Glenfahan area, between Ventry and Slea Head, as temporary shelters for those awaiting the right wind to waft them to the Skelligs. If this explanation is correct, then the clocháin could truly be described as Ireland’s first and oldest surviving bed and breakfast establishments.”

    A SURPRISE

     I punched up St. Skeoch in hopes of discovering who this sixth century saint really was…if she ever existed.  MAYBE the records of these bee 
    hive huts would help my search. Surprise! Up came 
    Episode 145:  LEGEND OF THE SKEOCH NAME…OCTOBER 21, 2020 BY TERRAVIVA.  My own musings. Did a saint or a monk by that name ever sit in one of these
    ancient bee hives.  Silly.  Waste of time;  

    GROUP FIVE:     STRANGE OBJECT ON BONMAHON BEACH


    “WHAT IS that big round rusty ball?”
    “Decommissioned floating mine from World War II.”
    “Any other reminders of the war?”
    “Some.  German bomber crews tried to land damaged planes
    in Ireland.  One landed nearby.  The crew survived, were
    kept here then returned to Germany when the war ended.  The captain
    and his family came back here on a holiday a while back.”

    (IN 1915 The passenger ship Lusitania was sunk by a German submarine near Kinsale…west of Bonmahon.   Many hundreds of civilians drowned)


    GROUP NUMBER SIX   WHY WERE SO MANY OLD STONE HOUSES ROOFLESS?






    In 1842 a German writer and geographer called Johann Georg Kohl travelled around Ireland, publishing an account of his journey the following year. “Of all the countries in the world”, he observed, “Ireland is the country for ruins. Here you have ruins of every period of history, from the time of the Phoenicians down to the present day… each century has marked its progress by the ruins it has left.

    MORE TO COME IN NEXT EPISODE

    alan skeoch